Pro-Life vs Abolitionist?
Elijah Harris, Director of Abolish Abortion Australia, explains what he sees as the key distinctions between the pro-life movement and the abolitionist position.
By Elijah Harris, Director at Abolish Abortion Australia.
I am not Pro-life, I am an Abolitionist.
Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of debating Dr Joanna Howe, who leads the Australian pro-life movement. In the lead-up to the debate, many people were asking the question, “Why are you debating? Are you not on the same side?”
My answer: Yes and No.
The Pro-life movement has been actively opposing the cultural and political tide as it moved towards the decriminalisation of abortion over the last fifty years. In Australia, it has almost completely failed as abortion is now legal up to birth in every state and territory with few restrictions. In America, arguably, some ground has been made with some states imposing heavy regulations and restrictions upon abortion.
The establishment Pro-life movement in America, represented by organisations such as Right to Life, Susan B. Anthony, March for Life, Students for Life, as well as several denominational bodies, was largely Catholic-led, but secular in messaging, seeks the end of abortion (make it “unthinkable”) through incremental legislative gains such as term limits, abortion facility regulations, and defunding of abortion providers.
The modern abortion abolition movement began in the US around fifteen years ago when a group of Christians beheld the strategies and principles of the pro-life movement and believed that they had deviated from the word of God. They looked back upon how Christians in the past have sought to combat societal evils, in particular the 18th and 19th century abolitionists’ battle against the slave trade, and discovered several discrepancies between how Christians engaged back then and how they were engaging now. They also turned to Scripture’s commands regarding how we ought to pursue justice and resolved to obey God rather than the prevailing worldly wisdom of the day.
The Abolitionists outlined their movement according to five tenets set in opposition to the establishment pro-life movement (acronym: GATES):
Gospel Centred: abortion is a sin issue, the only solution for which is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Aligned Providentially: We trust solely in the power of God to turn hearts to bring about the end of abortion.
Through the Church: it is the duty of the people of God to disciple their nation and demand that justice be established.
Engaged Biblically: the Word of God is the foundation for our doctrine and practice and bears authority over all people.
Sought Immediately/Without Compromise: We reject all incremental and compromised legislation that shows partiality, acquits the guilty, and fails to establish justice according to God’s command.
Today, the abolitionist movement is represented by organisations such as Abolitionists Rising, Foundation to Abolish Abortion, and End Abortion Now.
In recent years, the movement has made its way to Down Under, with the founding of Abolish Abortion Australia by Todd Boaden in 2024, of which I am a director. We hold to the same tenets as the movement and to a contextualised edition of Abolitionists Rising’s Norman Statement, which expands upon the five tenets.
The Australian battle is different to the American battle in a few ways:
1. Our Pro-Life Movement is Weaker
Unlike in America, where the Pro-life movement holds great influence in a major political party, only minor parties in Australia have a pro-life platform. This has significantly hampered the movement’s attempts to slow the onset of decriminalisation and hampered their ability to pass any bills.
In fact, it was under Liberal Party governments that several states decriminalised abortion. There isn’t the same money, power, or prestige granted to those in the Pro-life movement. It is almost a fringe position within mainstream Australian politics.
The Australian people are also far less engaged on the issue of abortion. Few know what the laws permit, or what the procedure truly involves. The pro-abortion rhetoric and slogans are well ingrained in much of the population. Our LifeChoice university groups have nowhere near the following that Students of Life of America has. There is much to be done in the realm of antiabortion engagement and education in general.
2. Our Pro-Life Movement is Less Compromised
In America, there is a widespread myth in the establishment Pro-life movement that teaches that the woman seeking an abortion is always a victim of her circumstances and therefore ought never to face criminal penalties for procuring an abortion. Pro-life bills, therefore, always include an immunity clause for mothers, which effectively permits abortions so long as the mother is the one performing it (i.e. chemical abortions).
Abolitionists see this as an acquittal of the guilty and teach that justice demands criminalising homicide for all involved, with no special allowances in cases where the victim is preborn, but allowing the judiciary to judge the circumstances of each case to determine the liability of each party. Consequently, in conservative states, the Pro-life movement has become the primary opponent of “equal justice” abolition bills (see here).
In Australia, however, many Pro-life leaders presently claim that equal justice is their end goal, including Joanna and James Howe, Matt Cliff (Cherish Life, formerly Right to Life, QLD), Dave Pellowe (Church and State Ministries), Paul Hanrahan (Family Life International, 40 Days for Life), and FamilyVoice.
3. The Church is Less Engaged
Although the conservative Australian church would outwardly profess to be against abortion, rarely do they ever mention or preach against it from the pulpit. It’s an evil that Christians are generally aware of but have begun to tolerate. Some might be against it personally, but they shrink from holding others to the same God-given standard, as if Christ is king only in their own hearts.
Among the more engaged Christians, you might find them attending their annual Walk for Life or attending any major political rally, but compared to the United States, these events are very small.
However, Some Things Remain the Same
Much of the rhetoric and strategy from the American movement has also infected the Australian Pro-life movement. In recent years, there has been a strong political focus to pass compromise bills to push back the abortion laws and establish some protections for preborn children through late-term abortion bans, gender selection abortion bans, and abortion survivor / born-alive protection bills.
The abolition movement rejects these strategies for several reasons. In the first place, they deviate from the just principle. Laws have an inherent teaching quality to educate the conscience of the people regarding good and evil. When campaigning for a compromise bill, you must leave the biblical foundation for the innate value of human life – all humans from fertilisation are made in the image of God, because the bill does not reflect this principle. You must instead argue that birth, or viability, or pain, or a heartbeat is what grants human life value. You must forsake the truth for a lie.
Secondly, these laws are ineffective at protecting preborn children. Since they don’t treat abortion as murder by criminalising it completely, they merely regulate the industry on how or when they may perform child-sacrifice. For example, the bill that Dr Joanna Howe coauthored and that Sarah Game introduced into the SA legislature only sought to remove some sections of the current abortion laws, allowing for late-term abortion.
However, it left in provisions for late-term abortion when the child has a defect. Therefore, should this bill have passed, all someone would have needed to do was find a doctor who would diagnose the child with one, inflict one upon it yourself (which, if you already want to murder the child, is not unconscionable), or take abortion pills yourself, all of which bear no penalties under the proposed revisions.
Likewise, born-alive protection bills will merely force child-assassins to be more brutal or effective in their murder. These have been proven ineffective for over twenty years in America; not a single abortionist, even where proven to kill children born alive regularly, has ever been prosecuted. Gender-selection bans are no different. If you make a mistake, come back the next day and say you want an abortion because you hate the child, rather than because it’s a girl.
People will adapt and learn to jump through the hoops. In America, since Roe v Wade was overturned in 2022, despite an initial decrease in abortions likely due to Prochoice misinformation, abortion numbers have now increased regardless of tighter restrictions in several states. As Ecclesiastes 8:11 teaches, “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.”
Finally, such bills are iniquitous. The prophet Isaiah spoke:
Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees,
and the writers who keep writing oppression,
to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be their spoil,
and that they may make the fatherless their prey!
(Isaiah 10:1-2)
These gradual bills, by compromising on the just principle, turn aside the needy of justice and intentionally neglect to recognise the rights of some children. They divide up preborn children into categories, draw a circle around one group, and forsake the rest (for the time being). This is partiality. Deuteronomy 16:19-20 instructs:
You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Pro-life lawmakers show partiality in their bills to bribe pro-abortion magistrates for their votes. They bend their professed principles to build a big tent to pass worthless laws. They will also omit imposing criminal penalties for the same purpose. Yet God says, “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 17:15).
I fear that, as the Pro-life movement in Australia continues down this path that the Americans have charted, they will arrive at the same destination. They will make “progress” legislatively, they will grow rich and powerful through the political relationships they have fostered, but they will become just as compromised through habit, and abortion numbers will continue to climb.
The church has a duty to be a prophetic voice within this apostate nation, as the pillar and buttress of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15), proclaiming the word of God and demanding justice without compromise. We must rely upon the mercy, blessing, and providence of God to turn the hearts of our magistrates, his servants (Prov. 21:1, Rom. 13:4). We must pray earnestly and proclaim the law and gospel of the Lord Jesus in both pulpit and public square, discipling our nation to obey all that Christ has commanded (Matt. 28:18-20).
Every age has its evils. Every age has its abolitionists. We will not run with the multitude to do evil (Ex. 23:2). We will not partake in the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them (Eph. 5:11).
If you are a Protestant Christian interested in joining our movement in Australia, we welcome you to join us at abolishabortionaustralia.com/join-us. You can also follow our movement on social media.
If you would like more information on what abolitionists believe, there are plenty of resources available at abolitionistsrising.com and abolishhumanabortion.com.