• Abortion policy implementation set back by General Assembly
• Thomas Torrance: The unborn human person is at the heart of the Gospel's message
• The Virgin Birth and the Unborn
• Year of the Child
• The Year of the Child, by Elizabeth Achtemeier
• General Assembly Actions
• ACSWP will study and recommend PC(USA) policy on late-term abortions
• Recent surveys show decline in teen sexual activity
• Have you thought about the PC(USA) without the witness of PPL?
• Woman to Woman: Applying for life, by Terry Schlossberg

Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS Fall 2000
Abortion policy implementation set back by General Assembly

The General Assembly of 2000 approved without debate the report of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) on the implementation of the G.A.'s abortion policy. ACSWP found that G.A. entities have generally implemented the policy but made a few suggestions for improvements. The acceptance of ACSWP's report frustrates the hopes of Presbyterians who expected adoption of a new abortion policy in 1992 to result in significant changes consistent with that policy.

What did ACSWP do?
The 1998 G.A. referred the request to assess implementation of the 1992 abortion policy to ACSWP and ordered a report back in 2000. ACSWP assembled a task force of their own choosing to accomplish the assessment and immediately changed the terms of the work assigned to them by the G.A. Rather than conducting an assessment of the 1992 abortion policy, ACSWP used a definition of policy that included actions of General Assemblies
from 1983 to the present. The committee said that the policies of 1983 and 1992 were particularly important. Nevertheless, the 1992 policy became one of a long list of "policies."

ACSWP's policy definition contrasts with the General Assembly's. The G. A. has a clear description of what constitutes a policy and what distinguishes a "policy" from other actions by General Assemblies. Using the G.A.'s own definition, "policies" on abortion since reunion were adopted only in 1983 and 1992. Furthermore, the task force that reported in 1992 was asked to produce a "new policy" for the church, clearly showing the intent that it should supersede prior policies.

ACSWP used their own "policy themes" instead of the policy itself as the standard for evaluation. When they decided to use sixteen years of General Assembly statements as a basis for their assessment of policy, they had to find a way to organize an overwhelming amount of material. In choosing "policy themes" they created a standard for assessment that was of their own making and that bore little resemblance to the General Assembly's abortion policy of 1992. Those statements which set the 1992 policy apart from the previous policy were missing from the "policy themes."

What did the G.A. 2000 adopt?
The G.A. adopted ACSWP's recommendations as written. Paraphrased, they are:

1. Put identifying information on any material that is produced;
2. Add statements from the 1992 policy in the sexuality curriculum which could continue to include statements from the 1983 policy;
3. Develop a web site for policy statements; and
4. Approve five years as an appropriate interval for another evaluation.

The recommendations accomplish none of the mandates of the 1992 abortion policy. That policy was clear in expecting inclusion of the pro-life position as a legitimately-held position by Presbyterians in our denomination. The 1992 policy called for the expression of the pro-life position in all publications on the subject after 1992. The 1992 policy raised the possibility of financial support by denominational offices for pro-life ministry in addition to the organizations that advocate for abortion rights that have received support for years. The 1992 policy called for assurances that churches' mission funds would not be used in violation of conscience on abortion.

Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS Fall 2000
Thomas Torrance: The unborn human person is at the heart of the Gospel's message

"He is not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being." Speaking directly out of the Reformation's echo of this biblical teaching, Thomas Torrance asserts that the teaching applies to the unborn as well as to the born. It is from our very beginning in the womb that God, who is active-ly at work in our creation, sustains us and makes us open for fellowship with him.

Thomas Torrance is a theologian with a working knowledge of the intersection of his discipline with science. His knowledge of science and his continual joining of science with theology is his unique quality. The failure to bring science and theology together on this subject has resulted scientifically in a purely materialistic understanding of the unborn child ("blob of tissue") and theologically in a disembodied understanding of humanness ("Presbyterians do not have substantial agreement on when human life begins....").

Torrance uses the scientist's vocabulary to explain how genetically complete each of us is from the moment of conception. And he integrates into the scientific explanation the theological and biblical understanding of God at work in us before we are born. Torrance concludes that God "is the creative Word and transcendent source of the all-important information in the formation of every human being in body and soul."

"The virgin birth of Jesus is an essential part of the Gospel of salvation," says Torrance. It was in his unborn state that Jesus became one with us humans. Torrance heightens our understanding of the relationship between God and the unborn child by considering the Bible's portrayal of Jesus as embryo. In becoming an embryo, Jesus became brother to every embryo. "...[H]e healed and sanctified in himself what he had assumed from us-our humanity." Torrance points directly to Jesus' incarnation as an unborn child as the basis for the teachings of the early Church as well as the Reformers on abortion.

Torrance closes with reference to the Redeemer's tears. Jesus had infinite compassion for those he came to save and for whom he died. He wept over the anticipated holocaust in the destruction of Jerusalem. Torrance says Jesus wept again for the millions and millions of Jews destroyed in our own time. And then he asks, "But what of the abortions of unborn children that have been taking place and continue to take place throughout the world, even in 'Christian' countries?...Let us listen and listen to him: 'Daughters of Jerusalem,' here and everywhere, 'do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children.'"

• Scottish theologian Thomas Torrance's presentation on the unborn child was featured at PPL's General Assembly event this year. The quotations in this article are taken from a version of Torrance's presentation which was edited and presented at General Assembly by Pastor Gerrit Dawson, First Presbyterian Church in Lenoir, NC. Both the edited and full text are available from PPL in a booklet titled "The Being and Nature of the Unborn Child." The text of the presentation has been published in the August/September issue of Theology Matters.

Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS Fall 2000
The Virgin Birth and the Unborn
An exerpt of the edited version of Thomas Torrance's presentation at the General Assembly

"The virgin birth of Jesus is an essential part of the Gospel of salvation. For through it Jesus was made one of us and one with us in such a way that he healed and sanctified in himself what he had assumed from us--our humanity--thereby recreating, humanizing, and personalizing it.

"That is why leading theologians in the early Church, followed by John Calvin at the Reformation, rightly traced the root of our redemption, not only to the death and resurrection of Christ, but to his very conception and birth of the Virgin Mary. Because in Jesus the Creator Word of God was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, Christians came to regard the unborn child in a new light.

"The fetus is sanctified by the Lord Jesus as an embryonic person. Hence already in the first century, in the Didache, the Church added to the sixth commandment, 'You shall not commit infanticide, nor procure abortion.'

"Those early Christians took to heart the words of the Lord Jesus about the little children: 'Suffer the little children to come to me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' 'Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; but whoever offends one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for him to have a millstone fastened round his neck and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea.' 'See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.'

"From the earliest days of the Church, that teaching of the Lord Jesus about our behavior toward little children has been held to apply no less to the unborn than to the born. For in his incarnation, the Lord Jesus had himself been an embryo in the womb of the Virgin Mary, of whom he was born as Jesus to be Immanuel, God with us, the Savior of humankind."

The birth of Jesus was of vicarious and redemptive significance. That means that our new birth is to be understood in relation to the birth of Jesus himself.

The doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus and its redemptive significance must be recovered for a proper understanding of the redemptive life and mission of Christ. Moreover, the virgin birth is crucial to our grasp of the nature and status in Christ's eyes of the unborn child.

The Son of God became a human being for us in the womb of the Virgin Mary, bone of our bone and flesh. He became what we are. Think of the importance of the incarnation, then, for our understanding of and regard for the unborn child.

Every child in the womb has been brothered by the Lord Jesus. In becoming a human being for us, he also became an embryo for the sake of all embryos, and for our Christian understanding of the being, nature and status in God's eyes of the unborn child. So, to take no thought, or no proper thought, for the unborn child is to have no proper thought of Jesus himself as our Lord and Savior or to appreciate his relation as the incarnate Creator to every human being.

Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS Fall 2000
The Year of the Child
by Elizabeth Achtemeier

The General Assembly designated this year in the church as the "year of the child," and it selected as its scripture logo, "Whoever welcomes this child…welcomes me," a paraphrase of Matt. 18:10. There could be no better theme for those dedicated to protecting the life of the unborn, for on every unborn child is stamped the image of Christ, "who is the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15). When a child is received in gladness and gratitude into the world, our Lord himself is received. Through Christ the child has been created (John 1:3). With the birth of the child, Christ is welcomed.

Anyone who realizes such thoughts also wants that child to know the Lord whose image she or he bears, and so the questions are, "How should we raise that child to know the Lord? How can children be nurtured to become worshipers and followers of Jesus Christ?" We complain in the church that we are losing many of our young people. Why is that the case? What are we doing wrong?

A Familiar Scene
Perhaps the answer can be given by describing a scene that greets many of us every Sunday morning. An eight or nine-year old boy occupies the pew in front of us. He is absorbed in reading a Marvel Comic book. While the congregation stands, he sits and reads. He joins in none of the hymns. He participates in none of the prayers. He confesses none of the creeds. After the scripture reading and during a hymn, his younger sister is dismissed to a children's class, where she will color or play a game or perhaps listen to a story. Disgustedly, the boy watches her go and gets out a toy car to run along the pew bench and over his mother's leg. The boy is bodily in church, but obviously he is not really there. At the end of the service, he pushes through the crowd and rushes for the freedom of the outdoors. Next Sunday the scene will be repeated. And the mother and father will wonder why their children have no knowledge and take no interest in the faith of the church.

Could it be that we lose such young people to discipleship because we do not urge them to participate in the worship of the Body of Christ, which is the center of the Christian life? When they are very young, we dismiss children from worship to classes that they can "better understand." That way they bother neither the preacher nor their parents. When they are youths, we let them entertain themselves, while we worship.

What A Child Learns in Worship
But, friends, what does a child learn in Christian worship if we train them to participate fully? First, they learn that church is a place for quietness and reverence and consideration for one's neighbors. And it is the responsibility of Christian parents to teach that! Second, they learn the words of the hymns of the church, which can stay with them all their life and which teach them the beliefs of the faith-Charles Wesley always held that the great church hymns were one of the best tools for learning theology. Third, they learn what it means and how to pray, silently, and together with fellow Christians, and the words of the Lord's Prayer are imprinted on their hearts. Fourth, they learn the outlines of basic Christian doctrine from the words of the Apostles' Creed. Fifth, they learn the various Bible stories and sayings and Psalms as the scriptures are read and the liturgy is celebrated. And sixth, they might even learn something from phrases, from illustrations, from points expounded by a faithful preacher.

But, we reply, children don't understand such things! The truth is that they understand more than we think they do. The language, the dedication, the challenges of Christian faith get implanted in their bones, and become part of their lives, to shape their thought and conduct ever after.

The Prize
Sure, children make some noise in church, and parents are sometimes distracted. Sure, the preacher would like to have golden silence as he or she delivers priceless words of wisdom. But a parent's distraction and a preacher's pride are small prices to pay for passing on to our offspring the immeasurable riches of Christ, and those are delivered to us, good Christians, through the "means of grace"-through the Word read and preached and through the sacraments in our worship. And we deprive our children of the most essential elements in their upbringing when we do not teach them to receive that grace. "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them," our Lord taught (Mark 10:14). We will raise Christians only by obeying that command.

• Elizabeth Achtemeier is a writer, speaker, and Bible teacher. She is a member of the PPL board of reference and an ordained member of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Her most recent book is an autobiography entitled Not Til I Have Done, published by Westminster/John Knox Press, 1999.

Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS Fall 2000
PC(USA) General Assembly Actions
For further GA information, click here for PPL's GA report

>Restudy of abortion rejected by G.A.
The G.A. of 2000 rejected an overture from Santa Barbara Presbytery requesting a restudy of abortion "focused solely on explicating the biblical witness in a manner faithful to Scriptures and consistent with the confessional standards expressed in the Constitution (The Book of Confessions) for the purpose of articulating the ethical application of this for use in the pastoral care ministries of preaching, teaching, and service in local congregations."

The overture was an effort to steer away from the public-policy oriented reproductive rights agenda and use the church's own statements of faith in considering the morality of abortion.

>General Assembly votes for marriage and against same-sex unions
The Presbyterian Church (USA) was one of four mainline Protestant denominations that met over the past year and considered same sex unions. It was unusual for four to meet in the same year. But it was not a surprise that they faced what has become a major emphasis of the homosexual movement in both church and public square: the effort to normalize homosexual relationships as unions intended to be synonymous with marriage. Same-sex unions are more important overall to advancing the homosexual movement's agenda than the question of ordination because they are directed at the general population.

Jane Spahr is a self-proclaimed lesbian "evangelist" for an organization promoting the ordination of those engaged in homosexual behavior called That All May Freely Serve. Early in the Assembly Spahr declared that same sex unions "are marriages." "These are weddings. Let's call them what they are," she told a crowd of demonstrators.

All four denominations found same-sex unions inconsistent with biblical teaching. In keeping with our polity, our General Assembly adopted a statement which, when ratified by a majority of our 173 presbyteries this year, will become a part of our constitution. The statement will be placed in the Book of Order section on marriage of The Directory for Worship. The proposed amendment reads:

The new wording, which makes explicit what is implicit already in our constitution, is necessary because of recent rulings by church courts that allow same sex unions. Only an amendment to our constitution is sufficient to take precedence over the courts' decisions.

Each proposed change to the Book of Order, Part 2 of our constitution, will be voted on by the delegates to each presbytery at one of their meetings this year. The result of the vote will be officially enacted at the time of the next General Assembly in 2001. Presbyteries cast a "yes" or "no" vote for each proposed amendment. Votes to "abstain" have the effect of "no" votes.

>Sexuality business referred to G.A. of 2001
Acting on a recommendation from the G.A. of 1999, this summer's Assembly referred a number of overtures on the subject of sexuality to next year's meeting in Louisville. The referred business, all of which has implications for the Book of Order (BOO) requirements for ordination, included:

• ovr 00-06 (Beaver Butler), on appointing a special committee to explore amendments to the BOO to permit congregations which cannot comply with G-6.0106b to disaffiliate from the church while retaining real property.
• ovr 00-13 (Northern New England), on striking G-6.0106b from the BOO.
• ovr 00-40 (Milwaukee), on amending G-4.0403 and G-14.0201 to list sexual orientation as a category not to be excluded.
• ovr 00-41 (Milwaukee), on requesting the GA to declare that all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, are able to fulfill the requirements of church office.
• ovr 00-42 (Milwaukee), on establishing a special task force to move beyond the current impasse.
• ovr 00-46 (Santa Fe), on amending G-14.0202a by adding an exemption/waiver clause for governing bodies when, in good conscience, they cannot apply the requirements of G-6.0106b justly and equitably.
• ovr 00-48 (Hudson River), on amending G-14.0202 to add a waiver of requirements not essential to reformed faith and polity.

Many presbyteries have already elected commissioners to the next Assembly. Others will be electing commissioners in the upcoming weeks. Every church is a participant in those elections.

Some changes that should benefit the church
G.A. decides definition of policy
Perhaps the most significant amendment to the rules of the General Assembly was the addition of a statement to the process for forming social policy. It states that the most recent policy statement adopted by a General Assembly using the G.A.-approved process for policy development shall be the only policy in effect. The amendment to the rules reads:

Another section of the policy formation document was also amended to add the words "the most current."

The action was a direct response to ACSWP's misunderstanding of what constitutes policy.

The rationale of the overture accompanying the action by the G.A. pointed to a "discrepancy between what the General Assembly has approved as policy and what the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) considers to be policy." Prior to the adoption of these amendments, G.A. entities could refer to any action of any assembly going back as far as the 1940s to justify an action or a statement or a program. The G.A.'s action has broad positive implications for clarifying the policies under which denominational entities do their business and to which entities are accountable.

G.A. Nominating Committee (GANC) directed to end its gatekeeper practice
The General Assembly Nominating Committee (GANC) is a powerful and important body. Their nominations are used to fill many of the critical elected positions in our denomination including the Permanent Judicial Committee, our highest church court, and the General Assembly Council, including its committees. The GANC is an appointed body with a relationship much closer to G.A. entities than to lower governing bodies.

Three overtures aimed at reform of the G.A. nominating process came this year. An overture from Riverside Presbytery would have required the GANC to report its nominees with all the other reports sent to commissioners in advance of the Assembly. The GANC has been withholding the names of nominees until the Assembly. The overture was defeated after the GANC promised voluntarily to send the slate to commissioners sixty days in advance.

A second overture which was defeated this year, from Presbytery of the Peaks, would have changed the GANC itself from an appointed body to one that is elected, a process more in keeping with our form of government.

The assembly adopted an overture from Greater Atlanta Presbytery which allows any member of the nominating committee to propose a nominee. Recent practice has been to give the nominating committee member from each synod sole control over all nominations from that synod.

The church would benefit from further efforts to reform the body that is so instrumental in determining the make up of entities giving leadership to the denomination.

Limits on demonstrations
Responding to concerns about the effect of demonstrations on the Assembly, the G.A. adopted an overture from San Joaquin Presbytery. The action will permit demonstrations twenty-five feet or more from building entrances and prohibit them within the building where the G.A. is meeting.

Changes that hinder good process in the church
Overtures now require consultation with any entity affected
The G.A. acted this year to severely limit the ability of lower governing bodies to bring overtures to the General Assembly. An action which came as a recommendation from the Office of the General Assembly now requires that any lower governing body that wishes to submit an overture to the G.A. must consult with any G.A. entity that might be affected by the overture. If the lower governing body cannot produce evidence of a consultation, the overture will be referred to the next G.A. to allow more time for consultation to take place.

One presbytery executive commented that this rule will effectively eliminate most overtures. Members of lower governing bodies know what they want to accomplish but have little knowledge of who in Louisville will be affected.

The effect of the rule is an infringement on the rights of lower governing bodies to have an impact on the processes by which they are governed.

General Assembly allows some meetings to close
The General Assembly acted this year to allow some groups to close their meetings to press and observers. The action was in direct response to appeal by supporters of the National Network of Presbyterian College Women to meet in private. The language of the G.A. action broadens the possibility for closing meetings well beyond that group. The newly adopted policy is filled with ambiguous language. "Non-business," "small groups," and "personal issues of faith and life" are undefined. As the General Assembly itself has said repeatedly, "The work of the church is strengthened when it is done in a spirit of openness and trust. Church members have a basic right to know about the work done and the decisions made by entities within the church."

>Review of Women's Ministries not considered by G.A.
The 1999 G.A. called for a review of the Women's Ministries Program Area (WMPA) by the General Assembly Council, "including a review of the theological balance of programs and materials," with a report back to G.A. in 2000.

Review was opinion survey
The review became a controversial issue during the year. It largely consisted of a survey conducted by the denomination's Research Services which was distributed selectively to supporters of the WMPA. Another independent survey, conducted by Voices of Orthodox Women (VOW), resulted in very different responses regarding the women's program offices.

At the point when their report was due, the executive committee of the GAC decided to extend the review by appointing a three-person team to do more work and write a summary of the results for the General Assembly. The details of what constituted the extended review were not reported. In the end the GAC unanimously approved the review's support for the WMPA just prior to the G.A. meeting, several months after the report was due.

Committee--not G.A.--takes final action on report
The report was sent to the Mission Coordination and Budgets committee at the G.A. That committee approved it. The committee's action was only reported to the G.A. It was not open to consideration or debate on the floor of G.A. Nothing in the referral from the previous assembly or the referral by the Bills and Overtures committee at this Assemby authorized a committee to take final action on the WMPA review.

It is doubtful that Presbyterians have any more knowledge of the extent to which the WMPA conforms to biblical and constitutional standards than they did before this review.

>General Assembly directs Congregational Ministries to produce new sexuality curricula "with all deliberate haste"
This G.A. approved keeping current sexuality curricula available until new material can be written. They also directed Congregational Ministries, responsible for curriculum development, to move "with all deliberate haste" to complete the revisions mandated by the 1999 G.A. This G.A. set the year 2003 as the date when new material must be ready for distribution.

Current curricula lack biblical and confessional teaching
Current PC(USA) curricula on sexuality make little use of biblical teaching and encourages acceptance of homosexual behavior and abortion. Recent General Assemblies have affirmed the biblical teaching on marriage as the sole context for a sexual relationship. The G.A. in 1998 encouraged churches to lead youth toward decisions for sexual purity. The G.A. in 1999 directed a rewrite of the sexuality curriculum to conform to biblical and confessional teachings on sexuality. The action of the 2000 G.A. extends the deadline originally set for replacement of the current curriculum but keeps the intent of a rewrite intact.

Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS Fall 2000
ACSWP will study and recommend PC(USA) policy on late-term abortions

Last winter the PC(USA) Advisory Committee on Litigation recommended that Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick submit an amicus brief in support of partial-birth abortion. After Baltimore Presbytery failed to support the brief, the Clerk's office withdrew it.

The Advisory Committee on Litigation subsequently asked the General Assembly to refer the question of PC(USA) policy on late-term abortions to the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) for study and recommendations to the G.A. of 2001. The Assembly adopted the referral which they received in a consent agenda.

The General Assembly in 1997 stated that "the procedure known as Intact dilatation and extraction (commonly called 'partial birth' abortion) of a baby who could live outside the womb is of grave moral concern and should be considered only if the mother's physical life is endangered by the pregnancy."

Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS Fall 2000
Recent surveys show decline in teen sexual activity

Abortions in the U.S. continue to be highest among teenage girls. Nevertheless, one in three babies born in the U.S. are to unmarried parents. But both these trends are now downward. The National Center for Health Statistics reported recently that the teen birthrate is at the lowest point since records were first kept 60 years ago. President Clinton recently attributed the improvement to welfare reform, child-support enforcement and teen-pregnancy prevention.

Four recent surveys are reported in the July/August 2000 issue of The Alan Guttmacher Institute's Family Planning Perspectives. All four show decline in teen sexual activity. In addition to the higher rate of abortions among teens than among other age groups, the researchers pointed out that sexually active teens have some of the highest rates of sexually transmitted disease. So the new findings of decreasing sexual activity among teens are encouraging. John S. Santelli, an official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the surveys show that sexual activity is markedly down among males and unchanged or little changed among females. The surveys also found the use of birth-control pills down, but an increase in condom use.

Hundreds of abstinence programs developed in response to a 1996 welfare law which created a $50 million-a-year grant program to fund them at the state level. While studies of the effectiveness of the programs are not complete, there are reports of success around the country. Many involved in promoting abstinence programs note that it is an uphill effort given the cultural expectations that teens will be sexually active. Additionally, there is a twenty-five year old trend toward later marriages.

• Click for youth sexuality resource for churches: Pure Hearts! Pure Lives!

Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS Fall 2000
Have you thought about the PC(USA) without the witness of PPL?

Historically, unofficial groups of church members and pastors have been instrumental in bringing biblical reforms. Old Testament prophets may be the earliest and best examples. Think of Jeremiah thrown into that cistern, or Elijah, called "troubler of Israel," who challenged the entrenched idolatry of the religious leaders of his day. Jesus and his disciples were rejected by the leaders of the Temple.

The Bible's examples have been repeated constantly in history. John Wesley's movement transformed the lives of the poor in England in the 19th century. Dietrich Bonhoeffer challenged the organized church in Germany in the 20th century that closed its eyes to the holocaust.

It is very much in keeping with our Presbyterian tradition of "reformed and ever being reformed according to the Word of God" that God raises up his witnesses from within the church. Many of the people and groups that were maligned in their own day now take their places in history as heroes of the church.

PPL is part of a long and vital tradition of church renewal
Modern church renewal movements are solidly in that tradition. Presbyterians Pro-Life is a witness in the Presbyterian Church (USA). We are a movement raised up by God to ensure that our denomination is not left without a witness to God's love and value for every innocent human life, from the tiniest creation of God in the womb to the most elderly and infirm.

In this time in history, when the official denominational offices support abortion and even pay for them, the witness of Presbyterians Pro-Life is crucial. We exist because of God's call, and because Presbyterians support us. Please be among those who strengthen the witness for life in our denomination with a generous gift to PPL.

Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS Fall 2000
Woman to Woman: Applying for life
By Terry Schlossberg

Indeed. A very poignant way with words in a society where nearly every third baby's life is deliberately ended before birth.

Applications likely to fail
I wonder what has to be on a successful application. Perhaps the most significant change in the abortion discussion over the years has been in the understanding of what is in the womb. Even when I joined PPL in 1987 it was still common to hear that abortion was the removal of a "blob of tissue." That probably wouldn't work too well on the application.

Back in those days The Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights sent out acorns as an analogy for what was in the womb and asked if people equated crushing acorns with cutting down oak trees. That probably wouldn't work too well on the application either.

A better vitae
But now that ultrasound is routine, mothers can display first pictures of their babies taken in doctors' offices. That might look better on the application. We do have a lot better information to put on an application for life today.

Surgeries are performed today on babies by removing them partially from the womb and then putting them back in the womb to continue their prenatal development toward their delivery date. (One doctor asks if those babies are "born again.") <see Baby Samuel>

The Washington Post's Health supplement recently carried a quiz on dental health. One of the questions was "To best protect her unborn child's teeth, a pregnant woman should start paying special attention to her diet in which trimester?" The answer was: "First trimester. A baby's teeth start to form just six weeks after conception." We know that is not all that forms just six weeks into a baby's development. Brain waves are detectable and the heart has been beating for three weeks by that time. The baby has eyes, ears, arms, and legs, and the fingers are visible. All of this in the "first trimester," and before many women even know they are pregnant.

There really is no doubt that what is in the womb, from the earliest moment, is a developing baby, a live human being. There is little attempt any more to deny that.

Not enough to be human?
It's really rather disturbing that we have so much information about the unborn child today and yet the support for unrestricted abortion continues-even in the church; perhaps particularly in the church. It is not enough to be human if you are not yet born. You must be "wanted." Today, you may be out of the womb and emerging into the light of day, and killed, if you are not wanted. Infanticide, of course, is the inevitable logical progression of an ethic based on wantedness.

Think of Jesus's ministry and then try to imagine a Gospel based on an ethic of wantedness. There is nothing in the biblical witness to support wantedness as a criterion for life.

I wonder how those little applications read from the three prospective grandchildren of Lucy's Grampa. If you were the one to make the judgment, would they have to say more than "I am a little human being. God made me."

Top
To begin receiving Presbyterians Pro-Life NEWS by mail, click here. Then click "Newsletter."

Home / About PPL / Contact PPL / Topical Index / PPL Publications / Pregnant? We’ll Help
Adoption Resources / Post Abortion Resources / PPL NEWS Articles / Order Resources / Prayer Calendar

© Presbyterians Pro-Life
3942 Middle Rd.
Allison Park, PA 15101
www.ppl.org