"CHOOSE LIFE": AN APT RALLYING CRY FOR WHICH SIDE OF THE DEBATE?

The formidable anti-abortion forces here in South Carolina recently suffered a considerable setback of symbolism. The Supreme Court let stand a Federal Appellate Court ruling that the motto “Choose Life” could not be inscribed on license plates, primarily because it offered no counterpoint motto for the pro-choice advocates. Knowing the religio-political climate of South Carolina, the anti-abortion folks having their way is only a matter of time.

All this provokes a question that should have been raised with the appearance of the first placard: Whose motto is “Choose Life” anyways?

“Choose Life,” despite its association with anti-abortion advocates, may be an even more apt guidepost for we who are circumspectly pro-choice. Both sides of the debate would do well to consider the meaning of “Choose Life” in its original Biblical context. It is the signature of an exhortation in Deuteronomy 30 that crystallizes the doctrine of free will:

Our existence is a showdown of choices, good versus evil, life versus death. God’s word must guide our path. But, each individual at a moral crossroads must assess all motives, ramifications and alternatives, then choose and accept the consequences. One should be prejudiced to choices that support life, for example, not to terminate a pregnancy for capricious reasons or without thoughtful guidance from trusted clergy, mentors and family members. One must, however, understand “life” in its Biblical sense as that which brings ultimate blessing, not suffering and degradation.

That is the classical Jewish exegesis of “Choose Life,” the one, by the way, that Jesus likely heard from his rabbinic teachers.

Venerated religious traditions, Judaism and many Protestant denominations among them, maintain that a fetus is not a living being (at most “potential life”) at the moment of conception. Thus, in a pluralistic society, “Choose Life” is a mandate for the individual with proper guidance – not the pastor, legislature or Supreme Court – to decide and live with the implications.

Our role as community – particularly the religious community – must be to aid in making enlightened, God-worthy choices. It is not impose our will and strip the individual of what many bona fide ethical traditions understand as her Biblically-ordained right to choose.

“Choose Life” is an apt rallying cry. Would those who proclaim it only truly understand it.