Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84Plough Quarterly • Autumn 2016 37 life: that from the moment of conception, we are dealing with persons made in the image of God. That’s why I’ve joined in the movement to reduce abortion both by legislation and through supportive programs to assist unwed pregnant mothers. While remaining committed to these goals, I’ve been disturbed by a fundamental inconsis- tency in much of the pro-life movement. People who are passionate about combating abortion often seem unconcerned about other ways that human lives are destroyed. Why, I wondered, did many pro-life leaders fail to support programs designed to reduce starvation among the world’s children? Why did others oppose government funding for research into a cure for AIDS? Why did an important pro-life senator fight to save unborn babies only to defend government subsidies for tobacco products, which cause six million deaths around the globe each year? When Congressman Barney Frank quipped that pro-lifers believe that “life begins at conception and ends at birth,” he was not being entirely unfair. We in the pro-life movement can do better. Leaders such as Pope Francis have shown the way by calling on us to defend the sanctity of life consistently. In his speech to the US Congress in 2015, he said that Christian faith teaches “our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development.” Global poverty, to take one example, is a pro-life issue: eighteen thousand children under five die every day, most from hunger or medically preventable causes. President George W. Bush launched, and President Obama continued, the PEPFAR program to combat treatable diseases such as malaria and AIDS. Yet despite millions of lives saved, major politicians have called for dramatic cuts in PEPFAR’s funding. Shouldn’t Christians be the Loving All Children –  Both Unborn and Born Spencer Perkins Abortion – and the pro-life movement – present black evangelicals with a dilemma. It is not that we question the evil of abortion; Jesus clearly would have condemned it. But for me, a black man, to join your demonstra- tions against abortion, I would need to know that you understand God’s concern for justice everywhere. . . . It is not a simple, glib response, then, when I must counsel an unwed black teenager against an abortion, even though I believe with all my heart that abortion is morally wrong. I feel that if the love of Christ compels me to save the lives of children, that same love should compel me to take more responsibility for them once they are born.  Spencer Perkins, who helped his parents John and Vera Mae Perkins found Voice of Calvary Ministries, ran the magazine Urban Family and led Antioch Community, an integrated Christian community, until his death in 1998 at age forty-three. Quoted in Clark and Rakestraw, Readings in Christian Ethics, vol. 2, 268, 70. Photograph by Giovanni Portelli Photography first to support effective programs that prevent unnecessary deaths? Environmental degradation is a pro-life issue. Global warming, unless we act soon, will cause devastating climate change that will lead to the deaths of millions of poor people. Racism is a pro-life issue. In American history, white racism enabled the enslavement of tens of millions of Africans made in the image of God; after slavery ended, thousands