From: ray@netcom.com (Ray Fischer)
Newsgroups: talk.abortion
Subject: Re: The christian perspective...?
Date: 11 Sep 92 00:08:51 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services

mcmillan@vf.jsc.nasa.gov writes ...
>I'm a pro-life Christian, but I did a lot of thinking about the topic before
>I took my and.  What finally made it clear to me was this:  A man and
>woman have created an unborn child but are not sure they want to have a baby or
>not.  They vacilate on their decision for 9 nine months, then she goes into
>labor.  At that point, still with a "fetus, not a child" in her womb, do they
>have the right to have a willing doctor abort the pregnancy?  Except for the
>extreme medical emergency case where it comes down to either the mothers or
>the baby's life, I could find no times where that almost-born baby could be
>rightfully put to death.  Hopefully, most (but not all, I'm sure) will agree
>with me on that.

Indeed.

>Then I backed it up a day.  The day before that lady goes into labor, doesn't
>that baby deserve a chance at life?  I think yes.  Back up a day from there,
>keep backing up day by day.  At what day does that baby no longer have a right
>to life?  Viability?  There was an article in the paper recently where police
>discovered a woman an her baby dead in a trailor.  The woman apparently died of
>natural causes.  Her baby, who was somewhere over two years old, couldn't feed
>itself and died of starvation.  So I guess viability doesn't start until beyond
>age three or so.  How about when the heart starts beating (a few weeks)?  Well,
>if you just wait a few minutes, or an hour, or two hours, or a day, the heart 
>will start beating, so the fact that it hasn't started beating yet is no reason
>to justify it.  I backed it up all the way to two cells--two distinctly human
>cells that in just 9 short months will be seen, not viable in that it can't
>survive on its own, not any smarter than it was several months ago, just seen.
>Then I decided that abortion is wrong.

Why'd you stop there?  Just one cell may become a human being some day.
And an unfertilized egg may also become a human being - all's it needs 
is someone to fertilize it.  Surely if willful neglect of a baby is wrong,
willfully neglecting to fertilize an egg and bring a new life into the 
world is also wrong.  Thus, not only is abortion wrong, but contraception
and even abstinence are also wrong.

Or go at it from the other direction.  If an unfertilized egg and a 
spermatozoa are not people, then the same two a moment after the sperm
head enters the egg aren't, since the DNA haven't combined yet.  And 
after the DNA have combined, it's still the same egg it was just before
the combining, just rearranged a little bit.  And if it's not a person 
then, then it isn't after the first division since two non-people don't 
make up a person.

And so it goes.

>Choice?  We all have a choice before we have sex.  Do I or don't I, and, if I
>do, am I going to take precautions or not?  Am I willing to accept responsibility
>if the precautions are not 100% effective (since none of them are)?  So what
>happens when the precautions don't work?  Eight years ago my wife accidently 
>got pregnant with our third child.  We really couldn't afford it, life was very
>pleasant with our other two, I was already maxed out on available time.   
>However, due to no fault of its own, this "thing" was created and we had to face
>the consequences of our actions, so we didn't kill it.  So now I have a great
>little second-grader who loves me unconditionally.  Thank God for our accident!
>We live from paycheck to paycheck, but I honestly wouldn't trade that son for
>anything.  My wife wants a fourth since the third turned out so well.

Good for you.  Would you feel the same way now had that pregnancy forced
you into bankruptcy, made your wife an invalid, and/or destroyed your 
marriage?  And if you are anything less than 100% sure of the answer,
how can you justify forcing that decision on anyone else?

>There.  I tried to give my reasoning for being pro-life without going into the
>Biblical side of it.  If you research it with an open mind, you'll find the 
>Bible (therefore God) solidly pro-life.  If you need any help, let me know.

Hmmm. Yes.

You know, of course, that despite all its good and useful messages, the 
Bible has been used (with equal certainty and ferver) to justify war, 
murder, theft, and torture?

-- 
Ray Fischer
ray@netcom.com