The cruel Darwinian view of humanity is indeed that the strong can/should prey upon the weak. Due to my Christian views and what the Bible teaches, however, I believe the opposite is true: it is the duty of the strong to help and protect the weak, to help those who cannot help themselves. This is in recognition of the fact that everything we have has been given to us by God in first place, and it is all far more than we deserve. Therefore, as we have been given to generously, so we will also give to others who are in need. My wife and I give away over 10% of our net income to our church every month, which helps provide housing, food, and aid to the poor in the surrounding neighborhood. We volunteer at our church's food pantry as well, and we give additional money to other charitable organizations throughout the year, such as the Salvation Army.
It is this sort of volunteerism that makes lasting, positive change. By actually getting to know the people we are serving instead of simply throwing tax dollars at them, we are building meaningful relationships and learning what their actual needs are. People always give away more to others when they are giving out of the goodness of their heart, not because they are forced to. You can't end poverty with laws, just like you can't end racism with laws; the only way these goals can be accomplished is by changing hearts and minds first.
I am against abortion for a different reason than your ex-boyfriend: I believe that human life is of the utmost value, no matter how it came into being, and it's not our place to decide otherwise. Only in a situation where the mother's life may be at risk during childbirth do I think an exception can be made, but that decision would be up to the mother. Otherwise, it is our duty to protect the weak, which in this case is the unborn life. Similarly, as you mentioned that women are generally physically weaker than men, I believe it is therefore the duty of men to protect and respect women. I'm not sure how I feel about actually criminalizing abortion, however... still haven't decided on that yet.
In closing, it is not the government's job to "rescue people" because that's my job and your job; it's everyone's job to help however they can. The government can't possibly care about you because the government doesn't know you or what your needs are; it is a non-human entity that can only throw money at problems, which does nothing in the long run.
Let me know what your thoughts are 
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