I’ve been listening to Phil Vischer’s podcast, the Holy Post from its inception. I think I picked up on in around episode 8 and caught up that next week. I have only missed a few of them over the years. I love the fun banter and enjoy the theological discussions.

I don’t agree with them on everything, but I respect Phil (of Veggie Tales fame) and Skye Jethani. Their Biblical world view and willingness to talk about sticky issues of faith always push me to think and pray through issues I’d always taken for granted. They regularly press me into the scriptures to test what I believe with what the Word actually says.

They have recently begun releasing some well produced and super informative videos on issues of great importance in today’s world.

The most recent I’ve seen has to do with something I’ve been doing for decades, honestly since the second time I voted in a presidential election in 1980.

I have, for the past 40 years been a one issue voter. 

Our Church in the late ’70s, ran videos sponsored by Focus on the Family (I think) and narrated by soon to be Surgeon General of the US (SGOUS?) that showed the horrors of abortion. Prior to that, if you asked me if I was for or against, I would have to admit, I didn’t know what the word meant. (I am honestly thankful for the extreme benefits of growing up as a white middle-class kid oblivious to the desperate plight of others living within a fifty-mile radius of my slice of white America, but that’s another confession.) After watching this series of videos, I was an instant one issue voter.

The latest video from Skye and Phil, this one is mostly Skye, is called, “But what about Abortion? Should this one issue determine how Christians vote?” It runs through the history of abortion in America and opened my eyes to some striking facts. 

I’ve been voting for Republicans since the 80s on the basis of the assumption that if we could get a republican in office he would nominate conservative judges to the Supreme Court and we could finally overturn Row v Wade – the defacto reason for millions of murdered babies each year in our fine nation.

Turns out, my core assumptions were wrong. Not my stance on abortion. I am still pro-life for sure, but about how to best reduce the number of abortions in the US. 

You see, since RvW fifty-seven years ago, Republican presidents have placed eleven justices on the court, compared to only four from Democrat presidents. For forty-nine of the last fifty years, Republican-appointed justices have heald the majority on the court. In 1992 the Republican appointments held an eight to one majority. Five of the eight had been appointed by Reagan or Bush, both of whom I voted for hoping they would keep their promise of overturning RvW by appointing conservative justices. The one Democrat appointee had actually voted against RvW in 1973 as a sitting jurist at the time of the case. This eight to one–arguably nine to zero–court upheld RvW. As has every court since.

The video is packed with other striking information that makes me question if I need to be quite so worried about what the President is going to do about abortion, and where they stand on the issue. It’s clear from 57 years of history, the President does not have nearly the impact I thought he did on this issue.

The abortion rate peaked shortly after RvW but started heading lower. The number of abortions per 1000 US women aged 15-44 has been falling since 1980 and saw its sharped decline during the Obama Whitehouse.

Again, the president’s view on abortions is not what’s making a difference, nor is national politics. It’s more about local politics, and it’s not as much about tighter restrictions, though that helps. The sharpest reductions in abortion rates were in states like Deleware, who, as a blue state, increased the accessibility of healthcare to it’s poorest citizens, and saw a 37% drop in the abortion rates between 2014 and 2017. Who knew easy access to healthcare could save lives. 

OK – so I promised a confession. My “staunch pro-life” stand has consisted almost entirely of a once-every-four-years walk to the school down the street (my polling place) and pushing the red buttons. I’ve donated a couple of cars (you know, the ones I drove until every time I filled the tank, I literally was totaling the car,) to crisis pregnancy centers, and I’ve put on a Santa suit a couple of times and bounce rescued babies on my lap. A few donations here and there.

There is a crisis pregnancy center directly adjacent to my back yard. I could stand in my back door and hit the place with a rock (not a very pro-life image, sorry.) But we never gave them a dime, or an hour of our time (except the Santa thing.)

In the end, what this video has stirred us up to do has little to do with voting. What I have learned today (thanks, Bob the Tomato) is that voting for president is not making a difference in the real world. We’ve decided to start giving regularly to life. We’ll start putting this before the Lord and listening and looking for ways to make a difference. 

And we’ll start looking further down the ticket, and deeper into the policies and platforms of those we vote for.

I’m still pro-life, and I know, this article is all about abortion. I still believe that life begins at conception. I still believe that God is displeased with the taking of innocent lives. I also get that life doesn’t end at delivery, that “pro-life” is a cradle-to-grave proposition. 

But I also know, I have a lot to learn.

Thanks for listening.

Please watch the video. It’s not unchristian to think. I promise.

Love you,

See you again soon,

Ben