Today marks the 35th anniversary of the worst court decision in
U. S. history. I know there were some truly horrible decisions made regarding slavery and racism before and after the Civil War. I can think of several more very bad court rulings by the Supreme Court in our history as a nation. But none was more poorly grounded in the reasons given for the actual decision, and none has had a higher cost in human life, than Roe v. Wade. 
Since 1973 we have aborted 49 million unborn children in America. Think about this. One third of an entire generation was wiped out by this decision. One third.
Today a friend and I reflected upon the implications of all this. We were talking about the complexity of the immigration issue. We both agreed that the borders need securing. We both agreed that illegals who were criminals must be forced to leave the country. We had differing ideas after those two points about how to fix the rest of this massive problem but we agreed that it needed serious attention. I think the majority of Americans agree with us, at least according to every poll that I’ve seen.
But think about this one for a moment today. Without the undocumented workers in our service sector our economy would suffer the loss of millions of workers who are willing to take the jobs that many of the rest of us do not want. And without these workers our way of life, and the general economy, would not be better off in the long run. But, and this is huge if you think about it for very long, if we had 49 million more American natural born citizens where would we be? 
These would be workers and tax payers. Would we face the present recession? I haven’t heard a single politician tell us the truth. Social security is in trouble for many reasons but who will say it is clearly because we did not produce enough new children for 35 years?
The good news is that the youngest generation is actually reproducing at a slightly higher rate and the rate of abortions continues to decline, though there were 1.2 million of them last year. There is some evidence that the young are not where my generation was on this issue. 
Consider the big movie hit, Juno, which actually comes across as pretty pro-life film in a subtle way.
So no matter how you think about the social ills of the United States never forget this fact—there are 49 million less of us than there should be. What a grave tragedy of such immense and ghastsly proportion.
In 1973 I got my first graduate degree and the commencement speaker was Dr. C. Everett Koop. I will never forget his address. He told us that we would be the first class to face "the really brave new world" and that things would likely become much, much worse over the course of our lifetimes. He was profoundly right. I will not stop seeking to change the law and to save lives as much as I can so long as I have life and strength. For me, this does trump all other social issues. It is not my only issue but it is a BIGGEST one when you really think about it, which most of us do not do much of these days. May God have mercy on us and may we stand up for life in the womb in every way possible.
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What of the ELCA paying for elective abortions from it’s health care plan for pastors?
I heard about this on Moody. True or false?
John,
I believe your “illegals are doing jobs that Americans won’t do” argument has some fallacies.
It is a fact that crooked employers are firing USA citizens and replacing them with illegals who will work ***BELOW*** the minimum wage. Look at California, Arizona, and the American Southwest which is in the process of fulfilling the dream of the Mexican Reconquista movement.
http://www.vdare.com/awall/070705_memo.htm
Now, the example of the Southwest is being duplicated across America.
The problem isn’t that there are jobs Americans won’t do.
The problem is crooked employers who fire citizens and hire illegals who will work below minimum wage, and who do not care about receiving other benefits including retirement, health insurance, etc. In my area, the employers from different industry sectors (not just service sectors) hire illegals, and then direct them to the local Emergency Room for all of their outpatient, non-urgent clinical care.
That is why 2 hospitals have financially closed in my area.
This is all about greed on the part of the employer, not about “jobs Americans won’t do.”
John,
I realize your brief mention of the illegal immigration issue was tangential to the larger issue of the pro-life debate.
I do understand your larger point about economics and the fact that tens of millions have sadly died under Roe vs. Wade.
I do not intend my comments to be construed as pejorative or negative in tone or spirit. I only desire to be informative with a goal to honor Christ.
But I see the negative effects of illegal immigration daily.
May I please explain my reasoning, even though your larger point dealt with the pro-life issue?
1.) The problem is not about “jobs that Americans won’t do.” The problem is unbounded and unbridled American greed where employers (across many different industry sectors) fire citizens and hire illegals who will work ***below minimum wage.***
After yet again another amnesty with a future John McCain presidency, these same employers will then terminate the new “Amnestied” citizens and hire new illegals “just off the boat.” The problem is systemic because politicians and business are working together.
2.) The problem is not that “there are jobs that Americans won’t do.” The problem is that there are wages that Americans won’t do.
Who wants to pick fruit for below minimum wage? Answer: not a single USA citizen, but there are many illegals who would answer yes.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59668
The problem is employers are further depressing wages for low-skilled Americans by firing citizens and hiring illegals who will work below minimum wage. Those politicians who support “open borders” and “amnesty” are knowingly creating an economic underclass.
http://www.newswithviews.com/Duke/selwyn40.htm
3.) Illegals broke the law. The far majority have already engaged in some form of document fraud, whether it is identity theft, credit card theft, Social Security number theft, etc.
Should we give yet another amnesty (John McCain “path to citizenship”) as a reward for a.)breaking our laws, and then for b.) engaging in document fraud?
What about the victims of document fraud?
4.) Even if we secure the border, what about Travel Visa over-stays? What about student visa over-stays? Even with a secure border, foreign tourists can still come to USA, over-stay their visas, and work underground. The reason is because these same people have been told to expect **once again another future amnesty**.
http://www.numbersusa.com/interests/amnesty.html
At my place of employment, I have seen the negative results of **non-violent** illegal immigrants. And yet we should reward these people with the gift of USA citizenship?
The rule of law has been abandoned in the USA on the altar of greed.
Today I was thinking about the anti-abortion rally in Washington DC, the same one that the mainstream media basically ignored.
I want to thank John Armstrong for writing this post days ago, in anticipation of this holocaust that occurred in 1973.
When the future Bioethics explosion occurs in 20-25 years, we as a nation will remember how Roe vs. Wade was the first philosophical stone to break, leading to the eventual collapse of the dam of Human Personhood, causing the deadly waves of a “Brave New World” that is neither “brave” nor “new”, but rather just paganism redefined for our technologically advanced postmodern, yet primative morally, era.
http://www.cbhd.org/resources/biotech/mitchell_kilner_2003-08-29.htm
http://michellemalkin.com/2008/01/22/thousands-march-on-washington/#comments
Good site! It’s nice to read pro-Christian writing that suggests that people need to think and respond with more love and acceptance. I’ll be back when I have more time and am not on deadline.
I wanted to say that I am strongly pro-abortion and am of the “Don’t like abortion? Don’t have one!” camp. But I am an enormous admirer of Dr. Koop and strongly respect that he decided as a neonatal surgeon that children are ‘alive’ far earlier than we tend to think.
But something that Dr. Koop has always said in the same breath that is rarely mentioned is this: if it’s true–as he certainly believes–that abortion is wrong, then we also have an obligation to do everything we can to prevent the need in the first place. As a result, he says, we need to tell people about birth control, condoms, sex education, fertility planning, and the like. Moreover, he’d add, we need to help provide these things to people. If they’re not getting pregnant, they’re not going to need abortions.
While I disagree with him about the need for abortions, I strongly agree with him that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Sadly, this part of Dr. Koop’s POV is rarely mentioned by people who are anti-abortion because they seem to dislike talking about sex, too. As a result, you only tend to hear about his strong opposition to abortion.
We know from the last 2000 years of evidence that abstinence-only sex education is a failed experiment. Thankfully, we have the technology to prevent conception cheaply and effectively. Dr. Koop and I are both strongly in favor of getting the word out to people. That’s one of the things that I donate money to Planned Parenthood to support.