Few issues carry the potential for division like the abortion debate. And few issues could fuel 40 years of turmoil and controversy on all sides. In Abortion: a rational look at the emotional issue, author and academic R.C. Sproul lays out the pro-life case with reason and grace. He points out that a complexity of issues (separation of church and state, feminism, and free choice – to name a few) ride on the abortion debate. Cut through the emotional tangle, however, and the core issue appears: ultimately, who decides what is right?
In answer to this question, Sproul spends the first half of the book explaining why abortion is “against the law of God, against the laws of nature, and against reason.” A fetus is, at the very least, “potential life” so abortion lands squarely under the sanctity of life umbrella. The Bible, of course, speaks unequivocally against murder, but even the most isolated cultures innately prohibit murder in some form. “The rule of law depends on an absolute respect for the value of people.” And human value, ultimately, comes from God.
Sproul sets out to convince undecided readers that abortion is wrong – and only a hardened mind could finish without a few seeds of doubt. A fetus has its own genetic code, a heartbeat at 2 weeks old, and brain waves by day 43: a blob of tissue, it is not! Most people would not abort if they believed the fetus to be a baby, but resist the evidence because “they don’t like the moral implications.” Sproul advises those with real doubts to analyze their motives and not go against conscience. Abortion may be legal, and it may be the easy choice, but those things don’t make it the right choice.
Sproul spends several chapters answering common pro-abortion arguments before turning to speak to the pro-life camp. The objections that legalized abortion “is just a woman’s issue” and that it keeps women from back-alley procedures are easily dealt with, but what about pregnancies that endanger the mother or resulted from rape? These cases require discernment, Sproul says, but abortion still isn’t justified. He encourages pro-lifers to live up to their name: fight tirelessly, but first compassionately.
Sproul’s knack for cutting philosophical elephants into digestible bites makes the read easy, but not simplistic. As the title promises, he avoids both pro-abortion and pro-life sensationalism, giving thought only to well-reasoned arguments – an unspoken challenge to all readers to avoid cheap victories. Sproul calls us back to reason and to compassion – and that’s something both sides need to hear