A Matter of Perspective
I have kept my opinion on the Roe v. Wade decision to myself except for sharing it with a few people. But at the risk of offending the “right”, the “left” and everyone in between, I am going to say that I am against abortion.
First off, is abortion a reproductive choice?
Certainly, it is a choice but so is disobeying traffic laws, so is following those same laws. It is a choice.
We can choose to do whatever it is we please but not without consequences. If we break the traffic laws and get caught, we get a ticket or at least a warning.
We can debate whether a sperm and an egg are a baby the minute they connect until we are all dead and no one will ever agree. There will always be those who say it is a baby and those who say that it is not.
When I went to college, I attended Northwestern College (now University) in Roseville. It is a liberal arts/Christian college.
My art teacher was the one who introduced the idea of being a devil’s advocate to me. He said, “You are all so against abortion. You think it is 100% of the time wrong. But what about the 13-year-old girl whose parents just told her to get out of the house because they are born-again Christians and they WILL NOT have that at their house?”
He said that we need to give these children options beyond just adoption.
Do I still feel that abortion is wrong? Yes. Do I think we need to give people choices? Yes. Do we have to pay the consequences for our decisions? Yes.
I believe that God can bless any pregnancy and any child that is born no matter what the circumstances of that pregnancy are.
But back to that question: What options do we give people, especially children or victims of rape? Do we force children and rape victims to carry a child to term so they can do “the right thing” and put it up for adoption?
I believe that our choices have created a world of chaos including abortion.
When two adults decide to have sex and a baby is made, those adults made a choice. The consequences of their choice is a potentially “unwanted” pregnancy. If they decide to get an abortion to end the pregnancy, they have made their next decision.
I refuse to beat people up with the Bible. I prefer to talk and pray with them (if they want me to). I will not condone abortion but I will pray for or with someone so they can make an informed decision. Informed from all points of view.
I debated a long time about how to write this because as a Christian these days, we don’t want to offend anyone but at the same time, it appears to be okay for everyone else to offend us and what we think and feel.
The question continues to come back to me, however. What options do we give to people? What if adoption is not an option? What if the woman was raped? What if?
There is much confusion in our world and it can be hard to make a decision. Even though I believe abortion is wrong, I won’t be the one who judges and condemns the person.
One thing I know for sure from the Word of God is that we are to love one another. If I condemn a person for a perceived sin or wrongdoing, well I better take the BIG beam out of my eye first.