life - ABORTION - death

Some time ago I counseled a young woman not to have an abortion. She had one anyway and it grieved me that I could not persuade her to choose life. In her case it was a matter of convenience. The issue of abortion has clearly divided a nation along ideological lines. Name calling and politically worded "surveys" on both sides of the issue is the menu for the day. Questions abound for which there are no mutually agreed upon and clear cut answers forthcoming - when does life begin? What is the quality of a life worth saving? How will the abortion issue affect the increasingly "gray" areas of living wills, euthanasia, and "dignified suicide"?

There is a tremendous wave of inconsistency vividly illustrated in the recent emphases upon the critical environmental issues we face as a nation. Green Earth Day ceremonies are nationally plenteous with a myriad of celebrities using their influence to pedal conservationist goals ranging from saving the whales to dolphin - free tuna fishing, from biodegradable diapers to hybrid cars, from global warming to plastic trash bags in the ocean. Love for God's magnificent world demands that we address the great misuse of the resources He has so amply supplied for our enjoyment.

What I find difficult to comprehend is the insatiable desire of many of these same entertainers to advance the cause of the pro-abortionist with little or no regard for the life in the womb. Years ago, I vividly remember an earth day T.V. special, Dolphins, Whales and Us. It dramatically portrayed the plight of endangered species, complete with close up shots, dramatic music, and breathtaking scenes from the perspective of the creatures. In fact, the entire strategy of the producer was to place the viewer inside of the sea creatures' environment, and by so doing sensitize all of us in comprehending their plight and the lurking dangers to the eco-structures. Bloody scenes portraying the ensnared dolphins and whales horrified us - and rightfully so. But actual photographs of aborted fetuses piled in trash cans brings shouts of scorn as the pro-lifers are accused of utilizing "fear tactics" and "horror pictures" to promote their cause.

Peter Horton, host of the special, commented in closing that a dolphin and her baby are "tender, graceful, curious, and loving", and for that reason he had received a greater appreciation for their plight - all because he lived with them during the filming of the special. Yet, what is more tender, graceful, and loving than a mother-child bond? What of the baby who will be scraped, mutilated, and dissected in order to address the unexpected "interruption" that child will bring to the mother who chooses to abort?

Somehow or another the critical and explosive issue of abortion must go beyond the emotionally heated rhetoric and intimidation of which both sides have been so guilty. Somehow we must enter into the womb and view life from the perspective of the child. Years ago, the pro-life documentary, The Silent Scream was a meager, albeit provocative attempt at doing just that, but with the net result of violent emotional protest from the pro-abortion side with virtually no applause for at least the effort. I cannot help believe that even the die in the wool pro-abortionist would melt with compassion when brought face to face with the real person, the honest to goodness flesh and blood human being they so strongly advocate holds no inherent pre-birth rights (although maybe not!).

It is horrific that the plethora of entertainers who so aptly use their gifts, talents, and abilities to broaden our horizons and help sharpen our focus on the great issues of the environment are virtually the same people defiantly denying the ever increasing scientific data on life in the womb. Instead they are ones leading the way with locked arms in marches for abortion rights. Where is the cavalcade of respected and talented entertainers when the babies of their own species are being destroyed? Why will they be powerfully used to promote the one and fail to see the hypocrisy of denying the right to human life? Right now in China thousands of people are dead from a powerful earthquake that ripped through a portion of the country. Thousands of children, only children due to China's one child only policy, are dead. Many of their siblings were destroyed in abortion mills all across China. Now, childless parents must grieve alone. Their species is being destroyed. But let's be sure we save the whales.

In the documentary it was said, "To kill out of necessity is the law of nature, but to kill for no good reason is murder". How do those who would hold to such dogma deny the right to life to the fruit of human relationships merely on the basis of personal convenience? To reason that the only thing that matters is the reproductive freedom of the woman is as absurd as saying that the dolphins must die in order to serve the greater purpose of providing the human race with abundant, cheap tuna and a decent standard of living for the tuna fisherman. I just cannot understand such illogical thinking, can you?

They have settled for a world bounded on the east by taxes, the west by their family, the south by work, and the north by death. Like the little jingle says,

"Into this world to eat and to sleep, and to know no reason why he was born save to consume the corn, devour the cattle, flock, and fish and leave behind an empty dish. Yet even to this kind of person the grace of God might fall."

Oh, that God would rend the heavens and come down!

In His Grip,
Dr. Chuck Betters