In the 1992 movie Singles, urban planner Campbell Scott is having a passionate conversation about the future of transportation with Kyra Sedgwick in his apartment. His dream is to transform Seattle with his idea for a “Supertrain”:
Scott: “Let me ask you a question. You think about traffic? Because I do, constantly. Traffic is caused by the single car driver. Single people get in their cars every morning. They drive and wonder why there’s gridlock.
“This is what I’ve been working on. If you had a Supertrain…you give people a reason to get out of their cars. Coffee, great music…they will park and ride. I know they will.”
Sedwick: “But I still love my car, though.”
Scott: “Well… Oh.”
There’s another, similar, scene in the movie where Scott has a sit-down with the mayor of Seattle. He gives the same pitch and receives the same response: People love their cars. He gets flummoxed, his pitch-window closing quickly.
It’s as if he couldn’t believe that people would hold such an illogical view (driving a car) in the face of all the seemingly “obvious” advantages of public transportation.
The Pro-Life Analogy
I’ve thought about that scene a lot over the years, and more recently, in light of the work of those involved in the pro-life movement. I’m sure those working tirelessly to support pregnant mothers, found crisis pregnancy centers, change legislation, and provide alternatives to abortion have found themselves at times feeling like their pitch to choose life hits a wall similar to that of the transportation planner in the film. And the wall is this:
People choose abortion because they want abortion.
Despite Natural Family Planning being healthy, natural, effective, and virtually free, less than 2% of the U.S. population practices it. The “inconvenience” of unwanted pregnancies in most people’s minds far outweighs any potential advantages this system of regulation of births promises. It’s a tough pitch to skeptics because it requires a metanoia of mind and heart – in how we think of children, the Natural Law, and the means and ends of human sexuality, and the nature of personal sacrifice.
Abortion as Birth Control
I bring up NFP because, for many people, abortion has served as a kind of backup birth control in today’s culture. Abortion-as-contraception doesn’t prevent pregnancy, obviously; it prevents the live birth of a child.
I understand that not all those who abort their children do so willingly: some are coerced by family members or boyfriends, even if they would in fact want the child. Yet many, perhaps the majority, choose abortion freely as the most convenient, lowest-cost, least intrusive way to deal with an unwanted pregnancy.
That is, even when they have the option to give up their child for adoption, or receive help in raising it, they still choose abortion because, well, they just want it.
I also get hot under the collar when I think of all those couples who do want children but can’t conceive and are open to adoption. Is it a question of supply and demand that creates huge financial and bureaucratic barriers to doing so? Even when a couple would be willing pay for everything and beg and plead with an abortion-vulnerable woman to have the child, it is rare that the woman decides to offer the child for adoption. She may not want to carry to term or want people know she is pregnant.
Abortion is convenient, easy. It makes the “problem” go away.
The Double Death
Abortion ushers in not only the death of a child but the death of the soul. Abortion is physically and psychologically unhealthy. It deforms cultures and warps consciences.
Yet, when contrasted with the vocation to parenting – namely, the sacrifices called for, the commitment and potential difficulties – is it any wonder abortion is chosen as the “path of least resistance,” the most convenient option? That doesn’t make it good (an evil that can never be justified).
Why Are We Surprised
But, then again, why are we surprised when people of a wicked generation choose what is wicked, even when presented with life-giving and live-saving alternatives? Why are we surprised that abortion grows in a culture where 98% of people actively work to prevent pregnancy in their relationships through contraception, and when that fails, always have abortion as a “backup?”
Maybe it’s not a fair analogy, but sometimes I believe the pro-life message is like that Supertrain pitch to try to get people out of their cars. Public transportation is a good thing in a lot of ways; it’s efficient, it makes sense. And yet, people love their cars. They won’t easily part with them.
In other words, even if Roe is eventually overturned, we still have to deal with our rampant culture of death and the fact that people want abortion as a component of their lifestyle.
Prayer for Conversion
I hope I’m wrong. I wish we would have a mass-conversion away from the scourge of abortion-on-demand and a transformation to a culture of life. I don’t know if this is the ethos of organizations like Live Action and others, but I have nothing but the utmost respect for those fighting in the trenches day after day, proposing alternatives and doing the good work. They are up against a lot.
But people want abortion because their ways are evil. Try to take it away and see what happens. We will not be delivered as a generation, but by grace.
I have to think that the words of St. Peter are a sober reminder: “And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” (1 Peter 4:18).
We must pray for the conversion of hearts regarding the killing of the innocent. God wiped out humanity with a flood because of their wickedness. His patience will not last forever (Romans 9:22-24).
7 thoughts on “Even If Roe Ends We Still Have a Culture of Death”
I would like to see the right to life community address capital punishment and guns killings along with abortion.
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This once again misses the mark completely. People being evil is not the main driver of abortion. The main driver is the economic cost of raising and having a kid. There is a reason that so many people who have abortions are under 200% of the federal poverty level. And crisis pregnancy centers do nothing to help in that regard. Anyone who thinks for a few seconds realizes that the vast majority or cost and hardship associated with having a kid happen after birth. Crisis pregnancy centers are not a solution to abortion.
“Crisis pregnancy centers are not a solution to abortion.” Great strawman, thanks for that.
Dr. Monica Miller, Executive Director for Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, was very sober in her assessment in a recent interview after the Dobbs v Jackson hearing:
“Let’s say they seriously restricted abortion. Our country still needs to be educated, it needs to be converted, the Church needs to be strengthened…as we go forward we’ve got another hundred years of evangelization to do on the life issues. And let’s be honest and frank about it–abortion is the consequence of a disordered sexual ethic. 75%-80% or more of the women walking through the doors of an abortion clinic are having out of wedlock pregnancies, they’re not getting support from the fathers who have beggetted these children. So there’s the crisis. Stop that, and you will stop abortion. The two things are connected. Abortion is not just a life issue, it has to do with what is the meaning of human sexuality and sexual commitment. That also has to be healed and attended to, and then we can advance a culture of life.”
I’m essentially arguing something similar in the article: “In other words, even if Roe is eventually overturned, we still have to deal with our rampant culture of death and the fact that people want abortion as a component of their lifestyle.”
From PP’s own Guttermacher Institute:
74% of women seek an abortion because “having a baby would dramatically change my life.”
73% because they “can’t afford a baby right now.”
48% “don’t want to be a single mother or having relationship problems”
38% “have completed their childbearing”
1% were the victim of rape
0.5% were the victim of incest
So, 98.5% of women (and men) are engaging in sexual relations voluntarily and seeing abortion as a way of getting out from underneath the responsibility (financial or otherwise) of having a child (which, obviously, comes from engaging in sexual relations).
To your point about “so many people who have abortions are under 200% of the federal poverty level”:
“Using National Survey of Family Growth Data from the Centers for Disease Control, women living at 100 percent or less of the federal poverty level (single households earning approximately $11,200 per year or less) who are not actively trying to conceive are twice as likely not to use contraception as their wealthier counterparts (those at 400 percent or above of the poverty level, or earning over $44,700 per year). Poor women not trying to conceive are also three times more likely to get pregnant than their higher income counterparts (9 percent compared to 3 percent), and ultimately at 5 times more likely to give birth. In addition, abortion rates among the poor are lower, with 32 percent in the highest income bracket having an abortion compared to 9 percent of low-income terminations.” (Brookings)
Abortion is evil, but my point in the article is because I am skeptical of the “If Roe v Wade is overturned, we have won” and everyone gets to go home. If anything, the cultural battle has just begun. As anyone on the street, your random citizen, “what is the purpose and end of human sexality?” and I will bet 99.8% will give you an answer that is not in line with the Church’s vision (God’s intention, not to mention the Natural Law) of human sexuality. This is the light of not only human reason, but the redemption of our fallen nature in Christ’s death and resurrection. But alas, the words of St. John seem to hold true: “Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”
People have accepted a counterfeit vision and are perishing and losing their souls as a result, as scripture says ” My people perish for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). If Catholics committed to spreading the Truth and Light of the Gospel and the dignity of the human person in a fallen, post-Christian, essentially pagan society thought it was hard-going pre-Roe….just wait til it gets overturned. That’s when the real work (and suffering) begins.
One point, “But people want abortion because their ways are evil. Try to take it away and see what happens. We will not be delivered as a generation, but by grace.’ is too broadminded. We must ask , seek why one gets an abortion, and solve the issue. See my prior article to The Catholic Stand.
Nice, but there are other aspects to the culture of death. From the death penalty to incarceration, the system fails/ (Very glad to see you are helping others here!) I wonder if the situation may also come down to economics – affordability of the family unit, from wages, to healthcare? (Imagine, if only one parent needed to work., how much stronger the family relationships). These may create the fear of having larger families and decisions thereupon?
Thanks.
Sedwick: “But I still (have) my car, though.” Scott: “Well… Oh.”
But if it’s a 13 yr old rape victim … Well … Oh.”
Black and white works in speculative theory only. And you haven’t justified taking
the car away for any number of things where a vehicle is a legitimate option. Cars
will become boons not banes, but that’s a future scenario. Abortion WILL become
obsolete in a coming age, but desperate choices are in the realm of the individual.