By 2006, some 730 American cities had a street named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In addition, the records at the National Center for Education Statistics (2000) indicate that by 1998, 110 public schools were bearing some reference to Dr. King’s name. Each of these communities, mainly in central cities of large and mid-size urban areas, had hoped that residents would feel obligated to live out the noble tenets of Dr. King.
It was hoped that many persons would emulate the six-point non-violent philosophy adopted by Dr. King. As a student of the New Testament, Dr. King was familiar with the non-violent teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. In addition, he was familiar with the non-violent practices of Mahatma Gandhi of India. That knowledge became the basis of his philosophy.
In the first place, King believed that non-violent resistance was not for cowards. It was not a quiet, passive acceptance of evil. One was passive and non-violent physically, but very active spiritually, always seeking ways to persuade the opponent of advantages to the way of love, cooperation and peace.
Secondly, the goal of non-violence was not to defeat or humiliate the opponent but rather to win him or her over to understanding new ways to create cooperation and community.
In the third place, non-violence was viewed as the force that was attacking evil. As Dr. King said in Montgomery, Alabama, “we are out to defeat injustice, not white persons who may be unjust.”
In addition, non-violence accepted suffering without retaliating. It accepted violence, but never commit violence. It was Gandhi who contended that “Rivers of blood may have to flow before we gain our freedom, but it must be our blood.” Both King and Gandhi understood that suffering by activists had the mysterious power of converting opponents, who otherwise would refuse to listen.
In addition, in non-violent resistance, one learns to avoid physical violence toward others and also learns to love the opponents with unconditional love – a love that does not depend on what it receives in return, but acts solely for the sake of love. According to Dr. King, “along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate.”
Finally, non-violent resistance was based on the belief that the universe is just. There is God that was moving us toward universal love and wholeness. Therefore, “all our work for justice will bear fruit – the fruit of love, peace and justice for all beings everywhere.”
One would have hoped that with such a rich legacy of non-violence, especially within black communities, there would be a greater appreciation for the ideals of Dr. King. Even with the numerous institutions carrying King’s name, the high levels of violence in black communities is unacceptable.
A 2007 special report released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics reveals that more than 8,000 African-Americans are murdered annually in the United States. This chilling figure is accompanied by another equally sobering fact that 93% of these murders are perpetrated by other blacks. In other words, in one year more blacks are killed in America than service men and women killed on the battle fields of Iraq and Afghanistan in twelve years.
Whereas the statistics of killings are sobering, the number of violent crimes is frightening. Apart from the impact on the victims, we often forget the impact on the community. Last December, the Department of Justice released a little-noticed report that suggested that children exposed to community violence might turn to violence themselves as “a source of power, prestige, security, or even belongingness.” The report went on to recommend that these children should be treated by professionals.
Rather than resort only to professionals who often live far away from the crime communities, what about Christian churches located in the heart of those communities? Despite the silence from the media, stories of conversion continue to come from pastors and Christian workers. They are not only conducting funeral services for the victims of crime, many churches are witnessing genuine stories of conversion.
The non-violent vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is still alive in many churches as criminals turn from drugs and guns to a transforming faith in Jesus Christ. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote with confidence that conversion brings about change, old lifestyles fade and new desires emerge (2 Corinthians 5:17). For this reason we need to pray for Christian workers who risk their lives daily in taking the message of peace to our violent-torn cities. Thankfully, despite the reality of serious crime during this Black History Month, we have hope that Jesus still transforms broken lives.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Meteorite Worship
A fifty-foot wide, ten ton meteor streaked across Russia last week. According to the Russian Academy of Sciences, the meteor entered the earth’s atmosphere at a hypersonic speed of 33,000 miles per hour shattering into pieces about 18 to 32 miles above sea level.
The U.S. space agency, NASA, said the meteor was 33 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. Reports from Russia indicate that more than 4,000 homes were damaged. According to the state-run news agency, glass shattered across more than a 75,000 square mile area. Thankfully, no one died and fewer than 1,500 persons suffered injuries, mostly from flying glass.
Whereas meteoroids are small particles from comets orbiting the sun, meteors are meteoroids that actually land on the earth’s surface. The pieces of the meteor that exploded in Russia are meteorites. Generally, meteorites are smaller than grains of sand and vaporize on passage through the atmosphere.
According to Russian scientists, the meteor that exploded comprised of rock and a bit of iron.
Scientists found 53 small meteorites on the surface of a lake and believe larger fragments are under water. The crash left a 26-foot wide crater in the ice on which it landed.
It is difficult to imagine the magnitude of what happened in Russia. Because of the enormity of the explosion, some have begun to attach religious significance to what happened. History confirms that it is not that unusual to associate meteors with divine intervention.
For thousands of years, meteorites were venerated as sacred objects by ancient civilizations. The spectacular explosions of meteorites, along with the light, often as bright as the sun, are so enormous that they evoke fear and awe in persons who witness such events.
Actually, several Native American tribes venerated pieces and fragments of the huge iron meteorite responsible for Arizona’s famous Meteor Crater. Native tribes from around the world have venerated meteorites for centuries. Ancient civilizations of the western hemisphere were no exception, and there are several examples of the worship of meteorites in Greco-Roman tradition.
Palladion of Troy, as well as the Cone of Elagabalus were actual meteorites – stones that had fallen from the sky, objects from heaven, believed to contain supernatural powers. In addressing the Ephesians, the city clerk said, “...doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven (Acts 19:35)?
The Roman historian, Titus Livius, tells the story of the meteorite in Phrygia - a conical object known as the Needle of Cybele, the goddess of fertility. After the Romans conquered Phrygia, the meteorite was conveyed in a gigantic procession to Rome, where it was worshipped for another 500 years.
Annually, millions of Muslims travel to Saudi Arabia to pay homage to the Kaaba, a room in which a sacred black stone is housed. Each Muslim is expected to make the pilgrimage at least once in his lifetime and to walk around the Kaaba seven times. Pilgrims are then expected to pause at the southeastern corner of the Kaaba to complete the ritual, touching or kissing the sacred black stone.
Venerating the black stone was practiced by pre-Islamic Arabs. Muslims inherited this practice and contend that it is done to show special reverence and veneration for its dignity after the example of the Prophet Mohammed. The Qur’an actually teaches that the Ka’aba was originally built by Abraham and Ishmael (Surah 2:125) and some believe that the stone became black as it took the sins of those who kissed it (Burton: Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah – Vol.2, page 300). Despite this practice, Muslims contend that they do not worship the stone.
In addressing the Athenians, the Apostle Paul confronted philosophers who thought the divine being was like gold, or silver or stone – an image made by man’s design and skill. He contended, “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:29-30). In other words, our understanding of the Creator must not be equated to things He created – that is a display of ignorance.
Scientific knowledge has helped to dispel much ignorance, thus removing the need to associate divinity with meteoric phenomena. The Apostle Paul would agree – he did not only expose religious superstition among the Athenians, he challenged them to commit to the historical Jesus – “the person you killed and God brought back to life.” Some of those who heard believed, others disagreed, and another group deferred their decision – just like we do today.
The U.S. space agency, NASA, said the meteor was 33 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. Reports from Russia indicate that more than 4,000 homes were damaged. According to the state-run news agency, glass shattered across more than a 75,000 square mile area. Thankfully, no one died and fewer than 1,500 persons suffered injuries, mostly from flying glass.
Whereas meteoroids are small particles from comets orbiting the sun, meteors are meteoroids that actually land on the earth’s surface. The pieces of the meteor that exploded in Russia are meteorites. Generally, meteorites are smaller than grains of sand and vaporize on passage through the atmosphere.
According to Russian scientists, the meteor that exploded comprised of rock and a bit of iron.
Scientists found 53 small meteorites on the surface of a lake and believe larger fragments are under water. The crash left a 26-foot wide crater in the ice on which it landed.
It is difficult to imagine the magnitude of what happened in Russia. Because of the enormity of the explosion, some have begun to attach religious significance to what happened. History confirms that it is not that unusual to associate meteors with divine intervention.
For thousands of years, meteorites were venerated as sacred objects by ancient civilizations. The spectacular explosions of meteorites, along with the light, often as bright as the sun, are so enormous that they evoke fear and awe in persons who witness such events.
Actually, several Native American tribes venerated pieces and fragments of the huge iron meteorite responsible for Arizona’s famous Meteor Crater. Native tribes from around the world have venerated meteorites for centuries. Ancient civilizations of the western hemisphere were no exception, and there are several examples of the worship of meteorites in Greco-Roman tradition.
Palladion of Troy, as well as the Cone of Elagabalus were actual meteorites – stones that had fallen from the sky, objects from heaven, believed to contain supernatural powers. In addressing the Ephesians, the city clerk said, “...doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven (Acts 19:35)?
The Roman historian, Titus Livius, tells the story of the meteorite in Phrygia - a conical object known as the Needle of Cybele, the goddess of fertility. After the Romans conquered Phrygia, the meteorite was conveyed in a gigantic procession to Rome, where it was worshipped for another 500 years.
Annually, millions of Muslims travel to Saudi Arabia to pay homage to the Kaaba, a room in which a sacred black stone is housed. Each Muslim is expected to make the pilgrimage at least once in his lifetime and to walk around the Kaaba seven times. Pilgrims are then expected to pause at the southeastern corner of the Kaaba to complete the ritual, touching or kissing the sacred black stone.
Venerating the black stone was practiced by pre-Islamic Arabs. Muslims inherited this practice and contend that it is done to show special reverence and veneration for its dignity after the example of the Prophet Mohammed. The Qur’an actually teaches that the Ka’aba was originally built by Abraham and Ishmael (Surah 2:125) and some believe that the stone became black as it took the sins of those who kissed it (Burton: Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah – Vol.2, page 300). Despite this practice, Muslims contend that they do not worship the stone.
In addressing the Athenians, the Apostle Paul confronted philosophers who thought the divine being was like gold, or silver or stone – an image made by man’s design and skill. He contended, “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:29-30). In other words, our understanding of the Creator must not be equated to things He created – that is a display of ignorance.
Scientific knowledge has helped to dispel much ignorance, thus removing the need to associate divinity with meteoric phenomena. The Apostle Paul would agree – he did not only expose religious superstition among the Athenians, he challenged them to commit to the historical Jesus – “the person you killed and God brought back to life.” Some of those who heard believed, others disagreed, and another group deferred their decision – just like we do today.
Monday, February 11, 2013
An Appeal for the Unborn
This column is the third in my trilogy on abortion. Last week, my guest discussed the need for compassion to be shown to the woman who chose to terminate a pregnancy. As a medical doctor she took the position that she would rather provide the woman with the opportunity to have an abortion “in an informed, medically safe and legal way”, rather than suffer the consequences of unprofessional intervention.
Agreed, unprofessional intervention or botched abortions have an ugly history of barbaric procedures often leading to tragic consequences for the mother. It is believed that one woman dies every seven minutes around the world due to an unsafe illegal abortion. In the United States the death rate for abortion is currently 0.6 per 100,000 procedures. Hence, it would be safe to say that in the U.S., legalizing abortion has reduced reproductive barbarism significantly.
However, with safer procedures has come increasing frequency of abortions and casual sex. Researchers tell us that some 22% of the 1¼ million pregnancies in America will be terminated in abortion. More than 48% of these women would have had at least one previous abortion. But why would a woman want to abort her baby? The most common reasons women consider abortion are:
- Birth Control – more than 50% of all women who have an abortion used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant;
- Economics – inability to support or care for a child/to end an unwanted pregnancy;
- Birth defects – to prevent the birth of a child with severe medical problems;
- Physical or mental conditions that endanger the health of the mother; and
- Pregnancy resulting from rape or incest.
Although much has been said of the mother’s health and forced sex as legitimate reasons for abortion, many analysts are reluctant to tell us that such cases are rare among women seeking abortion. Actually, fewer than 3% of all women who abort fall into these categories.
So often we forget that the biggest victim in abortion is the child that is aborted. For convenience, we sometimes ignore that the child is a person. Legally, one is charged for double homicide when a pregnant woman is killed. Already, 29 states practice fetal homicide laws. The law grants personhood status to a fetus, thus affording legal rights for a fetus, separate from those enjoyed by the mother. The killer is usually charged for double homicide.
In addition, the use of ultrasound in early pregnancy enables medical personnel to examine the gestational sac within the uterus as early as the fourth week of pregnancy. There should be no doubt then, that an abortion is the surgical removal of a person from a woman’s womb.
The purpose or method of removal does not legitimize the act of removal. Fearful young women sometimes attribute their pregnancies to rape in order to avoid possible condemnation. For instance, Norma McCorvey was the young woman called “Roe” in the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade case of legalizing abortion. Norma elicited sympathy in the court and media because she claimed to be a rape victim. However, years later, she admitted that she lied and was not raped.
The courts and the media fell for that lie because we have been led to believe that abortion should be expected whenever someone is raped. Under no condition should rape be trivialized. It is a horrible crime for which rapists should receive the full extent of the law.
Rape traumatizes women and as a society we should do everything to reduce the impact of that pain. However, is abortion the only option and does it bring authentic healing to rape victims? Feminists for Life contend that “some women have reported suffering from the trauma of abortion long after the rape trauma has faded.”
In their book Victims and Victors, David Reardon and his associates draw on the testimonies of 192 women who experienced pregnancy as the result of rape or incest – and 55 children who were conceived through sexual assault. Nearly all the women interviewed in Reardon’s anecdotal survey said they regretted aborting the babies conceived via rape or incest. Of those giving an opinion, more than 90% said they would discourage other victims of sexual violence from having an abortion.
Today Jennifer Bowman has three beautiful children. However, looking at her one could never tell that she was a victim of rape. Her passion for this forgotten group of victims is evident on her website.
The impact of such stories is not merely statistical for me. I thank God daily, that although a victim of rape, my mother-in-law did not opt for an abortion. The child that resulted has changed my life forever.
Agreed, unprofessional intervention or botched abortions have an ugly history of barbaric procedures often leading to tragic consequences for the mother. It is believed that one woman dies every seven minutes around the world due to an unsafe illegal abortion. In the United States the death rate for abortion is currently 0.6 per 100,000 procedures. Hence, it would be safe to say that in the U.S., legalizing abortion has reduced reproductive barbarism significantly.
However, with safer procedures has come increasing frequency of abortions and casual sex. Researchers tell us that some 22% of the 1¼ million pregnancies in America will be terminated in abortion. More than 48% of these women would have had at least one previous abortion. But why would a woman want to abort her baby? The most common reasons women consider abortion are:
- Birth Control – more than 50% of all women who have an abortion used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant;
- Economics – inability to support or care for a child/to end an unwanted pregnancy;
- Birth defects – to prevent the birth of a child with severe medical problems;
- Physical or mental conditions that endanger the health of the mother; and
- Pregnancy resulting from rape or incest.
Although much has been said of the mother’s health and forced sex as legitimate reasons for abortion, many analysts are reluctant to tell us that such cases are rare among women seeking abortion. Actually, fewer than 3% of all women who abort fall into these categories.
So often we forget that the biggest victim in abortion is the child that is aborted. For convenience, we sometimes ignore that the child is a person. Legally, one is charged for double homicide when a pregnant woman is killed. Already, 29 states practice fetal homicide laws. The law grants personhood status to a fetus, thus affording legal rights for a fetus, separate from those enjoyed by the mother. The killer is usually charged for double homicide.
In addition, the use of ultrasound in early pregnancy enables medical personnel to examine the gestational sac within the uterus as early as the fourth week of pregnancy. There should be no doubt then, that an abortion is the surgical removal of a person from a woman’s womb.
The purpose or method of removal does not legitimize the act of removal. Fearful young women sometimes attribute their pregnancies to rape in order to avoid possible condemnation. For instance, Norma McCorvey was the young woman called “Roe” in the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade case of legalizing abortion. Norma elicited sympathy in the court and media because she claimed to be a rape victim. However, years later, she admitted that she lied and was not raped.
The courts and the media fell for that lie because we have been led to believe that abortion should be expected whenever someone is raped. Under no condition should rape be trivialized. It is a horrible crime for which rapists should receive the full extent of the law.
Rape traumatizes women and as a society we should do everything to reduce the impact of that pain. However, is abortion the only option and does it bring authentic healing to rape victims? Feminists for Life contend that “some women have reported suffering from the trauma of abortion long after the rape trauma has faded.”
In their book Victims and Victors, David Reardon and his associates draw on the testimonies of 192 women who experienced pregnancy as the result of rape or incest – and 55 children who were conceived through sexual assault. Nearly all the women interviewed in Reardon’s anecdotal survey said they regretted aborting the babies conceived via rape or incest. Of those giving an opinion, more than 90% said they would discourage other victims of sexual violence from having an abortion.
Today Jennifer Bowman has three beautiful children. However, looking at her one could never tell that she was a victim of rape. Her passion for this forgotten group of victims is evident on her website.
The impact of such stories is not merely statistical for me. I thank God daily, that although a victim of rape, my mother-in-law did not opt for an abortion. The child that resulted has changed my life forever.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Two Views on Abortion
There were at least two kinds of responses to last week’s blog on the anniversary of legalizing abortion in America. Because of limited space I can only share one view this week. The other I will share next week. The first comes from a medical doctor in the Caribbean. The second, from a religious scholar who lives in the United States.
I mulled over your latest blog and thought I would share some thoughts with you based on my work with young, and not so young, women in the Caribbean and Latin America. This piece is not intended to sway you but to present another perspective on the issue.
Like you, I wish we never had to have abortions - that no woman would ever make the decision to terminate a pregnancy - even if that decision might place her at physical, emotional, or moral risk. But, abortion has been with us as far back as 1550 BCE – the first recorded case of abortion was found in the Ebers Papyrus. Even before we had medically safe ways of terminating pregnancies, women found ways to do the procedure themselves – whether by drinking noxious potions, or striking themselves in places that they hoped would dislodge the fetus, or inserting herbal tampons or sharp implements into their uteruses expecting to remove the fetus. These practices persist even today among poor women.
In the absence of medically safe and legal abortion services, women who try to abort a pregnancy either die or end up in hospital with morbidities that render them infertile or worst. (Until recently, the majority of poor women on the gynecological ward of public hospitals in many Caribbean countries were women seeking post abortion care.) I should mention that there is an inverse relationship between maternal mortality and morbidity rates (related to abortions) and access to safe abortion services – that is, where access is poor, rates of abortion-related mortality and morbidity are high. Please note that ‘safe’ abortion is not the same as ‘legal’ abortion. In much of the Caribbean, not including Barbados and Guyana where terminations are legal in certain circumstances, women can get safe abortions from private practitioners. The so called ‘back street’ practitioners persist – they are more affordable for poor women.
Who are these women who will go to these lengths to terminate a pregnancy? The literature will tell you that a minority (less than 10%) of women who seek abortions are “repeat offenders”. They are women who, although they are sexually active and do not desire a, or another child, are not doing anything to prevent a pregnancy. The remaining 90% of women who seek abortions have: experienced a failure in their contraceptive method; been raped; or - mistimed or inconvenient pregnancies (woman has many children, woman is in school, woman has to protect a career, relationship with husband or partner is not healthy, woman is pregnant for a man who is not her husband, etc.); or pregnancies which, if carried to term, would place them at physical risk; or pregnancies that would result in a physically ‘defective’ child; or a fetus that has died.
When we read this list we may be tempted to make the judgment that the women who have abortions are women of loose morals. After all they have not followed the prescribed way – they may not have waited until marriage to become sexually involved, or may not have been faithful to their marriage partner, or committed some other moral infraction.
I have counseled single and married women who are ardent Christians who made one stupid decision and now are faced with carrying a pregnancy they rather not have. I have watched them struggle. Many would rather commit the sin of abortion (for which they can ask and receive forgiveness) than face the unforgiving wrath and vengeance of the church family. There have been cases, where the woman has kept her baby but left the ‘church’.
In my limited experience, contrary to conventional wisdom, the decision to terminate a pregnancy is not a decision that the majority of women make easily or cavalierly –in fact, the majority of women who have abortions have only one. A woman’s motivation to have the procedure is personal and most times outweighs the immediate, as well as the perceived long term consequences. What I’ve observed, however, is that where a woman has access to pre-termination education and counseling and post abortion services that are non-judgmental, she can make a decision about her pregnancy outcome that leaves her with no regret.
As a public health practitioner, I take the position that I would rather provide the woman who chooses to terminate a pregnancy the opportunity to do that in an informed and medically safe (and legal) way than have her dead or ill /damaged because of a self-directed or poorly executed intervention. As a Christian, I pray I will not be in a position to have to make that decision and for humility and the spirit of non-judgment for those who feel that they must.
The writer agrees that most abortions are as a result of lifestyle choices. However, she believes greater compassion and forgiveness are necessary. Please read last week’s blog. You must also read next week’s response to this perspective.
I mulled over your latest blog and thought I would share some thoughts with you based on my work with young, and not so young, women in the Caribbean and Latin America. This piece is not intended to sway you but to present another perspective on the issue.
Like you, I wish we never had to have abortions - that no woman would ever make the decision to terminate a pregnancy - even if that decision might place her at physical, emotional, or moral risk. But, abortion has been with us as far back as 1550 BCE – the first recorded case of abortion was found in the Ebers Papyrus. Even before we had medically safe ways of terminating pregnancies, women found ways to do the procedure themselves – whether by drinking noxious potions, or striking themselves in places that they hoped would dislodge the fetus, or inserting herbal tampons or sharp implements into their uteruses expecting to remove the fetus. These practices persist even today among poor women.
In the absence of medically safe and legal abortion services, women who try to abort a pregnancy either die or end up in hospital with morbidities that render them infertile or worst. (Until recently, the majority of poor women on the gynecological ward of public hospitals in many Caribbean countries were women seeking post abortion care.) I should mention that there is an inverse relationship between maternal mortality and morbidity rates (related to abortions) and access to safe abortion services – that is, where access is poor, rates of abortion-related mortality and morbidity are high. Please note that ‘safe’ abortion is not the same as ‘legal’ abortion. In much of the Caribbean, not including Barbados and Guyana where terminations are legal in certain circumstances, women can get safe abortions from private practitioners. The so called ‘back street’ practitioners persist – they are more affordable for poor women.
Who are these women who will go to these lengths to terminate a pregnancy? The literature will tell you that a minority (less than 10%) of women who seek abortions are “repeat offenders”. They are women who, although they are sexually active and do not desire a, or another child, are not doing anything to prevent a pregnancy. The remaining 90% of women who seek abortions have: experienced a failure in their contraceptive method; been raped; or - mistimed or inconvenient pregnancies (woman has many children, woman is in school, woman has to protect a career, relationship with husband or partner is not healthy, woman is pregnant for a man who is not her husband, etc.); or pregnancies which, if carried to term, would place them at physical risk; or pregnancies that would result in a physically ‘defective’ child; or a fetus that has died.
When we read this list we may be tempted to make the judgment that the women who have abortions are women of loose morals. After all they have not followed the prescribed way – they may not have waited until marriage to become sexually involved, or may not have been faithful to their marriage partner, or committed some other moral infraction.
I have counseled single and married women who are ardent Christians who made one stupid decision and now are faced with carrying a pregnancy they rather not have. I have watched them struggle. Many would rather commit the sin of abortion (for which they can ask and receive forgiveness) than face the unforgiving wrath and vengeance of the church family. There have been cases, where the woman has kept her baby but left the ‘church’.
In my limited experience, contrary to conventional wisdom, the decision to terminate a pregnancy is not a decision that the majority of women make easily or cavalierly –in fact, the majority of women who have abortions have only one. A woman’s motivation to have the procedure is personal and most times outweighs the immediate, as well as the perceived long term consequences. What I’ve observed, however, is that where a woman has access to pre-termination education and counseling and post abortion services that are non-judgmental, she can make a decision about her pregnancy outcome that leaves her with no regret.
As a public health practitioner, I take the position that I would rather provide the woman who chooses to terminate a pregnancy the opportunity to do that in an informed and medically safe (and legal) way than have her dead or ill /damaged because of a self-directed or poorly executed intervention. As a Christian, I pray I will not be in a position to have to make that decision and for humility and the spirit of non-judgment for those who feel that they must.
The writer agrees that most abortions are as a result of lifestyle choices. However, she believes greater compassion and forgiveness are necessary. Please read last week’s blog. You must also read next week’s response to this perspective.