Some Christians believe that abortion is murder and against the laws of God. These Christians seem to have very short memories. I remember when abortion was illegal in this country. It was a very bad thing. It was a great social ill. The impetus for legalization of abortion was the tremendous suffering and butchery associated with it being illegal.
First off, abortion was only illegal for poor people. The bankers, lawyers, doctors, and others in our cities and towns who could afford it, simply and discreetly flew their pregnant daughters to a location where abortions could be obtained. Half the reason for having a spring break in the school system was so that the rich parents could fly the daughters to Mexico to have their pregnancies terminated before the prom and graduation. No society, which claims to be founded on principles of equality, can tolerate this kind of inequity.
Second, there used to be a huge back alley abortion industry in this country: secret places where people could go and obtain illegal abortions, frequently from individuals without proper training, who used improper or inappropriate methods and equipment, and frequently in unsanitary conditions. The whole thing is reminiscent of the situation during prohibition -- it was out of control. The number of women in our society that were butchered in these abortion "speak easy's" was shocking. Have we forgotten the suffering of those who were maimed for life or lost their lives in those bad old days. Can we in good conscience desire a return to that situation. Do we really believe that returning to this situation would be moral.
Third, we seem to have forgotten the suffering of the Children. The horror of abuse associated with being an unwanted baby. The abandoned children. The babies dumped with the trash and left in public restrooms. The babies who were put in cardboard boxes and left on the highway where they could be run over and killed by traffic.
Many Christians believe that the weight of the moral arguments falls clearly on the side of legalizing abortion.
Many Christians who argue that abortion should be banned, base their arguments on a particular interpretation of certain verses of scripture. Of course, there is no mention of abortion in the Bible as the technology had not been developed. Any conclusions, therefore, must come from indirect references. There are actually only three references in the Bible to the death of a fetus. The one that is closest to an abortion is in Exodus 21:22-25 where the punishment for someone causing a woman to have a miscarriage is discussed. The penalty prescribed is a fine. In the previous verses (starting with verse 12) the penalty for murder is discussed. It is always death. Apparently, causing a woman to have a miscarriage, as long as the woman was not killed, was not considered murder.
The other two references to the death of a fetus are in Job 3:11 in which Job cries in his suffering, "Why didn't I die at birth?" and Jeremiah 20:14-18. In the passage in Jeremiah, the prophet laments that he has lived to see the day of the destruction of Israel. To emphasize his point, he calls for the death of the man who attended his birth for not killing him before he was born. In both of these passages from the Bible, the death of a fetus is a desired thing. Clearly, the scripture is not one sided on this issue.
The scripture passages usually taken as strongest support for the anti-abortion, "right to life" position, are somewhat more indirect and focus on the high level of respect for human life that was evidenced in Jesus life and can be seen throughout the scripture. Examples include, Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:4,5; Ecclesiastes 11:5; Job 31:15. And of course, respect for human life is central to Christianity. Passages such as Psalm 139:13-16 which refer to the fact that God knew all about us before we were born are consistent with other passages which indicate that not a hair falls from our head that God doesn't note, or a sparrow falls from the sky that He does not count (Matthew 10:29-30). But this latter passage is rarely interpreted as instruction against cutting your hair or shooting a dove.
Abortion can be seen as tampering with the gene pool. As such it is part of what may be the greatest intellectual and moral challenge ever to face humans in the history of the species. Once we thought that the invention of the atomic bomb with it's potential for annihilation of the species was the greatest challenge to face us in the twentieth century. That was prior to the advent of genetic engineering. The visage of a species, not annihilated, but irrevocably altered, to become genetically alien, is at least as frightening as annihilation itself.
It is essential, for the survival of the species, that humans work together to draw the line which we will not allow science to cross. Ever since Oppenheimer, the myth of an amoral science no longer has an appeal. We must insist that science and scientists act morally and with respect for the species. We must draw a line in the genetic sand and state that it is immoral and unconscionable to tamper with the species beyond this line, no matter the presumed scientific benefits.
The problem is, we have absolutely no idea where the line should be. No one seems to object to the use of human genetic material to produce cells which can be used as organic factories to produce useful substances such as human interferon. Some object to the use of human tissue for research purposes, but only if it was obtained by abortion and not if it was donated to science by signing a donor card. No one seems to object to research and experimentation designed to develop cures for genetic diseases, but many cringe at the idea of selectively breeding subhuman species with relatively low oxygen needs for use in deep shaft mining operations.
Where do we draw the line. One very conservative position, would be to draw it at conception. To take the position that we will not tamper with the gene pool even to abort a diseased or badly mis-formed fetus. Others point out that we already tamper with the gene pool, every time we release CFC's into the atmosphere, reduce the ozone layer, and increase the radiation exposure of all species on the earth.
Clearly, this will become a major issue which will have to be faced by our species in the future. But noting that a line must be drawn, doesn't tell us where to draw it. Christians must of course be involved in the dialogue, but Christianity provides no simple or pat answer to these difficult questions.
Copyright © 1996 Steve Falkenberg