Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - June/71

Contributor - John J. Opmeer

Title - Abortion - right or wrong,,

Topic - Focus on Canada

There is a world-wide mood of relaxing abortion laws, and Canada has not stayed behind. What is the attitude of the Christian to be? is abortion right or wrong, an unspeakable crime or the right of every woman? Few issues have Christians more confused than the matter of abortion. Does God's Word give guidance, assuming that Christians want to hear that guidance?

Abortion - the deliberate interruption of pregnancy - is a moral problem of crisis proportion. In some countries, such as Japan abortions outnumber live births. Where abortions are illegal, with some exceptions, hundreds of thousands of woman still seek it, with all the risks involved . In Canada the present law - dating from 1969 - has made it somewhat easier to obtain a legal abortion, but the number of illegal abortions is still estimated in the tens of thousands. During 1970, legal abortions in Canada totalled 11.200 and it may double this year.

The trend toward easier abortion legislation has been encouraged by widespread moral permissisiveness, the violent mood of our times and the threat of overpopulation. But nobody can deny the personal agony and anxiety of those who find themselves trapped and look for a way out. What to advise when a girl of 15 finds herself pregnant, or when a mother of six discovers that she is expecting again and feels she cannot cope with it anymore? And what of the woman who is told by her doctor that her next baby will be brain damaged? Abortion arises from a crisis situation - real or imagined. It is a big issue indeed, and simplistic answers will not do.

I do not write on this subject because I enjoy it, but because to be silent is far worse. Not to have an opinion is to follow the majority opinion, right or wrong. I believe that the Word of God provides the direction for moral decisions.

Arguments in favor

Such arguments come from many sides. They range all the way from 'it is simply an operation' to 'it is the lesser of two evils'. There are those, notably the Women's Lib. movement, who consider abortion the right of the woman. They do not consider abortion a moral issue at all, and hence deny the right of the government to legislate in this area. Then there are those who welcome abortion as a second line of defense - behind family planning - in the fight against overpopulation. Obviously, all those who favor such abortion-on-demand view the fetus as a 'thing', tissue, that can be removed at will if the 'owner, does not want it.

But not all who favor abortion have such an easy conscience. There are those who laboriously argue that the fetus is not a human being until the 10th, 12th, or any other week, and thus satisfy their conscience in cases of abortion before such time. Others are even more concerned about the morality of the decision of abortion, and favor it only because they consider the psychological or social plight of the woman involved as of greater importance than the life of the fetus.

Reading the various arguments for abortion, one is sometimes shocked by the hard, egotistical reasoning and the extent of moral Permissiveness, at other times warmed by the obvious sensitiveness to real human needs. However, whether egotistic or humanitarian, no reasoning will do for the Christian which does not agree with the Word of God. I find that many Christians are confused in the matter of abortion, so impressed with the hardship of those involved that they mercifully accept abortion as a way out, without examining whether the Bible would support this kind of 'mercy'. Humanitarian grounds are never to be finally trusted. Those who oppose violence in capital punishment and the war in Vietnam are often the same ones who favor the violence of abortion-on-demand!

The basic issue

The entire question of abortion seems to me to be decided by the status of the fruit of the womb. Is the fetus a 'thing' or a human being?

Those who are not Christians will have to decide on the basis of biological evidence. The overwhelming evidence - stated more clearly and impressively as time goes on is that human life begins when sperm and egg combine. From its very beginning the fetus contains the coded DNA that specifies every aspect of the growth of the human being. DNA is the 'machine' in the chromosome of the cell that controls the color of the eyes, the shape of the body, the personality and a million other facts that make the fetus a unique human being. Nothing is added to it at any time before birth to make it more of a human being. Those who defend abortion-on-demand will always try to avoid the simple biological fact that human life begins at conception.

The Christian, however, must consider even more fundamental facts. Man is made in God's image, and acknowledges God as the Creator of all and each life. We are not the owners of life, but only stewards. The Bible is clear on the matter of the beginning of human life. It begins at conception. Anyone who has read the magnificent Psalm 139 and believes it to be the Word of God will recognize this to be true. God is at work! God has a plan for this life! God has numbered the days of that life! And that from conception on. Read also the convictions of a prophet like Jeremiah and an apostle like Paul (Jer. 1 : 5; Gal. 1 : 15). Both were, convinced that God had set them apart before they were born. And what about Jesus? If Mary had lived in our day, and if Satan could have succeeded in tempting her, she would have had reason to ask for abortion, and Would have found a sympathetic ear in many a church.

The cry for more easily available abortion can arise only when the simple truth that the fetus is human life is ignored. It may be ignored for selfish reasons, under stress, or because of ignorance. But those who must answer the request have a greater responsibility. They must consider that abortion is the killing of life. And the Christian must know that human life is sacred and that any deliberate interruption of such life, at whatever time, comes under the sixth commandment.

The lesser of two evils

The Christian has no choice, therefore, but to consider abortion as evil. Abortion-on-demand is an avenue not open for the Christian. Those who argue that abortion is in principle the same as birth control overlook the fact that in the latter life is kept from beginning, whereas abortion destroys life. However, the Christian is not under any legalistic demand. The law 'Thou shalt not kill' is given to protect life, not to be a brutal master of man. If a woman is left to die in childbirth because the church forbids the taking of the life of the fetus, the sixth commandment has certainly not been kept. Much damage has already been done by a hard preaching of the law. We must proclaim the Gospel, and the law is a law of grace. The Christian is free, not free from the law, but free in Christ. He may be in a situation in which keeping the letter of the law would be against the spirit of the law. This can only be decided in Christ. Such situations may be agonizing, but they cannot be avoided when a decision may have to be taken between two evils. The killing of the fetus may indeed be the lesser of two evils. But then the other evil will have to be greater than the evil of taking life. The Christian who is aware of this situation and relies on the grace of God will be led to a responsible choice when faced with a decision.

But what about others who do not share the conviction, responsibility and. freedom of the Christian? They may demand freedom to act irresponsibly. The government has a responsibility to restrain evil. In this case, to decide which freedom it can allow and which freedom it must deny.. Clearly, the government has responsibility for the protection of life. Those who -deny the government the right to legislate in the matter of abortion can do so only on the basis of their prior decision that abortion is not the taking of life. This is the error made b Eleanor Wright Pelvine, in her book 'Abortion in Canada'.

The Christian cannot force the government to incorporate Christian moral principles in the legislation, but he can encourage a moral climate in which the government will outlaw the irresponsible exercise of freedom. If the government - on humanitarian grounds - decided to allow abortion-on-demand, then the Christian is bound by a higher law, which meets the true needs of man, not necessarily his wants or feelings.

At the present time, the sheer number of abortions in Canada is an indication that many women are more concerned about their own welfare than about the right or wrong of abortion. This is the greater problem facing the church, and it can meet this crisis only by a compassionate preaching and living of the Gospel. The lesser, but still very real task of the church is to teach Christians that abortion is the taking of life. In this light, the often heard reasons for abortion: social suffering, physical and mental strain, financial stress, embarrasment and disgrace, must be evaluated. The Christian must be taught to recognize that none of these are evils that outweigh the evil of killing human life. At the heart of the Christian faith is suffering. The relief of hardship and suffering may therefore not be used as an argument for the destruction of human life. God's fellowship, love and laws are on the side of those who place their sufferings in God's hands, not on the side of those who take life in order to avoid suffering. That reconciliation is possible in the latter case does not deny, but rather confirms the sin of abortion-on-demand.

More than 'No'

The responsibility of the Christian does not end by taking a position on the matter of abortion. It only begins there. The church must press for the social and economic changes that make alternatives to abortion available to even the most underprivileged. Real help must be offered to women who are denied abortion. A good example is given by 'Birthright', a non-sectarian organization formed in Toronto three years ago to offer creative alternatives to those seeking abortion. There are free-service centres now in many major cities of North America providing help and counselling for mothers in need "helping her to see the long-range advantages of a human rather than a veterinarian solution". This is one kind of help the Christian church can offer. It can offer the understanding of love and care. It can offer forgiveness when mistakes have been made. Beyond that it can preach and demonstrate the freedom to which Christ calls all men. This freedom includes absolute loyalty to God's commandments and the resources to live by God's will. It also means compassion for those ' trapped' in difficult situations.

I have heard it said so often that to take a firm stand against abortion is legalistic and cold, even punitive. I can understand such criticism from unbelievers but not from Christians. Jesus was moved with compassion for those who suffered, whether or not suffering was a direct result of sin. But He never allowed such commandments to run away with God's design for life (cf Matt. 5 : 17-20,). We want to be both compassionate and obedient to the higher laws of God. The either-or is false. This may make us unpopular with those who stress the human side alone, but that has never weakened the Christian church. It will not be easy to show concern and love while at the same time to be firm in our stand that abortion is killing. It will require more than human wisdom and love. But, as I see it, that, and nothing else, is the course the church must take.

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