Abortion: agony, confusion, life

Abortion: Agony and New Life

Two realities about abortion: first a woman faces a decision unlike any other, so talks with a friend, counselor, physician, pastor, or is reading this. Second, as a Christian I know that Christ suffers with her as Christ supports her decision-making.

Abortion decisions are based on your personal moral beliefs, since there is no consensus or agreement about the morality of abortion. Many women who opposed abortion, when they feel the pressure of a pregnancy that could be devastating, came to new insights. Each of us decides about abortion in particular situations.

To legislate that a woman cannot have an abortion, or limit her, violates her first amendment right to her own religious feelings or morality.

Religion and abortion
The Bible is not against abortion. Bible writers use the words breath, life, and spirit interchangeably. Exodus 21 says if someone strikes a woman so that she miscarries a fetus, no one is guilty of murder! The Christian church throughout its history has gone back and forth about abortion. Major world religions support the right to contraception and abortion as shown in the book Sacred Choices by Daniel C. Maguire. The history of anti-abortionism is interesting. The Bible and church history do not say what the anti-abortionists claim.

Life itself
"When does life begin?" is not the question, but when do you feel that being a person and self-awareness begin? Respect for life has many meanings and implications. What is the balance between concern for the life of a woman and the life of a fetus?

Children who are not wanted, not loved feel that deep inside! Neglect or abuse of children is one of the most heinous crimes, because an unwanted, unloved baby often has tragic results. The book Freakonomics in one chapter summarizes the evidence that legalizing abortion reduced crime, because unwanted children are so often neglected or abused, which leads many to commit anti-social, criminal acts. The hundreds of convicted rapists in a prison were found to have every one been sexually abused as boys!

When I think the person begins
Our son’s personality and nature are interwoven with his being a red head. Did our son’s “life” begin at conception or with the ancestor red-head that effected so much of his personality and social experience? Many of us have similar traits — physical and personality — that go back generations and are deeply interwoven in who we become.

I believe, and think, the newborn begins his or her life when taking that first breath and cries at being cut-off from a cozy well-fed environment. Life encouraging habits of eating, exercise, proper drink, and not smoking affect the fetus. But I believe the personality and the person begin with that first cry as the baby reaches out to others for acceptance, trust, love, expressed in stroking, care, and words.

Who is pro-life?
To those who call themselves "pro-life" I ask: how do you compare a fetus as tiny as in its first weeks – the size of this T — to the life of the woman who will either give her all to the developing fetus or neglect it? I consider that I am pro life, because I treasure the life of the woman who can do so much to birth a new life when she is ready to respect and parent a growing child.

Let women speak
The majority of women having abortions in the U.S. are mothers who feel they cannot adequately care for another child. An insightful, probing book is Abortion: My Choice, God's Grace edited by Anne Eggebroten. Dozens of women share their feelings, and as a Christian I warmly recommend it. In a film entitled "I Had an Abortion" eleven women, ages 21 to 85, tell their personal, moving abortion experiences. One's abortion was before Roe v. Wade, as was the abortion of the first woman I counseled as a pastor.

This I believe
I believe it is essential that abortions be as safe as medical science can make them, be as non invasive as possible, including medications like Mifepristone under physician care. But I want abortions to be infrequent, because safe and effective birth control is widely available and understood. Sex education in schools must be medically accurate and thorough. I want people to passionately share my beliefs:

women are people whom we must respect as independent and responsible,
children must get quality parenting to develop trust and love, acceptance and appreciation, and
birth control is healthy, moral, and essential.

To every woman who wants to birth and parent their child we must provide full prenatal medical care and support in parenting.

Post abortion trauma?
Post abortion psychological trauma is claimed by some anti-abortionists. Careful studies show that post abortion trauma is rare, and usually it is the result of pre-existing problems. A woman who had an abortion pre-Roe, very alone, wrote, "The most painful aspect … was that I was never allowed to talk about the abortion — how I felt … no one would hear my pain or my questions." Those who after an abortion feel any unease should see a therapist or supportive pastor. Postpartum depression is frequent — the Houston woman who drowned her five young children, the Carolina woman who drowned her two — but most women find healthy outcomes from postpartum depression. Some religious people try to make those who had an abortion feel guilty. Whatever feelings you have there are counselors and pastors who are not judgmental but listen, encourage, and help you work through questions.

Conclusion
If a woman decides to continue a pregnancy, thinking that is her best choice, then let her give all she has to nourish the evolving life. Women facing unwanted pregnancies feel sorrow, anger, wanting to live. When a new life is not celebrated, when it is feared, unwanted, when it is not nourished and medically prepared for, then a woman must make her own decision. If she chooses an abortion, then physicians must be available who will administer Mifepristone or clinics that will perform safe abortions, and her medical insurance must pay the costs.

Hopefully she talks with her physician and others who have accurate information and whom she trusts. "Crisis Pregnancy Centers" cannot be trusted, because they are not medical facilities, their staff are committed against any abortion, and they give faulty information.

Is Christ pro-choice?
At the beginning I said Christ suffers with those deciding about abortion. I think Christ lives to bring liberty. Christ suffers with a woman who decides whether to have an abortion, because Christ treasures the full life of the woman just as much as the tiny fetus just beginning to develop.

My prayer
May all pregnancies become times of expectation and celebration between two partners who can hardly wait for the new life to be in their hands.

If you are reading and concerned about an unplanned pregnancy, you may not now want to consider these issues: among our poorer fellows sex is known as the only free recreation, and many do not know how to prevent disease or pregnancy. Other teen girls want a baby. Other teens have come to ambitions that require more education or training, and desire those goals so they learn careful sex practices to earn those results.

Click for more thoughts about abortion policies and laws.

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