Guide to Informed Choices
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If you think about it, there are quite a lot of sources of this belief — early cultures, different religions, early Christians, some modern Christians, and many New Age groups. While the idea of awareness before
birth may not be everyone‘s cup of tea, for those who accept it, it provides an extended perspective through which to view abortion.
Implications for abortion? hether you go along with the first premise of awareness before birth or whether you also accept awareness before conception, here are the corresponding implications for abortion. If we are self-aware before birth then:
A fetus has awareness, whether that comes from the brain or soul.
abortion, if not at a physical level, then at a soul level.
think.
If we are self-aware before this existence:
We are more than a physical body; we are spiritual beings also.
We are subject to spiritual laws as well as earthly laws.
Abortion does not just remove a growing human being but also a soul from a body.
We may have been aware of the tests that would face us in this life.
circumstances he or she will be born into.
Reason #88 ―If we are aware before birth or possibly conception, then we might have
a different perspective on abortion‖ W
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Reason #89 There could be a soul just waiting to come into your life
A Gift Especially for You This little soul really wants to be here, so it‘s meant to be. 1246
id you ever consider that specific souls might have been assigned to be born through you and only you? That they need your life experience, your talents or your personality to grow as they need to? Here are a couple of real life stories on the topic of getting the child you are meant to have. Ned had already had an abortion with a previous girlfriend when he got involved in a serious brawl that led him close to death. While the ambulance crew tried to resuscitate him, Ned left his body. He floated above the scene and into the presence of God. There, Ned was shown things about his life and future. When he saw some toddlers playing together he understood that one among them was the child he aborted. Later in his experience he was given a second chance and shown a particular boy who could be his future son when he returned to life. Ned believes that today his son is that same one. 1247 In this case Ned got another chance to bring in a soul God sent to him. Fay was already a mother of four when she just knew she was pregnant. Contraception had failed. Feeling rebellious and unable to cope, Fay booked an appointment at Planned Parenthood, and might have gone ahead, when a friend called her out of the blue, begging her to wait and not go ahead with whatever she was doing. Well, Fay met with her friend and let out all her pent-up feelings…but she still wanted an abortion. Her friend again begged her to wait just a little longer. That night as she lay in bed, Fay became aware of a girl‘s laughter and voice speaking to her, ―Why are you so sad? I‘m Caitlin and I‘m your baby. Please don‘t do this! Everything is going to be okay. All you have to do is ask for what you need and help will be there for you. Please don‘t do this. I want to be there in your life and I need to come now!‖ Over the next few days Fay started to connect with her baby and feel her presence. She changed her mind and gave to birth to a child. 1248 Fay opened herself to God‘s timing and received the little girl child she was meant to have.
This story of a young Japanese schoolgirl was published in a local Japanese paper. D
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This young girl was going through a difficult time. Her parents had divorced and her mother had committed suicide. It was revealed that her brothers were not her biological brothers, and the man she just married had suddenly died in a car accident! And there in the midst of all this distress she found herself pregnant. One day, while sitting on a park bench contemplating suicide, a boy of 5 appeared to her. She recognized him as her future son. This vision conveyed to her that he loved her and wanted to live. Realizing that she could not take her son‘s life as well as hers, she turned to her in-laws‘ home, who welcomed her as their daughter and helped her raise her child. Five years later she was not surprised to find that her son looked just like the vision that saved her life. In the midst of her pain, this woman was given a gift that saved her life. 1249
Children are a gift from God
few more thoughts… He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb…You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless. —Deuteronomy 7:13-14 Then the L ORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The L ORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous. — Deuteronomy 30:9-10 Sons are a heritage from the L ORD ,
—Psalm 127:3
Reason #89 ―Children are a gift from God — will you accept your special gift?‖ A
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Reason #90 Abortion is not just a Catholic issue
Why do we think abortion is only a Catholic concern? lot of people seem to think that if you‘re anti-abortion you must be Catholic. Now, it‘s true that most Catholics identify as pro-life, but that doesn‘t make abortion a Catholic issue any more than third-world poverty is because their church is passionate about fighting it. Indeed just because one group takes up a cause — be it environmental degradation or education — doesn‘t mean that they now own the issue. However, since Catholics tend to be more outspoken on the issue, the issue has come to be looked at as an issue between the Catholics and the non- Catholics. The other reason we see abortion as a Catholic issue is that the early pro-choice movement wanted us to see it that way. Former founding member of NARAL, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, explains, ―Our
movement persistently tarred all opposition with the brush of the Roman Catholic Church or its hierarchy‖ 1250
What was the reasoning behind this? They believed the public would better support them in legalizing abortion if they could portray the opposition as someone, instead of some vague law on paper. Specifically, they chose to criticize the Catholic hierarchy — a group big enough to not require specific names but small enough that not all Catholics would feel alienated. 1251
abortion got to be seen as a Catholic issue; though, as we‘ll see next, you don‘t have to be religious to be pro-life.
You don‘t have to be religious to be pro-life Even if God does not exist, the fetus does. 1252
—former abortionist, Bernard Nathanson
ou don‘t have to be religious to be pro-life. No, in fact, the early opponents of abortion in this country were doctors not priests. Pro- choice author, James Mohr, confirms it, saying, ―The vigorous efforts of America‘s regular physicians would prove in the long run to be the single most important factor‖
1253 in opposing abortion. Perhaps they better than anyone saw and understood what an abortion destroyed, at a time when religious leaders kept silent on matters of sex and reproduction. The pro- choice author also admits, ―The origins and A Y
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evolution of anti-abortion attitudes in the United States owed relatively little to the influence or the activities of organized religion.‖ 1254
So, if abortion is not a religious issue per se, could you be atheist and pro-life? Of course! According to my own logic (that‘s non-religious, I believe) and an authentic atheist forum online, it‘s possible to be pro- life and atheist. In fact, it‘s not only possible, but there are people out there who hold that perspective. 1255
For whatever reason, they have given up God (or perhaps never found Him) but still hold to their pro-life non-religious opinions. What would be an example of a pro-life non- religious opinion? Anything that does not refer to God. For example, any argument involving logic, human rights, human suffering, social justice or science could be used by an atheist. Here is one atheist opinion that refutes abortion for scientific reasons: ―I decided when I was thirteen that I was both an atheist and pro-life. I became an atheist because I had no belief in a spiritual reality. I became prolife because my biology class taught a section about the development of the human embryo and fetus.‖ 1256
A circulating letter by an avowedly anti- religious pro-lifer refutes abortion on many grounds including:
that it goes against his belief in liberty and justice
therefore does not come under her right to liberty
crime deserves to be treated justly
that abortion is cruel and animals receive better treatment 1257
So, we just looked at how the early opponents of abortion were medical professionals, not clergy, and we also saw that it‘s possible to take a pro-life position from a purely non-religious viewpoint. Indeed, it‘s possible precisely because abortion does go beyond doctrine, creed or dogma. After all, it‘s really about human rights.
A human rights concern he right to life is the most basic human right there is. Without that right, no other rights are possible. What are these rights and where do they come from? For an atheist it is something we owe to each other out of human decency. It‘s something that feels right and it‘s to do with justice. You don‘t have to believe in God to support human rights in third-world nations — or your own. All you need is a heart and a belief that taking innocent life T
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is unethical. For a believer in a higher power, it‘s something that‘s God-given. I like the words attributed to America‘s 2 nd President, John Adams, when he said, ―You have rights
antecedent to
all earthly
governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the
Great Legislator of the
Universe.‖ 1258
If it‘s God-given then it is not something your government bestows on you for being a good taxpayer. Instead, a right is something you already own and laws can only affirm that right not hand it out.
The right to life is recognized worldwide and in all human rights treaties as a basic right. Why don‘t we recognize the unborn children as well? The issue of abortion is not Catholic or religious but is about the basic human right of the fetus, the unborn child.
Reason #90 ―The abortion issue goes beyond belief systems‖ Reason #91 The Judeo-Christian heritage is pro-life
Early societies and abortion ome pro-choicers like to show how abortion has been around forever, thereby somehow legitimizing it. Well, let‘s be honest. It has been around for a long time, probably as long as many other activities which are not so wonderful either. But just because we can trace the origin of an act back in history does not prove it‘s a good thing. While there exists a history of abortion we also find a history of opposition to it. Some of those include the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC - AD 17) who condemned abortion, questioning the lack
of motherliness, ―Where is the maternal sense?‖ 1259
Juvenal, another Roman poet, (1 st -2 nd century AD ) wrote that abortions killed a child, ― So great is the skill, so powerful the drugs, of the abortionist, paid to murder mankind within the womb‖ — but jested that it was good for the rich men so their wives might give birth to Ethiopian children. 1260
Finally, the famous Hippocratic Oath, which originated in 4 th century Greece, has S
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doctors entering the medical profession promising to avoid abortion (see
Reason #64: Abortion is not real medicine ). The
oath won
acceptance among
Jews, Christians and Arabs, and persisted all these centuries, only recently being substantially altered.
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Although some Romans and Greeks practiced abortion, we have to remember that all of these ancient civilizations that permitted abortion did not have the ability that we have today, to see the baby under ultrasound, to know how life begins and so on. If it is also true that Rome fell because of its decadence, should we really take this as an example?
Early Judaism udaism was
around long
before Christianity developed. In fact, Jesus worshipped at Jewish not Christian synagogues. (Christianity had not yet become a religion at that point.) Since both religions share a similar history in the Old Testament, let‘s look at the pro-life roots in ancient Judaism. Author Michael J. Gorman makes the statement that ―it was a given of Jewish thought and life that abortion, like exposure [infanticide], was unacceptable, and this was well known in the ancient world.‖
1262 He also notes how historians of the time linked Jewish opposition to abortion to their religious beliefs. It was rare for Jews to engage in deliberate abortion. A Jewish text from around 50 BC -
50 says, ―A woman should not destroy the unborn babe in her belly nor after its birth throw it before the dogs and vultures as a prey.‖ 1263
Early Christianity arly Christianity found many groups and organizations representing the followers of Christ. One early Christian writing, the Didache, a code of living written in the 2 nd century AD , by
leaders within a couple of generations of the apostles, takes a clear stand on abortion writing, ―Thou shalt not murder a child by abortion/destruction.‖ 1264
beliefs about abortion comes from an early church father, Clement of Alexandria. Clement believed in the soul and pre- existence, and so it was no surprise when he considered the soul attached to the body at the moment of conception. He would therefore have concluded that abortion was killing a fetus with a soul. 1265 Clement has the advanced teaching here. Churches would later cite ‗quickening‘ (when the mother feels her baby) as the time the soul joined the body. Today quickening is considered an outdated teaching. (See Reason #13: At what point do you say it‘s J E
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too far along to abort . ) Clement believed that women who abort ―abort at the same time their human feelings.‖ 1266 He also believed that both parents would be responsible for the sins of abortion — sounds logical to me. Clement believed that a caretaking angel would take the souls of the aborted children to safety. 1267
Another early Christian, a church father by the name of Tertullian — although often an opponent of Clement, did agree on this matter of abortion being wrong: ―In our case, murder being once for all forbidden, we may not destroy even the foetus in the womb, while as yet the human being derives blood from other parts of the body for its sustenance. To hinder birth is merely a speedier man-killing; nor does it matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to the birth.‖
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Reason #91 ―There is a historical tradition of defending life‖ Reason #92 Move with the changing attitudes on abortion
Pro choicers admit abortion is on the way out ro-choicers think abortion is not going to be here forever:
On the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, our country is on the brink of abandoning its commitment that abortion will be safe, legal, and available …abortion bans being promoted in at least 17 states are sounding the death knell for the landmark constitutional decision. 1269
Reproductive Choice
Today Roe is in more jeopardy than ever. 1270
—Hillary Clinton, January 24 2005, New York State Family Planning Providers
We are not winning this battle. 1271
—Alexander Sanger, grandson of Margaret Sanger, quoted in Abortion Under Attack: Women on the Challenges Facing Choice
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We've been losing fight after fight after fight.
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—Pro-choice Senator Dianne Feinstein, MSNBC Yüklə 4,63 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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