Why I’m Starting to Resent Unborn Babies

(disclaimer: This is an angry post. I don’t usually do angry. In fact, anger and resentment totally wear me out. But I can’t get around it right now.)

Oh, I know how awful my title sounds. Believe me. I’m not thrilled to be feeling this way.

But unborn babies have such fierce champions. My undergrad degree is in journalism with an emphasis in public information (which means I’ve studied a lot of spin doctors), and I know that the politicization of the right-to-life issue has been a decades-long campaign by the far right to create a single-issue voting block. That said, I know that there are people who are legitimately and deeply dedicated to preserving the lives of unborn children no matter what. They are even ready to violate the autonomy an individual has over her own body in order to do so. That’s not to be taken lightly. When laws prevent a person from choosing what to do with their own bodies, we head down a slippery slope of literally losing control over our very selves.

But that is what some people are willing to give up in order to preserve the lives of the unborn. Sacrificing the the rights of others in a country that identifies as the champion of individual rights in the world is some seriously radical stuff.

So yeah, I’m starting to resent unborn babies. Why don’t other lives have such vocal and powerful advocates?

Where are the people who are willing to give up at least some access to firearms–particularly automatic weapons–in order to save the lives of ordinary citizens? In order to save the lives of school children! But any talk of gun responsibility laws meets with an immediate response of “it’s not the guns!” when everybody knows it’s the guns. Our country has the most guns. We have the most shootings. I’m not great with numbers, but even I can do the math on that one.

No matter how many people–how many children–die to gun violence, people refuse to give up their right (or anyone else’s right) to purchase any kind of fire arm at any time. Can we get some of the fierceness that we see in the fight for the unborn for those un-alived by gun violence?

We are not even willing to enter into uncomfortable conversations about the systemic racism that plagues this country in order to save the lives of our Black, Asian and Hispanic neighbors. We might have to admit that we were wrong about some things. We might have to change some behaviors and shift some systems. But no, that’s too much to ask. We’d much prefer to act like there is no problem and allow people to continue to die.

Eighty-two percent of trans kids have considered suicide and 40 percent have attempted taking their own lives because they are so uncomfortable in their own skin and don’t feel like they can live as their authentic selves in this world. So what do we do? Instead of protecting these kids with the ferocity many offer to the unborn, we pass laws designed to destroy them. Kids. We pass laws to hurt kids. The lives of these living, precious children are disposable, even though they had some amazingly dedicated advocates while they were still in the womb.

Why I'm Starting to Resent Unborn Babies: The lives of these living, precious children are disposable, even though they had some amazingly dedicated advocates while they were still in the womb. Click To Tweet

Why am I surprised? We live in a country where people balked (with verbal and even physical attacks) at wearing a piece of cloth to keep their community safe. We’re not willing to do anything that causes us the slightest bit of discomfort or inconvenience–even if it means that lives of beloved children of God will be saved.

I get that unborn babies are easy to champion. They require no sacrifice on the part of the advocate. They don’t require me to alter my behavior or opinions. They don’t put me in uncomfortable situations. I don’t have to pay for, educate or feed unborn babies. That only happens after they’re born, and then, apparently, it’s perfectly fine for me to cry “socialism” any time anyone asks the government who required their birth to help them in life.

I keep hearing people say our country is falling apart because we are no longer a Christian nation. I totally agree. There is not much about us that looks anything at all like what Jesus would do. We do not protect our children. We do not advocate for the marginalized among us. We are not willing to inconvenience ourselves for the sake of others. We don’t even make sure our people have adequate access to basic healthcare, food and housing. Christ-like we are not.

But when it comes to unborn babies–we’ve got their backs. So yeah, I’m kind of starting to resent the unborn.


Rev. Anne Russ is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA), currently based in New York City. Doubting Believer provides tools and encouragement for the rollercoaster ride of your faith journey. Follow me on Facebook , Instagram and YouTube. You can also follow on TikTok. Get emails to keep up with all that is happening.

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