A plea for the pro-life movement

Pro-lifers saw the Dobbs decision, which sent abortion law back to the states, as a victorious step in the quest to curb the sin of abortion. In Evangelicals and Abortion: Historical, Theological, Practical Perspectives (Wipf & Stock), pastor and author J. Cameron Fraser makes the case that while political action is important, it’s not sufficient. “What is needed more than legislation and education is a societal change of heart, coupled with perhaps greater humility, realism and Christlikeness in pro-life advocacy,” he writes. “The evangelical approach to abortion should be one filled with the gospel, and full of love, grace and mercy.”

Fraser is a Christian Reformed Church pastor who approaches his material from the Reformed perspective, rejecting the essentially non-Christian view of social justice as an end in itself. He was born in Zimbabwe, grew up in Scotland, trained and lived in the United States, and has ministered mostly in Alberta, Canada. He focuses his book chiefly on the abortion debate in the United States because the heart of the conflict is here (though he also devotes space to views and activities in other countries).

Fraser examines his topic in three parts: the history of evangelicals and abortion (for instance, how former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and theologian Francis Schaeffer turned evangelicals’ attention to what had previously been a largely Catholic issue); the theology of why evangelicals should be pro-life; and the practical aspects of the pro-life position in mainstream society.

Along the way, he explores the evolution of the Church’s and society’s views on abortion back to Biblical times. He looks at the meaning of humanity being made in the image of God; at “ensoulment” (when does what’s in the mother’s womb become a person and not just abortable tissue?); at men’s role in abortion; and at why some evangelical approaches to the issue—such as simply substituting adoption for abortion without understanding the challenges of adoption—are sometimes ineffective or alienating.

Fraser is fair and thorough in his exposition. He presents views from every side: Protestant, Catholic, progressive social justice Christendom, non-Christian. He illustrates how evangelicals disagree among themselves on the interpretation of certain Biblical passages (such as Exodus 21:22–25), on the how and when of ensoulment, and on what are acceptable exceptions to laws restricting abortions.

Toward the end of Part 2, Fraser devotes a chapter to a slight detour into other implications of humanity being in the image of God, examining issues contraception, in vitro fertilization, miscarriage, vaccinations (using cell lines originally derived from aborted fetuses), embryo research, and capital punishment.

Fraser includes footnotes to cite sources and provide material to amplify the text without interrupting it, and his writing style is neither densely academic nor light and breezy. He ends each chapter with study questions so the book can be used for study groups or Sunday school classes.

Fraser and his wife have been involved with crisis pregnancy centers, and he cites Care Net (which operates pregnancy centers in the United States), Avail NYC in New York, and ProGrace in Wheaton, Ill. as models for approaching abortion at the level of the individual heart. “This is where lives are being saved and the life-changing gospel is being proclaimed, as the basis of a transformed, life-affirming society, practicing the politics of the cross.”

Spiritual and moral transformation of society is essential. “This is the factor that is missing in our day,” he writes. “Without it no amount of political and legal action will succeed in abolishing, or at least decreasing the evil of abortion.” Prayer for renewal accompanying the proclamation of the Biblical gospel, with its transformational effect on society, “must be our greatest evangelical priority.”