Chris Develing: I was not religious and yet pro-life

As a teenager, he was proud. Proud of his progressive home-country the Netherlands . A country that is at the forefront when it comes to abortion, prostitution and drug policies. “It’s great that we’re so open-minded, I thought. But I never reflected whether the Netherlands was making the right choices.”

Develing grew up in a family affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church. His family, however, was not religiously active. His mother had let him baptised as a baby, but praying, reading the Bible, or speaking about faith does not happen in the family.

He neither grew up with pro-life thoughts. In his early twenties, Develing begins to think about abortion and women’s rights. They get internet at home, which helps. He looked for details on what exactly is removed from the mothers’ womb in the event of an abortion. “Everything depended on that question. Because if it really is a clump of cells, yes, then I am also for abortion.”

He does, however, not find that answer. Science, embryology, states that human life begins at conception, he discovers. “I had to do something with that.”

Depressed

The conclusion that the unborn fruit is a human life keeps Develing mainly to himself. Not because that conviction especially suits Christians, but because abortion is a taboo subject.

Around his 25th, the theme suddenly comes close to him. A colleague from his team candidly explains in an email why she walks around the office so depressed. She and her boyfriend broke up, she writes. She was pregnant, but because he was not ready for fatherhood, the relationship failed. She then had an abortion.

“That email was an eye-opener for me. Apparently, the man was the reason for the decision to have an abortion. Until the woman was on her own, she intended to keep the baby.” Develing has no idea what to say to his colleague. And so, he keeps his mouth shut.

Conversion

Because he does not know any Christians, he does not know their arguments against abortion. His conversion to Christianity when he was 32 has nothing to do with his pro-life position. This conversion, however, did influence his conviction. “I no longer felt the need to judge women. I came to see people as sinners who may not yet know God. Together with my standpoint came my love for my neighbour. As a believer, I did not stick to: it is not allowed. There really should be a safety net for these women.”

Develing also becomes more passionate. What first was just a thought changed into activism after his conversion . “My heart went out strongly to those unborn children.” He immerses himself even more in the subject and starts writing about it. An article of his is picked up by the Dutch pro-life organisation Schreeuw om Leven (Cry for Life). In 2018, he applied for a job as a communications officer at that organisation. Propagating the pro-life philosophy thus became his daily work.

Ammunition

How do you convince a non-believer that abortion is wrong? As an experienced expert, Develing does have tips for this. “I wouldn’t start with Biblical arguments,” he says. “Although that may feel unnatural to a Christian. However, a non-believer has a different world view and therefore a different starting point.”

According to him, there are enough arguments outside the Bible. “The secular world around us thinks from the Biblical value that life is sacred.” He points to human rights statements, in which the right to life always takes precedence over the right to self-determination. “With abortion, our society suddenly turns that upside down.”

He understands that the debate between pro- and anti-abortionists is often portrayed in the media and politics as a battle between believers and non-believers. “It is often Christians who express themselves about this subject. Before I became a Christian, my opinion didn’t really move me to action either. I think it has to do with the Biblical command to stand up for the weak.”

According to him, Christians do not need to be afraid of pro-choice points of view. “They rely mainly on emotion. We have more ammunition: scientific, ethical, philosophical and legal arguments.” Develing advises Christians to base themselves on this in a conversation with non-believers. So did the atheist thinker Christopher Hitchens, for example. “Life begins at conception. We cannot pretend that an unborn child is not human, he said.”

This article was previously published in Dutch daily Reformatorisch Dagblad, on November 4th, 2021 and is translated by CNE.news.