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Abortion
AbortionIn
1944
a forty-one-year-old woman sought an abortion from her doctor. He firmly
refused
asserting that abortion was just not right
morally
ethically
or
legally. The woman later gave birth to a baby boy and named him James Robison.
This unwanted child grew up to become a well-known evangelist. God has a plan
for every human life
even those who are not wanted.
A professor in a
world-acclaimed medical school once posed this medical situation -- and ethical
problem -- to his students: "Here's the family history: The father has
syphilis. The mother has TB. They already have had four children. The first is
blind. The second had died. The third is deaf. The fourth has TB. Now the
mother is pregnant again
The parents come to you for advice. They are willing
to have an abortion
if you decide they should. What do you say?"
The students gave various
individual opinions
and then the professor asked them to break into small
groups for "consultation." All of the groups came back to report that
they would recommend abortion.
"Congratulations
"
the professor said
"You just took the life of Beethoven!" ── We
believe this was first reported in an Ann Landers column.
A recent poll of couples
in New England revealed that
if they were able to know these things in
advance
1 percent of them would abort a child on the basis of sex
6 percent
would abort a child likely to get Alzheimer's disease
and an incredible 11
percent would abort a child predisposed to obesity. ── The Utne Reader
quoted in Signs of the Times
January
1993
p. 6.
Some of you may remember
the man who won a U.S. Supreme Court case over his right to obtain an abortion
for his comatose wife. He argued at that time that an abortion could aid a
possible recovery for his wife
Nancy
who was comatose as a result of a car
accident in 1988. The abortion accomplished
Martin Klein now plans to divorce
his wife. His comment was
"Life changes
tragedy happens. It's all very
complicated." He also said "my commitment to Nancy continues to
remain as strong as ever." We agree. His commitment to his wife is as
strong now as it was previously. That is to say
not very. ── Credenda
Agenda
Volume 4/Number 3
p. 15.
Abortion is no more purely
a medical problem just because the physician wields the curette than chemical
warfare is purely a problem for pilots because they press the lever releasing
the chemical.── E. Fuller Torrey
taken from "Abortion"
Dallas
TX: Christian
Medical & Dental Society Journal
Summer
1976
Vol. VII
Number 3
quoted in Sanctity of Life
C. Swindoll
p. 10.
Medical authorities
determine a person to be "alive" if there is either a detectable
heartbeat or brain-wave activity. With that in mind
it is eye-opening for some
to realize that unborn children have detectable heartbeats at eighteen days
(two and one-half weeks) after conception and detectable brain-wave activity
forty days (a little over five and one-half weeks) after conception. What is so
shocking is that essentially 100 percent of all abortions occur after the
seventh week of pregnancy.── Sanctity of Life
C. Swindoll
Word
1990
p. 11-12.
Why are children aborted?
The Alan Guttmacher Institute (the research arm of Planned Parenthood) states:
* 1% are victims of incest or rape * 1% had fetal abnormalities * 4% had a
doctor who said their health would worsen if they continued the pregnancy * 50%
said they didn't want to be a single parent or they had problems in current
relationships * 66% stated they could not afford a child *75% said the child would
interfere with their lives.── Statistics cited in Rescue Update
June/July 1989
Southern California Operation Rescue
quoted in Sanctity of
Life
C. Swindoll
Word
1990
p. 12.
How many children are
aborted? Worldwide
55 million unborn children are killed every year. Around
the world
every day 150
685 children are killed by abortion; every hour
6278;
and every minute
105. Those are the reported cases. If you are an American
citizen
no doubt your greatest interest is in your own nation
as is mine. Let
me break the abortions down to a national statistic: 1
600
000 babies are
aborted in these United States every year. Per day
that's 4
383; per hour
that's 183; per minute
there are 3.── C. Swindoll
Sanctity of Life
Word
1990
p. 13.
C. Everett Koop
M.D.
formerly the Surgeon General
states that during his 35-plus years of
practicing medicine
"Never once did a case come across my practice where
abortion was necessary to save a mother's life." ── C. Swindoll
Sanctity
of Life
Word
1990
p. 23.
If our language has
appeared to some strong and severe
or even intemperate
let the gentlemen
pause for a moment and reflect on the importance and gravity of the subject...
We had to deal with human life. In a matter of less importance we could
entertain no compromise. ── The American Medical Association
1981
in a
report opposing abortion. Quoted in Marvin Olasky's The Press and Abortion
1838-1988.
Percentage of women who
chose an abortion because having a baby "would; change their life (job
school)": 76. Percentage who chose an abortion because of rape or incest:
1.── Family Planning Perspectives
7-8/88
reported in MS.
4/89.
Charles McCarry can claim
a varied career. In addition to being the author of The Tears of Autumn
and The Last Supper
he served as assistant to the Secretary of Labor in
the Eisenhower cabinet and has done two stints in the CIA. But he almost wasn't
born. Says McCarry
"My mother became pregnant with me at the age of 39.
She had nearly died while giving birth to my only sibling. Her doctor
who
believed the second pregnancy was a serious threat to her life
advised an
abortion. The advice made sense
but my mother refused to accept it. Just
before she died at age 97
I asked her why. She replied
"I wanted to see
who you were going to turn out to be." ── In a letter to the Wall
Street Journal
quoted in Reader's Digest
February 1990 .
In Germany
they first
came for the Communists and I did not speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then
they came for the trade unionists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a
trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I didn't speak up because I
was a Protestant. Then they came for me and by that time
there was no one left
to speak up. ── Martin Niemoller.
When you're raised in the
country
hunting is just a natural part of growing up. For years I enjoyed
packing up my guns and some food to head off into the woods. Even more than the
hunting itself
I enjoyed the way these trips always seemed to deepen my
relationship with friends as we hunted during the day and talked late into the
night around the campfire. When an old friend recently invited me to relive
some of those days
I couldn't pass up the chance. For several weeks before the
trip
I had taken the time to upgrade some of my equipment and sight in my
rifle. When the day came
I was ready for the hunt. What I wasn't ready for was
what my close friend
Tom
shared with me the first night out on the trail.
I always enjoyed the time
I spent with Tom. He had become a leader in his church and his warm and
friendly manner had also taken him many steps along the path of business
success. He had a lovely wife
and while I knew they had driven over some rocky
roads in their marriage
things now seemed to be stable and growing. Tom's
kids
two daughters and a son
were struggling in junior high and high school
with the normal problems of peer pressure and acceptance.
As we rode back into the
mountains
I could tell that something big was eating away at Tom's heart. His
normal effervescent style was shrouded by an overwhelming inner hurt. Normally
Tom would attack problems with the same determination that had made him a
success in business. Now
I saw him wrestling with something that seemed to
have knocked him to the mat for the count.
Silence has a way of
speaking for itself. All day and on into the evening
Tom let his lack of words
shout out his inner restlessness. Finally
around the first night's campfire
he opened up.
The scenario Tom painted
was annoyingly familiar. I'd heard it many times before in many other people's
lives. But the details seemed such a contract to the life that Tom and his wife
lived and the beliefs they embraced. His oldest daughter had become attached to
a boy at school. Shortly after they started going together
they became
sexually involved. Within two months
she was pregnant. Tom's wife discovered
the truth when a packet from Planned Parenthood came in the mail addressed to
her daughter. When confronted with it
the girl admitted she had requested it
when she went to the clinic to find out if she was pregnant.
If we totaled up the
number of girls who have gotten pregnant out of wedlock during the past two
hundred years of our nation's history
the total would be in the millions.
Countless parents through the years have faced the devastating news. Being a
member of such a large fraternity of history
however
does not soften the
severity of the blow to your heart when you discover it's your daughter.
Tom shared the humiliation
he experienced when he realized that all of his teaching and example had been
ignored. Years of spiritual training had been thrust aside. His stomach churned
as he relived the emotional agony of knowing that the little girl he and his
wife loved so much had made a choice that had permanently scarred her heart.
I'm frequently confronted
with these problems in my ministry and have found that dwelling on the
promiscuous act only makes matters worse. I worship a God of forgiveness and
solutions
and at that moment in our conversation I was anxious to turn toward
hope and healing.
I asked Tom what they had
decided to do. Would they keep the baby
or put it up for adoption? That's when
he delivered the blow. With the fire burning low
Tom paused for a long time
before answering. And even when he spoke he wouldn't look me in the eye.
"We considered the alternatives
Tim. Weighed all the options." He
took a deep breath. "We finally made an appointment with the abortion
clinic. I took her down there myself." I dropped the stick I'd been poking
the coals with and stared at Tom. Except for the wind in the trees and the
snapping of our fire it was quiet for a long time. I couldn't believe this was
the same man who for years had been so outspoken against abortion. He and his
wife had even volunteered at a crisis pregnancy center in his city.
Heartsick
I pressed him
about the decision. Tom then made a statement that captured the essence of his
problem...and the problem many others have in entering into genuine rest. In a
mechanical voice
he said "I know what I believe
Tim
but that's
different than what I had to do. I had to make a decision that had the least
amount of consequences for the people involved."
Just by the way he said
it
I could tell my friend had rehearsed these lines over and over in his mind.
And by the look in his eyes and the emptiness in his voice
I could tell his
words sounded as hollow to him as they did to me. ── Tim Kimmel
Little
House on the Freeway
pp. 67-70.