The Ultimate Reason Why We Should Be Against Abortion

The ultimate reason we should be against abortion is because we need to fear God.

This is not a crusade against abortionists.

It is not an expression of contempt for those that advocate such a practice.

I am not engaging in a harsh censure against any woman that has had an abortion. On the contrary, I have a deep compassion for those who suffer as a result of having made such a choice.  And I will labour to help such as are heavily burdened to find peace with God (Matthew 11:28-30). 

You see, I am not the offended one. God, the infinite, holy and righteous God, the Creator of this world, He   is the offended party, and He will not let the guilty go unpunished (Exodus 34:7). I have a deep and pastoral concern for the well- being of the immortal souls of my readers.  

I love God, and I love my community.

But I love God more than my community.

The happiest times I experience are when my community practices that which God loves – righteousness, justice, kindness (Micah 6:8). But when my community disagrees  with God’s Word, and when my community practices that which is  detestable in God’s eyes, then I must labour  to help my community and warn  my community. That is the true work of the Pastor.

God, simply because of who He is, cannot be mocked or trifled with. My community needs to know that. And I must warn my community that the wrath of God   will be revealed against all our ungodliness and unrighteousness (Romans 1:18). It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God! (Hebrews 10:31). 

Dear reader, I mention these things because I truly care for you, and I do not want to see you have to face the terrible wrath of  a holy, righteous God.

Abortion is murder. The law of God says so (Exodus 20:13).  There is no easy way to say this. The taking of a life is murder and there is no difference between that life in the womb, and that life, seconds after it is born. Anyone who is informed about abortion techniques knows that the child must first be killed in the womb, before the child is removed from the womb.    

I am writing this article against yet another attempt to legalize abortion in Namibia. The voices at government level appear to be getting stronger and louder. What appeared to be once the domain of liberal newspapers, the feminist movement and the LGBT lobby is now moving into the political mainstream!  

Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader McHenry Venaani says he supports calls for Namibia to legalize abortion. The Namibian newspaper reported on the 22^nd June 2020 that Venaani said that abortion and the rights of minority genders would be some of the topics to be discussed at the PDM's policy conference later this year.[1]  I say that Venaani is playing with fire! And in saying what he said, he has lost  the  vote of every right thinking voter in Namibia.

In the Name of God, and for your own sakes, I beg you to resist the foolishness of those community leaders and politicians that would push now to legalize abortion and who would advocate  abortion on demand in Namibia.  God will surely hold our national leaders and our nation, by implication, accountable for the shed blood of the unborn.  Fear God and shun evil!

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[1] https://www.namibian.com.na/92104/read/Venaani-supports-calls-to-legalise-abortion#:~:text=McHenry%20Venaani%20POPULAR%20Democratic%20Movement%20leader%20McHenry%20Venaani,at%20the%20PDM%27s%20policy%20conference%20later%20this%20year.

Arguments for Legalizing Abortions in Namibia - Sowing to the Wind and Reaping the Whirlwind.

On Tuesday the 27^th March 2017 just about every major newspaper in Namibia carried the statement of the minister of Health and Social Services, Mr Bernard Haufiku. The largest daily newspaper  “The Namibian“ reported  as follows in its opening paragraph:

“HEALTH minister Bernard Haufiku has called for the revision of the law criminalising abortion in the country after an unprecedented 7 335 illegal cases were recorded at state facilities last year alone. The rest of the article is contained in the footnote.[1]  

As I was reading the ministers’ statement,  it dawned on me yet again what we are up against and what we are lacking in Namibia.  In the first place, we need to understand that our government is completely bewildered by the facts as they present themselves in the statistics. 
We also need to understand that anyone can say anything with statistics. Every discerning citizen knows that. Behind every statistic is in fact a different person and a different circumstance. What we need more than anything is the wisdom to deal with the information as it presents itself, information not only at face value, but at a deeper level.  The minister with his ‘face value’ information can only come to one conclusion on the basis of the superficial evidence. He says ‘decriminalize abortion’.

So too, we must make reference to  Dudley’s cartoon in “The Namibian” newspaper of the  31^st March 2017. The message  says,  ‘Legalize Abortion’. The ‘body language’ of the cartoon says it all. An angry feminist fist upon an inverted cross, accompanied by quotes from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, perhaps the most liberal justice in the United States Supreme court! 
The adjacent editorial[2] on the same day and page says, “We can only imagine the minister is treading carefully for fear of a backlash from zealots, who view the issue as nothing but a callous crime committed by pregnant women.” 

We can only imagine who is meant by the zealots, who view the issue as nothing but a callous crime committed by pregnant women.  

Incidentally, the editor who is nameless, knowingly or unknowingly uses a subversive weapon,   Saul Alinksy’s Rules for Radicals, encouraging the use of ridicule against one’s opponents. Rule five says, “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It’s hard to counterattack ridicule, and it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.”[3]

If the editors mean zealots to be representatives from the church community, then we wish them to know that their pointing hand has three fingers pointing back at them! Many newspaper editors, in their zeal for their own causes, see themselves above and beyond contradiction. 

Bad news!

We want  them  to know that many of us, whom  they  call ‘zealots’ have a real  concern for the people and unborn  children  that  get  hurt  in the abortion debacle, and many in our circles  are working  as well as we know how,  to address the real issues  that  lead to abortion, and not simply with the tip of a poison pen.  

So what  we see is that both the minister and the press are seeking to address this problem via the law…. Decriminalize… legalize!  

We want to argue that the problem of abortion can ultimately not be solved via the law and that if we seek  to solve such problems via the law  then we must expect  that the law can deal with the problem only in a superficial way.  The law will leave  many people hurt, squashed and devastated, and worst of all, not really helped!  So, the minister has a point, but this point needs to be thought through much more carefully. In the hands of a biased  press  such a call can easily  end up in messy hands. 

To get back to the matter at hand:  Making abortion a criminal offence by which the concerned person will simply receive a sentence or a fine may not prove to be the best approach or solution to the matter. The person, having undergone an abortion has far profounder matters to contend with, such as a sense of real guilt and loss. 
Let’s face it. 
In abortion a life is taken. There is just no other way to say this. 
And the conscience will  give  no rest, and if the conscience is suppressed, which is what many people in such situations tend  to do,  then it rears its ugly head in  other ways. Anger, bitterness  and cynicism become  typical response patterns of people that  have  suppressed their consciences. Further  down the line the road  may   lead to  soul deadening  alcohol or  drug addictions  and the like.  

We have yet to meet a woman who has had an abortion and  who has been OK with that. There is no amount of reason or logic that can  erase  the pain  experienced  when making such a choice.  Those who are Pro-choice really do not  think very carefully about  the implications of their choices. Theirs is a short term solution,  and  the misguided counsel given that it is a woman's right to decide is really not helping any woman in the long term. 

At the heart of the dilemma  there is a theological problem, which manifests as a social and emotional problem, and the law finds that it  cannot deal with that.

So, what are we saying?   

We are saying that life needs a shepherd more than a prison warden.  Life needs a shepherd, in fact, life needs the Good Shepherd! 
May God restore the church and society  to see this! 
Sadly,  this   superficial reflection by  our governing authorities, together  with  an aversion by a liberal press to  the life affirming  morality,   inspired by the teachings of the Judeo –Christian  faith is not really  helping us at this time  of crisis.   

The government, which is the protector and servant of the people of Namibia, is at a crossroads.  

• Will it continue to allow poorly performed backyard abortions to kill or disable women, 
• Or will it allow the killing of children yet unborn?
• The solution, it seems, is to be found between a rock and a hard place! 

So, the alarming headlines and the statistics may lead to conclusions and actions in which our nation may be responding to the wind, but in reality we may be reaping   the whirlwind.

God’s answer to this complex question (and sin makes everything complex, doesn’t it?)  has been given to the church which is in possession of the Bible -  the Word of God.  In it we shall find that sinful people like ourselves have  to come to terms  that their sin  is in the first place not against the law  per se, but against Him who is the End of the law and who is the  Giver of Life.  When David had an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, a union out of which a child would be born, he knew that he had  principally  sinned  against God.[4]

The church, under the direction of her God, invites women not to abort babies. 

There are alternatives, and if government can do anything here, then it  is to support baby shelters for abandoned babies, and to support responsible, tested  Christian agencies  that would  receive and place abandoned  babies into loving homes. 

Such agencies would also love, care, nurture and counsel women that have aborted,  back into  to emotional and spiritual health.   

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[1] Haufiku said the figures could reach 10 000 since many such cases involving women aged below 25 years go unreported.  Under Namibia's Abortion and Sterilisation Act 1975, abortions are illegal for women and girls, except in extreme cases such as rape, incest, or endangerment of the mother's or child's life.  Health ministry figures show that the Katutura Intermediate Hospital with 1 503 had the highest number of cases, followed by the Windhoek Central Hospital with 878 cases. Oshakati State Hospital recorded 766 cases; Onandjokwe Lutheran Hospital, 621; Rundu State Hospital, 419; Outapi State Hospital, 405; Swakopmund State Hospital, 329; Walvis Bay State Hospital, 302; Otjiwarongo State Hospital, 246; Katima Mulilo State Hospital, 201; Gobabis State Hospital, 174; Engela State Hospital, 126; Rehoboth State Hospital, 121; and Okahao State Hospital 105 cases.Haufiku told a press conference yesterday that of the 7 335 cases, 138 were medical abortions (authorised cases), which constitutes 2% of the total.  He said in most cases, an illegal abortion is only presented to health facilities when it is incomplete, or if the woman develops complications such as haemorrhaging and infections.  According to Haufiku, it is of major concern, as unsafe abortions pose a major risk to women's physical and mental health. “We need thorough national reflection on the reasons why so many women risk their lives by resorting to unsafe abortions in a country where contraceptives are widely available. Most importantly, we need to ask ourselves whether it is not time to relook the legislation and decriminalise abortion,” he stated.   He added that it now requires everybody, not only the health ministry, but the communities, religious bodies and opposition to seriously think about what needs to be done to bring down these figures.   Although the health ministry will try its best to contain the situation, a national debate and consultations across all sectors are needed to pass new regulations which many people will agree with “In the end, we will have to take a decision. We cannot allow it to go on as is the case at the moment”, he stressed. Haufiku said as much as his ministry is aware that abortions are illegal, they do not report the women who seek medical assistance to the police because they do not want to scare away others, or be viewed as a “police agency”.  “It becomes a difficult situation if we report them to the police. We will actually lose a lot of them. If we reported 7 000 this year, next year the number might come down to 700,” he said, adding that he does not want to create animosity between the affected women and the medical fraternity. “I don't believe that reporting them to the police is the best solution,” he noted”. Apart from the high abortion cases, the minister also said the country was not doing well as far as maternal health was concerned because from April 2012 to March 2015, there were 3 434 neonatal deaths and 93 maternal deaths out of the 191 517 live births.  One hundred and three maternal deaths were also reported over 20 months between 1 April 2015 and 30 November 2016.“The major causes of maternal mortality are the hypertensive disease, obstetric haemorrhages, pregnancy-related sepsis, abortions and anaesthetic complications,” he revealed, adding that another indirect cause of maternal mortality is related to the high HIV-AIDS prevalence...“Abortion, being a moral matter, has been a concern for many years, regardless from which perspective it is looked at. It has to be dealt with at another level,” he added. Legal Assistance Centre lawyer Corinna van Wyk said it is important that abortions are legalised in order to create more opportunities for women to have safe abortions.  “The figures show that we need to revisit our laws on abortion,” she said.

[2] In the same newspaper on Friday, 30^th March,  a cartoon by ‘Dudley’  together  with an editorial, entitled  “Abortion is Not the Only Killer”  raised the issue again. This is what the editorial had to say:   “500 WOMEN die from abortion every year.' Perhaps such should be the news headlines to make Namibians understand we have a crisis, and all because of a lack of empathy. Health minister Bernard Haufiku tried this week to highlight the magnitude of the problem when he announced that more than 7 300 women were treated at state health centres last year due to “illegal abortions” gone wrong. Haufiku said the figure could be as high as 10 000 –– at least 27 cases a day.  The minister called for “decriminalisation” of abortion, which is outlawed by legislation dating back to 1975. We can only imagine the minister is treading carefully for fear of a backlash from zealots, who view the issue as nothing but a callous crime committed by pregnant women. People who label pregnant women as murderers over abortions refuse to see the far more dangerous threats to lives.  Earlier this month, a young woman died at Ondangwa after undergoing a backyard abortion. Her helper was arrested for murder. Many women are hunted down like hard-core criminals, also accused of “baby-dumping”.  Last week at Walvis Bay, a woman was arrested and charged with murder after “abandoning” her five-month-old baby while she went to work as a security guard for 13 hours. Security guards often work half-day shifts for bosses who have no mercy. A lot is wrong with Namibians if we crush a mother who just lost her five-month-old infant. Whether abortion, baby-dumping, or abandonment, empathy is what is needed. No woman goes through pregnancy and birth only to get rid of it without incredible emotional and physical pain.  Minister Haufiku warned that the criminalisation of abortion only makes the crisis worse. He knows the poor people suffer most, because the rich can pay professionals to avoid complications, or go to South Africa where abortion is legal.  We support Haufiku that arrests in abortion cases (including baby-dumping and “neglect”) must stop immediately, as those responsible are not a danger to society.  In fact, Haufiku and his cabinet colleagues must immediately start the process to legalise abortion and offer counselling. Abortion is not the killer, lack of empathy and care is.

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_for_Radicals

[4]  See Psalm 51 

Abortion : How perverted and how much more twisted can we get ?

This  article  was  found   on today’s BBC news  -  24^th November  2011.  

This  horrified me, and this should horrify  all  thinking Christians!  

In Namibia we struggle with similar issues  and that is why I wish to  comment on this matter. 

Those of my readers  who would like to  hear  some truly miraculous stories of God's intervention in the lives of "sick babies" in the womb may read this article which I have written some time ago: http://jrieck.blogspot.com/2009/10/pastoral-concern-over-so-called-legal.html

Australia probe after wrong twin foetus terminated 

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15870161

A probe is under way at an Australian hospital after staff treating a woman carrying twin boys accidentally terminated the wrong foetus.

Doctors had told the woman that one of her babies had a congenital heart defect that would require numerous operations, if he survived.

The woman chose to abort the 32-week foetus but staff injected the wrong twin.

The hospital in Melbourne described it as a "terrible tragedy".

"The Royal Women's Hospital can confirm a distressing clinical accident occurred on Tuesday," it said in a statement.

"We are conducting a full investigation and continue to offer the family and affected staff every support."

The woman went on to have an emergency caesarean to end the life of the sick foetus.

'Thorough investigation' 

Victorian Health Minister David Davis said the hospital investigation would be overseen by an independent expert.

"I am very much determined to get to the bottom of what went wrong," he said.

State Premier Ted Baillieu echoed his sentiments, saying: "I don't think it's appropriate for anybody to draw any conclusions other than this is a horrible tragedy."

"We'll make sure that the investigation is as thorough as it can be."

In a brief statement, the family asked for privacy "at what has been a very difficult time for us".

MY  COMMENT :

The    twin with the  congenital  heart defect  was  sentenced to death by abortion  on account of  the fact that  it would need numerous operations! So,  money talks louder  than  life  after all!

And then the  hospital staff  does it!  They  accidentally  inject  the healthy twin with  the  lethal dose,  and now  it is said  that this  was a "terrible tragedy" ... "a distressing clinical accident"  .  

What makes the  death of the 'healthy' twin more terrible   than  the planned death of  the sibling?

And then, to  add injury to insult,  "the woman went on to have an emergency caesarean to end the life of the sick foetus". So then there was a foetus  that was healthy and desirable  and a foetus that was  unhealthy and therefore  disposable.  
What   a warped  logic , and  it  is all because we see  the foetus as a thing and not a little living human being in the womb. 

And now  the  family  is  asking for privacy because  they are having a very difficult time!  My pastor's heart  longs  to be with them now!

What shall we say to this  ? 

Well,  I so wished that this couple  could have had somebody  with a loving heart and a  biblical worldview to talk  this through  beforehand. Children have been born with congenital heart defects (I know  some). This  can be dealt with medically. It may cost something, but  that  cost is insignificant  when compared  to the terrible  cost of  living  with  the life long guilt and pain that women go through after they have had an abortion. 

Ask me ! I am a pastor. 

I meet  women  who have had abortions, and  I have never yet met a woman  that hasn't struggled with severe guilt  after an abortion.  

Only the matchless grace of our Lord Jesus  Christ can be sufficient to heal  such a broken woman from her  sinful choice.  I have often  seen  God's grace and forgiveness  in such   a situation, and it is wonderful. 

This case has  created  a wide  public awareness. The state premier  of Victoria, Australia,   Ted Baillieu  has  commented on this .   

What on earth are people  thinking  for heaven's sake? Lord, in your wrath, remember mercy! (Habakkuk 3:2)

Pastoral Concern over so called ' legal' abortions in Namibia

HOW SHOULD WE THINK OF  UNBORN CHILDREN  THAT ARE TERMED  'NON-VIABLE',  AND  FOR WHOM DOCTORS  SUGGEST A  THERAPEUTIC ABORTION'?   
(With particular application  to  Anencephaly  / Holoprosencephaly)

[A talk given to our church on 06/ 08/2008 - by  Pastor  Joachim Rieck] This talk was given  in response  to the distressing news  given to  a  family in our church whose child was  diagnosed in the womb with HPE.  A wide  range of doctors were consulted  in Southern Africa  and their  immediate response was, "abort!"  We  are happy to report that  this family chose to  carry this child to full term, despite this very poor diagnosis. 

Little Rachel  was born on the 30th October 2008.  Against  all human expectations she has done  well, and she has reached all her milestones, and today, almost  a year later  she is on the verge of walking. This is nothing but the hand of God, and a wonderful  answer to the  prayer  of  her parents and the church.This also happened to  remind the medical  fraternity   that they are not God! 

Twice in a relatively short time span, parents associated with our church have  received the devastating news that their unborn child‘s brain development is abnormal.  Apart  from the devastating news  that these  two sets of parents  had both been  subjected to, there comes now the additional  suggestion, “abort this child -  it is not viable”. The  common reasons given  are,    

• “should this child be born  its quality of  life  will be poor“  
• “the medical costs will be very high” 
• “you have to think of yourselves and your quality of life! “  

In both these cases mentioned, the suggestion by medical practitioners has been therapeutic abortion.

It also might be worth while mentioning that the devastation and the shock are not limited to the parents alone. Close family members and friends suffer from similar shock and hurt. In the process the influence of family members may have a strong bearing on whether or not that child will be aborted.

Let me make my own position clear...

I am not a medical practitioner. I am a pastor – a shepherd of souls.  As such I cannot make a medical diagnosis or perform surgery.  I am not trained in this area. Therefore I must respect medical doctors and their expertise.  I must listen to them when they describe the symptoms and when they make a diagnosis (which may not always be right)[1]

So, while  the  medical practitioner  may make an accurate diagnosis,  he or she  does not  always make a good prescription  - particularly in  such cases  where  severe brain disorder  is concerned.

The standard prescription  I am afraid to say in such a case in Namibian medical practice, is abortion.

As a pastor, I am called to deal with life.  I am called to protect life and respect life.  My duty is to instill hope in hopelessness. My motto must be “while there is life, there is hope - who knows what God will or can do? “[2]. And ultimately I    believe that life and death is in God’s hands (Job 1:21). My work is that of a healer and not of a destroyer.  The only destructive work that I must be involved in is the destruction of sin – in whatever form  that may appear. My work is therefore “pro-life“.

In this paper   I  will seek to  help you  to  understand the prognosis  of   children in the womb with  brain disorders, and then come  look at the  theological prescription  to such situations.

Describing  the  2 kinds of brain disorders  which I have had to deal with

a. Anencephaly is a distressing condition of infants whose brains have failed to develop during gestation beyond a very rudimentary stage.

b. Holoprosencephaly [3]  is a birth defect that occurs during the first few after conception. It  is a disorder in which the brain does not grow forward and divide as it is supposed to during early pregnancy.  This brain malformation can range from mild to severe and is classified into four types:

• Alobar (severe)--where the brain is not divided and there are severe abnormalities.
• Semi-Lobar (moderate)--where the brain is partially divided and there are some moderate abnormalities; where there are two hemispheres in the rear but not the front of the brain.
• Lobar (mild)--where the brain is divided and there are some mild abnormalities.
• Middle Interhemispheric Variant (MIHV) -- where the middle of the brain (posterior frontal and parietal lobes) are not well separated. 

Children diagnosed with HPE may have a small head (microcephaly), excessive fluid in the brain (hydrocephalus), variable degrees of mental retardation, epilepsy, endocrine abnormalities, or abnormalities of other organ systems such as cardiac, skeletal, genitor-urinary, and gastro-intestinal. Mildly affected children may exhibit few symptoms and may live a normal life.  Facial deformities are often present in many children diagnosed with HPE. 

How common is this defect?

It is estimated that HPE affects between 1 in 5,000-10,000 live births. Since many pregnancies with a fetus diagnosed with HPE end in miscarriage, the frequency of HPE among all pregnancies may be as high as 1 in 200-250.

Current studies indicate that only 3% of all  such children  with HPE survive to delivery and the vast majority of these infants do not survive past the first six months of life.

A Common Question:  Is  such a child ‘viable’?

The question  which is almost always asked   in such a case is this, “Is it possible that the child with only a rudimentary brain is in fact "brain-dead" and therefore not a person, but a "living corpse" in whom only residual life remains?“

Let me take the worst case  scenario  - anencephaly  -  the condition whereby  the  unborn child only has a brain stem.   Such a child has a very  poor prognosis. These children most often  die in the womb, and if not , then  during  child birth or very soon thereafter. Here’s the point. The child  may have a poor prognosis, and  it will in fact die (as we all must, some time),  but  the greater fact is that  the  infant with anencephaly  exhibits physiological life in the womb! 

The unspoken assumption  by many  is that  life  and viability  only begins  outside of the womb. I  will  challenge that assumption  philosophically, and more importantly theologically.

1. The Philosophical challenge  

What  does  'brain dead'  mean ? [4]

The standard definition of "brain-death", based on our present state of knowledge requires, that to certify human death, we must be certain that the total brain be dead.

Infants with anencephaly, even when they totally lack the cerebral hemispheres, still may have a brainstem or other rudimentary brain tissue, and thus their whole brain is not dead. It is true  that they may be  capable of little more than most elemental and primitive reflexes, and thus from a common perspective  be considered as non-viable. However, the fact that the infant with  such brain disorders faces early death does not prove it  to be   a non-person (or a child without a soul)   any more than if it were an adult dying with severe brain damage.

It is a well known fact that the human body can continue to function physiologically with little actual input from the brain. The unity of a living human organism is not dependent on the action of any primary organ, such as the brain, but on the interaction of other essential parts (e.g. heart , lung , liver , kidneys etc).

It is not at all clear, however, how a system of many organs can regulate itself so as to act in a unified way without some primary organ that is the principal regulator.

The clinical data are much better explained by noting that a complex organism has many levels of organization.

Thus in sleep the brain ceases to play so great a role in regulating physiological function as in the waking state, while the lower levels continue to function in relative independence. What is decisive however is that without the brain, the higher specifically human functions of thought and will and of voluntary bodily actions cannot take place.

Thus total brain-death, with its absolute elimination of even the possibility of specifically human function is the best criterion of human death.

By this criterion the infant with anencephaly is not dead, but is a living person  similar  to a person  in the "persistent vegetative state".  The total brain is not dead  and since the living child with anencephaly cannot be safely judged to have suffered total brain-death, he or she must be treated as a person with the rights proper to such.

 2. The Theological Challenge: 

The Sola Scriptura   principle:  What does God’s Word have to say on the matter?

Is the Bible authoritative and sufficient for counsel in these matters? Historical Christianity says “yes!”. I submit the following theological reflections:

a. All of life is theological.  A key principle in Christian theology is that man and his life are from God (Gen. 1: 26, 27). Man is created by God and must live by the rules of His design. This means that the principle of life belongs to God, and may not be taken by any man. This constitutes the   6^th commandment (Ex. 20:13).  The only exception for a man to be killed at the hands of another human being,  is for murder (capital punishment) [5] .

b. Sickness / death / abnormalities are a result of man’s fall (Gen. 3). 
Such deformities are  a part of being a fallen human being.  Every human being and not just anencephalic babies are subject to this rule.   Think about the even worse fact that through sin we are all deformed in our spiritual relationship to God and in our character! Think about the fact that our bodies will weaken (become abnormal) sometime, and we shall die!

c.  Christ is  the Redeemer from sin   
In this  life  God, through Christ,  redeems  fallen mankind from  the curse of sin. He justifies His people and calls them righteous.However, we continue to live in our fallen bodies until death. How does God help us to live in this body of sin?  Paul answers this question in Romans 7:25,  “Thanks be  to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  

How does Jesus deliver us in the pain of our present fallen-ness? The answer is that He gives us grace in our trials (e.g. Matt. 11:28; 2 Cor.  12 :9). This means  that  He may not deliver  us from  sickness / abnormalities / death,  but  that He delivers us in  these things,  through  death into eternal life, at which time we shall receive our  perfect resurrection bodies[6]. 

Psalm 23 tells us that God walks with His people through the valley of the shadow of death. These are not just sentimental thoughts. They are theological facts and certainties. 

d. Further Theological Reflections:

(i)    Scripture is pro –life.  Life begins at conception. Life and death as being in God’s hands (Job 1:21), not ours. Even physical handicaps  are  from God(Ex. 4:11; Jn.9:1-3)

(ii)  Scripture speaks of unborn children in the same language as those already born. The  child  has a soul  and identity in God’s eyes  ( e.g. Ps.  139) 

(iii) There is a difference between killing (abortion/ euthanasia) and letting die (switching of respirators etc).

(iv) God’s providence tends to bring unusual situations into our lives.  These happen because God may have a greater purpose through our trials   e.g. the sanctification of His people (e.g.  Hebr.  12: 1 - 13). Therefore we must be careful that we do not trespass against / or ignore  God’s providences, which are always directed towards His greater glory and ultimately for our own comfort (Rom 8: 35-39)

FURTHER ISSUES   TO CONSIDER:

1. Medical Issues

• Is the mother’s life presently in danger so that abortion becomes a necessity?  No! In fact, studies indicate that a legal abortion has a higher risk factor than child birth[7].

• Is therapeutic abortion   really therapeutic?  (see emotional/psychological  issues  below ) 

• The tendency of  medical practitioners towards  immediate (short term)  ‘pain relief’, without  adequate  consideration of  the long term effects  spiritual/ emotional factors  is of great concern.
• The blessing and curse of modern medicine: The blessing of being able to intervene; but the curse of knowing ahead of time what the prognosis will be.   If there were no sonar equipment, this would not have been an issue.
•  The child   is not on the same level as a tumor or an appendix that must be removed. In an abortion, what is it that dies? Tissue or Human Life?

2. Emotional/ Psychological Issues

• The mother’s   emotional life if she were to abort needs to be considered.  The history of women that have aborted (even in such desperate cases) is associated with emotional trauma – if not in the short term, then in the long term.  

• Pastorally speaking it is better to carry   the living child to full term, and then deal with death. This promotes a healthy conscience and promotes healthy grieving.

• The question of motives:  Why does one wish to have an abortion?  Is it merely because it is inconvenient? 

3. The support structures for families with severely handicapped children

 

• The role of the church. The Christian church  in history  has been the major agent  of  help  and  compassion  for parents  with severely   handicapped children  (Gal.  6:2). Nothing has changed. The church remains God’s most useful tool for compassion.

• Prayer:  This is not the very least we can do! It is the very first! The church will pray and fast that God’s will be done. We may be sure that whatever comes from our Heavenly Father’s hands will be best for us. In this regard it is not even wrong  to   pray  for healing. In this regard  see  David’s prayer for his  desperately sick child -  2 Sam.  12: 13-23. Hope in God  remains a fundamental pillar of  the Christian life.  The point is that God  remains sovereign, and whatever He gives is good.

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[1] In a new study, researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute have found that a significant number of children with severe brain disorders are being misdiagnosed, potentially affecting treatment and outcome.  The study, published online in the March 2004  issue of the American Journal of Medical Genetics, looked at 104 children diagnosed with holoprosencephaly, or HPE, a rare condition in which the brain does not grow and divide into hemispheres as it should during the first few weeks of pregnancy. Of 255 children referred to the study with a diagnosis of HPE, upon brain scan review, 19 percent actually had other types of brain disorders, and not HPE.   For further info: webmaster@kennedykrieger.org  

[2] See  2 Samuel  12: 1 -23.  David’s son born to Batsheba   would die  by God’s decree.  Yet against all hope  David hoped  for  his newly born  son’s life. He therefore prayed and fasted  to that end. God  chose to take the child.   The point is that  it is right for a parent to go on praying until God’s will is made certain.

[3] This information is  taken from  the internet: The Carters Center s for  brain research on Holoprosencephaly and related malformations.

[4] Most of this material was gleaned from  an Internet  article  “ Moral Principles Concerning Infants with Anencephaly”   by Fr Benedict Ashley, P.P.---  “BeNotAfraid.net”  

[5] Ex 21:12 ; Lev 24:17 ; Rom 13:4

[6] 1 Cor 15 :42-44

[7]  Quoted from “PhysiciansforLife.org “  an article by  Dr Lance Radbill : “ Abortion is a surgical procedure, and like any surgical procedure, it can have serious risks. A Swedish study indicated that legal abortion is more dangerous than childbirth because the maternal death rate from legal abortions was 39 per 100,000 abortions while the maternal death rate from childbirth was 14 per 100,000 live births.