Wrong Rights

A friend emailed me the this letter by John Piper on the recent court ruling on partial birth abortions. Now I find myself just sitting in my office chair, it is difficult to move. There is a empty feeling of great weight holding me to my chair. Today I felt that I had to bear some of the blame for what is going on in my society, for I am a part of this society. While I may not always feel I fit in, I am here to be a light to what is right and wrong before God. I am convicted that I have not prayed more for the society in which I live, nor have I done what I can to undo an undone thinking process. I am convicted that I have not prayed more for the women that struggle with abortion decisions. I am convicted that the prayers I may offer are not more heart broken by what is going on around me. The saddest part of this story is that for a society to debate whether this is morally right or wrong because of rights tells us there must be a deeper underling issue that goes far beyond the act of abortion and to the heart.

This use of catch phrases is surely tired. “Right to choose.” “Equal rights for women.” The grandchildren of the sixties are waking up to the vagueness and danger of those phrases. Right to choose what? Anything? All laws that protect children limit the rights of moms (and dads) to choose. You can’t choose to starve them. You can’t choose to lock them in closets for three weeks. You can’t choose to abandon them. You can’t choose to strangle them five minutes after they are born.

And “equal rights for women”—equal with whom? Equal with the irresponsible dad. Dad has sex and bears no responsibility for the baby. Mom should be equally able to have sex and bear no responsibility for the baby. Young people are looking at this and saying: Something is wrong with this picture. Maybe our lives are as broken as they are because our parents have twisted their hearts and minds so deeply to justify equality in irresponsibility.