Abortion

Earlier today I was listening to a radio interview with Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney where he cited his position regarding abortion as being opposed ‘except for cases of rape, incest or where the mother’s life is in danger’. Not long after the interview was finished they took a call from a listener who got up on her self-righteous soapbox to adamantly declare Mitt Romney’s position as ‘not good enough’ because of his identified ‘exceptions’.

Just for the record, I would like to make it clear that I am against intentionally terminating the life of any unborn human being in any form. Similar to this ‘self-righteous caller’ I believe it is wrong to abort a human pregnancy resulting from rape, incest, contraception failure, playing around that goes farther than intended, defect or sickness of the unborn child, unwanted gender or traits of the unborn child, or any other excuse that someone might use. I also believe that destroying a fertilized embryo is equivalent to abortion, and even when the mother’s life is in danger I prefer the child to be carried inside the mother for as long as possible, and when it must be taken from the womb every effort should be made to keep it alive with the technology available for pre-mature infants.

God’s position regarding life within the womb is without question. Jacob and Esau were identified as “nations” before they were born (Genesis 25:23). Sampson was anointed within the womb (Judges 13:5). Isaiah was called to be a prophet within the womb (Isaiah 49:1) as was Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5). John the Baptist was a conduit for the Holy Spirit within the womb (Luke 1:41-44), which is no surprise considering he was also filled with the Holy Spirit before he was born (Luke 1:14). God’s position could not be spelled out more plainly than in the Psalms:

Psalm 139:13-16 - For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (NIV)

But let’s stop acting like judges, and start acting like Christians people.

Rape is wrong, and although the unborn child is innocent of that wrong done to its mother, its presence inside her body can be a continuation of that wrong for a further 9 months of pain, suffering and condemnation, for which the mother is not at fault nor does she rightly deserve to endure it. I would not wish this situation on any woman, but even though I do not recommend nor condone her aborting the child, I also will not self-righteously condemn her to 9 months of what might be equivalent to torture either, because doing that is equally as wrong as both rape and abortion.

The problem, my friends, is that there is no “right” solution to a situation that only offers two “wrong” choices. It requires the healing of the Holy Spirit to mend a rape victim back together, not bickering between abortion “purists” and “rare exceptionists” over whether the child should survive. If the mother aborts the child I support her for her courage in making what I recognize is a difficult decision, and I choose to forgive her and not condemn her for it. If the mother finds the strength to see the pregnancy through, I also support her for her courage in making what I recognize is a difficult decision, and I pray that God will sustain her to endure the pregnancy.

I hold nothing against Mitt Romney’s position on abortion, in fact I applaud it. To do otherwise is not the way Christians are supposed to act.


James :)


P.S. Since it is likely to be brought up as a comment if I don’t address it, I will also speak to abortion in regards to incest.

Incest is wrong. The apostle Paul pointed out that even the pagan’s do not tolerate this sin (1Corinthians 5:1), which is true in most societies even today. Under Old Testament Law incest would have resulted in the father and mother both being put to death before the child was born (Leviticus 20:11-21), resulting in the child being put to death as well. It is not uncommon for incestuous offspring to have birth defects and genetic diseases. This does not mean that all incestuous children have defects, and it certainly doesn’t mean that they deserve to die because their parents were close relatives. But there are so many social, societal and moral issues tied to incestuous pregnancies that arguing whether they should be aborted is beside the point. Christians who focus on this one issue should seriously re-evaluate their motives with respect to Matthew 7:1-5.

I do not condone abortions for incest any more than abortions for other reasons, but I do not fault Mitt Romney or others who identify them as an “exception”.