International Students' Perspectives on Pro-life Issues: A Reformed Analysis and Response

"Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. And he said with a loud voice,

'Fear God and give him glory ... ’” 

Revelation 14:6-7a ESV

By Belinda Williams, MD

PPL Board Member

Working at an academic institution has offered continual opportunities to befriend young Indian international students and to observe their spiritual and moral landscapes. What begins as casual conversation during grocery rides about coursework and cultural adjustment gradually deepens into discussions of morality, guilt, and eventually the gospel— conversations made possible only by trust built over time. Reformed Christians and Presbyterians expect the unbelieving world to differ sharply on matters of morality, human life, and autonomy, and it becomes clear quickly that many Indian international students’ assumptions on these issues conflict with the biblical view of life. Yet this group faces unique challenges, and understanding them helps us serve them more faithfully.

I recount these encounters with my international friends, hoping God will stir our hearts to pray earnestly for the salvation of international students in the US

and for the laborers already ministering among them.

Honor-shame culture: fornication condemned, abortion overlooked

Many Eastern cultures operate on an honor-shame framework in which family standing governs behavior. Fornication brings disgrace upon the entire household, and students living abroad carry a heavy fear of dishonoring their parents. Yet the same culture is largely silent on abortion, in part because taboos surrounding sexuality prevent frank discussion. Even students raised in Indian Christian homes often arrive with little doctrinal formation and almost no grounding in biblical ethics. They adapt instead to the worldview of their unbelieving peers or to Hollywood’s “you do you.” People tolerate or even accept abortion if it helps preserve family honor.

Sadly, people condemn the act leading to pregnancy, but

they leave the preborn child unprotected.

Hollywood’s catechesis: the post-truth American dream

as moral authority

Values from home may restrain the conscience, initially. But freed from parental oversight, students adopt what they believe to be the American lifestyle as portrayed by Hollywood. Fear of exposure—not guilt—governs behavior, and so they live confidently, assured that their families will never know. Where Indian culture has remained silent, Hollywood has catechized: autonomy and sexual freedom equal empowerment, and the unborn child is an inconvenience. Many then assume that these norms represent Christian morality because people culturally inherit religious identity.

My Indian friends were stunned when they learned that my former Christian roommate’s boyfriend would not spend the night on the couch, explaining that he wanted to guard both of them from temptation. For this group, proclaiming the whole counsel of God often begins not with original sin but with culturally relevant events in American news. The assassination of Charlie Kirk revealed the distortions in their thinking: young Indian women in their early twenties asked why our Sunday School prayed for “a fascist’s widow.” Although we rewatched Kirk’s rebuttals to pro-abortion arguments, the conversations to this day continue in student circles.

High achievement and self as god: the pro-life position as oppression

Indian international students in STEM fields are extraordinarily driven. For many, this is their first time living away from home, and immigration pressures, competitive job markets, and an identity rooted entirely in achievement produce an intense urgency to succeed. Self becomes their god, and moral reasoning follows. Abortion, for them, protects opportunities and prevents academic derailment. They reason pragmatically: “If both adults agree, and the baby is not yet independent, no harm is done.” Learning that states like Alabama seek to protect unborn life—and that Christians advocate for these protections—bewilders them. Some, including those from Christian backgrounds, find such laws oppressive, comparing them to Hindu nationalists who impose religious norms on minorities.

A Reformed response

When God grants opportunities to press further, their internal conflict becomes evident. Their conscience convicts them, and the guilt described in Romans 1–2 surfaces with unexpected force. They fear parental rejection for their sexual choices, yet their darkened minds cannot perceive the contradiction of treating unborn life as expendable. Thus, they live double lives.

The testimony of Scripture reminds us that the noetic effects of sin obscure even the most analytical minds. My friends can design cloud infrastructure and write algorithms that detect cancer, yet apart from Christ, no intellectual achievement can awaken moral clarity. The richness of Reformed theology means we do not need to invent new strategies to counter Hollywood’s catechesis. Slowly working through the Westminster Shorter Catechism with befriended students has opened fruitful conversations about human dignity grounded not in utility but in the God who made us.

God continues to redeem His people, restoring sight through His Word to those once blind—including international students far from home.

As Presbyterians committed to protecting life, we must pray that God would quicken their hearts through the gospel that lifts the veil, renews the mind, reorders the affections, and restores a right understanding of the Imago Dei.

Pexels photo - padmathilaka - wanigasekara