In 1968 American culture was roiled by a long, increasingly unpopular war in Southeast Asia. It was rocked by massive anti-war protests, the hippie movement, sex, drugs, and rock and roll. It was shocked by the assassination of two leading American figures, Dr Martin Luther King and Robert F Kennedy. In 1973 the Supreme court issued two decisions on abortion, Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton which had a major influence on constitutional law, medicine, and family life in the United States. In the mid-70s, with the election of an openly “born-again” president a reaction to the revolution emerged called the Moral Majority, and like other social movements before, it was led by a preacher and it was pitched as a war, a culture war. If the culture war is a boxing match then it is a long one, with each side trading body blows, hoping to knock out the other. Right now the revolutionary left seems to be winning as the Supreme Court of the United Sates has let stand laws permitting homosexual marriage, thus revolutionizing the definition of marriage and increasing the social, economic, and legal pressure to conform to a new social norm. In view of the revolution afoot, because he was on campus recently to speak to our students, and in recognition of National Sanctity of Human Life Day, observed this year on 18 January 2015,¹ Office Hours talks to Clarke D. Forsythe about Prudence in Politics. The interview includes discussion of two pivotal Supreme Court cases: Roe vs. Wade and Doe vs Bolton. Mr. Forsythe is currently Senior Counsel for Americans United for Life (AUL) and authored two books: Abuse of Discretion: The Inside Story of Roe v. Wade, and Politics for the Greatest Good: The Case for Prudence in the Public Square. His thirty years of service to AUL includes founding and directing the AUL Project in Law & Bioethics.

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NOTES

1. Westminster Seminary California’s Testimony To Our Time says the following:

Concerning Abortion

 

We believe:

 

• That the unborn child from conception is a human being in the image of God.
• That abortion as practiced today is a scandal and a grievous sin.
• That laws to protect the right to life of the unborn are needed in our land and throughout the world.
• That the Christian community must teach and exemplify biblically responsible sexuality and reproduction and must provide support services for pregnant women to facilitate the choice of a live birth.