| January 21 '06 |
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| Volume 503 |
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Right To Life
Abortion 2006
The
definition of the word abortion as found in the American Heritage
Dictionary doesn't seem to fit it's usage by the average American.
a·bor·tion
(…-bôr"sh…n)
n. 1. Induced termination of pregnancy and expulsion of an embryo
or fetus that is incapable of survival. 2. A miscarriage. 3.
Cessation of normal growth, especially of an organ or other body part, prior
to full development or maturation. 4. An aborted organism. 5.
Something malformed or incompletely developed; a monstrosity.
The first definition hardly applies to the typical legal abortion of a human
embryo fetus. My wife's first pregnancy resulted in an event described by
the second definition, but I never thought of her miscarriage as an abortion.
The third and fourth definitions seem to apply to abortion as we know it.
Finally, I had a friend whose unborn child was aborted because the child
fit the fifth definition.
Missing from the definition are terms such as death, kill, murder, shame,
guilt, fear, and convenience, to name only a few. There is no need to include
these terms in a definition of abortion, because abortion is definable without
them. But, when abortion involves humans, other words are helpful
and complete our understanding of the term.
When human life in the embryonic or fetal state is terminated, death is the
result. Such a death may occur due to "natural" causes, but abortion most
often occurs as result of an action on the part of the mother and a physician.
Ann Coulter, liberal basher extraordinaire, recently commented, "According
to Dianne Feinstein, Roe vs. Wade is critically important because 'women
all over America have come to depend on it.' At its most majestic, this precious
right that women 'have come to depend on' is the right to have sex with men
they don't want to have children with."
Abortion opponents were encouraged recently by the Senate’s confirmation
of a conservative to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Roberts, as well as
the pending approval of a conservative successor, Judge Samuel Alito, to
replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O’Conner. However, more than one
opinion editor has noted the ascension of conservative judges to the Supreme
Court does not guarantee the high court will one day overturn existing laws
relating to abortion.
As liberal senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled Samuel Alito
during confirmation hearings regarding his comments concerning abortion more
than twenty years ago, I was reminded of writings that I did seven years
ago stating my position on abortion. I recently read again the articles that
first appeared in RRN Volumes 138 and 139 in January, 1999. If I were asked
if I still maintain the same opinion as then, I would answer, "Yes." The
remainder of this article consists of excerpts from those two writings.
The medical profession is a profession based upon the idea that sick people
need to be made well. At the time the Hippocratic Oath was formulated it
certainly sounded like a good idea. As we draw near the end of this century,
I must question whether physicians take the oath seriously. Did anyone living
in the fifties imagine physician-assisted suicide as a possible issue in
the nineties? Did anyone living in the fifties dream abortion on demand would
become the norm for our society? Does anyone living today doubt that medically
mandated extermination of the elderly may one day be a reality? Yeah, that
is a stretch, but if you think about living wills, how persons are putting
their life in the hands of relatives and doctors to determine at what point
death should occur, then I don't know that extermination of the elderly is
too far off.
Members of the medical community have been practicing the legal extermination
of fetuses during the later half of this century. How someone sworn to preserve
life is able to clinically destroy life through a surgical procedure is more
than I can understand. The difference between an infant and a fetus is a
matter of time, measurable from seconds prior to birth back to the eighth
week of the individual's embryonic existence. To many persons an unborn human
is not a human being. Somehow, society has bought the lie that labels the
unborn child less than fully human. It is as ridiculous and mindless as
describing an infant, toddler, pre-schooler, child, pre-teen, or teenager
as less than fully human simply because they have not attained the fullness
of stature of an adult.
In our society, we severely punish persons who cause the death of a child
or infant. We think it horrid to smother a day-old baby. Yet, we feel no
guilt if a fetus is drawn feet first from its mother's womb until only the
head remains inside the body of the mother while a doctor inserts a hollow
shaft into the back of the fetus's head and neatly vacuums the brain from
its skull. We label this procedure as a partial birth abortion. The only
difference I can see in the two situations is one individual made it completely
out of the birth canal, prior to being killed, but the other did not.
The guilt of all criminals involved in abortion must be borne by the nation,
for we permit such actions to go unpunished. We even make it legal. Abortionists
and their supporters downplay their deadly role by declaring their right
to practice pre-infanticide as "a woman's right to choose." It is a clever
lie, masked by the belief that individuals have a God given freedom to do
as they wish with their bodies. I do not have a problem with someone punishing
his or her own body, until those actions harm others. In other words, if
someone wants to blow himself up with an explosive, let him do so in a remote
area without taking the lives of others. Persons who harm themselves have
no God given right to hurt others in the process.
I believe in "a woman's right to choose, but I differ with abortionists and
those of the pro-choice persuasion as to when the choice should be made.
A woman's right to choose what she wishes to do to herself stops at the moment
of conception. At that moment, when a single sperm fertilizes an egg, the
mother carries within her body another person. From that point forward, the
mother represents two people, not just one. Therefore, she may continue to
make choices, but she is not free to make any choice to harm the unborn human
living inside her body.
Unlike the pro-choice folks, I draw the line of choice prior to the moment
of conception. A woman is to choose whether or not to engage in sexual activity.
If a couple engages in copulation and wishes to employ some form of birth
control, I find it within their rights to do so. However, if consenting partners
engage in sex they must assume all associated risks and be prepared to accept
the consequences.
Persons who have an opinion about the abortion issue are polarized into two
groups, those who favor abortion and those who oppose abortion. There is
no middle ground. If there is, it is a "no man's land," and anyone caught
in the middle is in danger of being hurt by either group.
For many years, I wandered in "no man's land." I tried to respect the opinions
of those on either side of the issue. Abortion did not seem to affect me,
personally. It took a real-life up-close and personal experience of someone
close to me for me to cast my lot among the anti-abortionists. Until I was
forced to think through the issue, I was not firmly committed one way or
the other. I sincerely believe I made the right choice. I chose life over
death; I chose to deal with the abortion issue in love and understanding,
without hate or bitterness, and am comfortable in my decision.
I do not find acceptable, the means some anti-abortionists use in seeking
to accomplish their goals or mission. Those who see themselves above the
law and feel justified in murdering doctors who perform abortions, or those
who use tactics of terrorists and bomb abortion clinics are extremists and
should, rightfully, be punished for the crimes they commit. We, who oppose
abortion, must seek peaceful measures to stop the senseless slaughter of
unborn children. We should reach out to heal those who have been harmed,
and to love those who have lived to regret their part in ending the life
of an unborn child. We should be ready to defend our position if challenged.
Furthermore, we should support educational programs that strive to confront
abortion by offering viable alternatives to abortion.
Abortionists would have us believe the unborn child is not human, and the
question of when human life begins is not likely to be resolved to everyone's
satisfaction. Personally, I am not satisfied with any answer that dates the
beginning of life beyond the point of conception. The prevailing opinion
may be that life begins only when the embryo has become a fetus. For many,
a fetus is not a human being until it has been birthed. For others, life
begins in the third trimester of the pregnancy.
For me the most important question has nothing to do with when life begins,
rather it asks, "Who, apart from God, has the right to end the life of an
unborn child?"
The Supreme Court has granted that right to medically trained persons who
practice abortion at the request of their patients. It does not matter that
I disagree with the Court's ruling, but it matters how I respond in expressing
my disagreement. Likewise, your disagreement and response matters, as well.
The Church, as I know it (Southern Baptist), and the Roman Catholic Church,
too, have spent too much time, effort, and money condemning the act of abortion
and too little in lovingly responding to those who most need it, the women
who have chosen to abort their pregnancy. The life of the unborn that was
destroyed cannot be restored, but the life of the one whose body once housed
an unborn child is worthy. If she receives the emotional support she so
desperately needs and is properly respected and lovingly nurtured, restoration
can occur. The Church has the ability to provide such support, for love is
the foundation of everything on which the actions of the Church are built.
The Church needs only the will to become the instrument though which healing
is effected and lives are restored. I cannot foresee the end of "abortion
on demand," but if changes in our laws are ever effected, I foresee the Church
as being the principal force to bring about the desired changes.
Note: Southern Baptists observe the third Sunday in January as Sanctity
Of Life Sunday
Awkward Age Not
Just A Teen Thing
Mention "awkward age" and most folks will immediately think "teenager." And,
teens do aptly fit the awkward age stereotype. The bodies of young teens
are growing rapidly toward maturity and hormonal changes are not the least
of the teen experience. By the end of the teen years, the typical teen looks
physically like an adult, but as most of us know, it will take a few more
years for them to mature.
Until recently, I’ve not thought much about applying "awkward age" to
another stage of life, but I believe I have reason to do so. As I slowly
slip into my senior years, I seem to have become more awkward. I’ve
become a bit awkward performing such simple tasks as toweling off after a
bath. Oh, I do pretty well with my upper body, though I don’t contort
as well as I used to, but when it comes to drying my feet, I run into trouble.
There was a time when I could stand on one leg with the other leg bent across
my knee and dry the raised foot just fine. Nowadays, I have about one and
one-half seconds per foot to perform the foot-drying task before I topple
over. Sure, I could sit down and dry my lower legs and feet, but I like to
think I’m still up to the challenge.
I’m glad I don’t bruise easily; otherwise, folks would think
Barbara’s been abusing me. I can fit my car into a tight parking space
with the best of ‘em, but when it comes to walking through a doorway
in my house, I’m apt to swipe the facing with my arm or shoulder. Plus,
there’s no telling how blue my arm would look if I bruised each time
I sideswiped the old Victrola just outside the hallway. Apparently, the inability
to conceptualize the boundaries of ones personal space is a classic symptom
of the awkward age of "young" senior adults.
It may be part of the normal aging process for one’s mind to slip out
of gear from time to time, but sometimes it’s just plain awkward. For
instance, this week I was helping my wife by pumping gas for her while she
waited inside the car and out of the cold. We were at an Exxon station with
pay-at-the-pump fuel dispensers. She had given me her American Express card,
but I couldn’t get the card reader to read her card. After three failed
attempts, the display read, "See Cashier Inside." I hate it when that happens,
so rather than traipse inside, I tried my credit card. After three failed
attempts, and a second admonition to see the cashier inside, I did just that.
"I’m sorry, Sir," the polite attendant stated in her best voice for
the technology-challenged consumer, "it says here, ‘Card Inside
Reader.’ I’ll come help you."
We walked back to the pumps and seeing there wasn’t a card inside the
reader, she asked me to try once more. Wouldn’t you know it; on the
first swipe it worked?
The attendant smiled and assured me little problems like this one were common.
I told her the equipment probably just needed a woman’s touch. She smiled
approvingly and walked back inside, as I began pumping the gas.
What I didn’t tell her was that I realized on my last try that I had
been inserting the card incorrectly the other six or seven times. The
instructions were quite clear, but somehow my brain kept overriding what
my eyes were seeing. Standing there in my SUPERVALU Retail Technology
windbreaker, I saw no reason to explain to a stranger my awkward
technology-moment.
I'm not now, nor have I ever been a womanizer. Though, at sixty-three, I
find myself at a truly awkward age, romantically speaking. As a flirt, I
am too old to be taken seriously by anyone under forty, and I’m too
young (under ninety) to be considered a sexy senior, as George Burns once
was, plus I’m not a widower. Women, who are my age, don’t seem
concerned enough to notice me, and my popularity rating is probably highest
in the over-eighty crowd. Now that's awkward.
A few years ago, whenever I wore a new tie for the first time, it seemed
that everybody noticed. At Christmastime, lots of church-going men wear a
tie with a holiday theme. I started the most recent holiday season, with
ties depicting a seasonal theme, the week before Thanksgiving and concluding
with the Sunday after the epiphany. In those eight weeks, I did not receive
a single compliment on my choice of seasonal ties. Being at an awkward age,
I didn’t expect any females to compliment my holiday ties, though I
thought at least one guy would be envious enough to notice.
True enough, teens deserve our sympathy as they endure the "awkward age."
Now, I’m discovering that seniors are also entitled to the same sort
of sympathy.
Bodock Beau
Rockin' Chair Boogie
The following poem came in an email sent our way by Cheryl Radford of Southaven,
MS.
There's nothing the matter with me,
I'm just as healthy as can be,
I have arthritis in both knees,
And when I talk, I talk with a wheeze.
My pulse is weak, my blood is thin,
But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.
All my teeth have had to come out,
And my diet I hate to think about.
I'm overweight and I can't get thin,
But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.
And arch supports I need for my feet.
Or I wouldn't be able to go out in the street.
Sleep is denied me night after night,
But every morning I find I'm all right.
My memory's failing, my head's in a spin.
But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.
Old age is golden I've heard it said,
But sometimes I wonder, as I go to bed.
With my ears in a drawer, my teeth in a cup,
And my glasses on a shelf, until I get up.
And when sleep dims my eyes, I say to myself,
Is there anything else I should lay on the shelf?
The reason I know my Youth has been spent,
Is my get-up-and-go has got-up-and-went!
But really I don't mind, when I think with a grin,
Of all the places my get-up has been.
I get up each morning and dust off my wits,
Pick up the paper and read the obits.
If my name is missing, I'm therefore not dead,
So I eat a good breakfast and jump back into bed.
The moral of this as the tale unfolds,
Is that for you and me, who are growing old.
It is better to say "I'm fine" with a grin,
Than to let people know the shape we are in.
From a poem "Senior Citizens" by Daisy Anderson
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