The Christian faith has been the most prominent voice in the pro-life movement since abortion came into public scrutiny. It’s amazing how one single issue like abortion has managed to unite multiple Christian churches in an ecumenical movement history has seldom seen. Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, Baptists, Mormons, and a mix of other denominations have taken a stand against the killing of the unborn. Even non-Christian faiths like Judaism and Buddhism have pro-life communities. But seldom is a word heard from atheism. Surely someone who doesn’t believe in God would subsequently have no problem with the killing of an unborn child? Thankfully, that isn’t the case, and there is an astounding presence of atheists in the pro-life community that emphasizes secular reasoning as the key to a pro-life stance. Secular Pro-Life attended the recent American Atheist Convention, causing a (mostly positive) stir among respectful atheists and religious pro-lifers alike. Secular pro-lifers (here’s their website: SecularProLife.org) echo the exact same argument that a Christian pro-lifer would use against abortion (that scientifically, life begins at conception and must be protected). But because of their separation from any religious establishment, they need more prominence in the pro-life community to prove to the world that a pro-life belief is not esoteric to any single religion. I’ve only met a handful of atheist pro-lifers in my experience. The one I recall most easily was a fellow I met online, the son of a Planned Parenthood doctor. After reading of Planned Parenthood’s practices in the abortion industry, and how they want ultrasounds to be hidden from mothers expecting abortion, he simply made the logical decision to become pro-life. He’s never set foot in a church, yet that never stopped him from seeing the light of truth that the pro-life stance offers. I’ve also met a handful of religious pro-lifers who don’t trust atheists in the abortion movement, suggesting that atheists have an ulterior motive to their pro-life beliefs, and subsequently isolating them from the movement. I cannot agree with this standpoint, because the pro-life community needs all the allies we can find. And so I encourage pro-lifers of all faiths to be open to one another in seeing our belief not merely as a Christian movement but a moral one. Though we may disagree with others on our belief in God, having such a diverse pro-life movement can only be an asset to us. [Photo above via LifeSiteNews: Kristine Kruszelnicki, Kelsey Hazzard, and Michael Crone at the 2012 American Atheist Convention]
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