Evil flourishes in partial-birth abortion policy
The Layman July 2003 Volume 36, Number 3, July 1, 2003
Thou shalt not murder.
Exodus 20:13
In order for evil to flourish, good men and women simply have to do nothing – or, what’s worse, just go along.
Evil flourished during the 215th General Assembly when many good men and women went along with reaffirming the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s policy of sanctioning partial-birth abortions – condoning a barbaric practice that, in effect, crushes the skull of a living child simply because he or she may pose an “inconvenience.”
At a time in history when a bold affirmation of a Biblical worldview to address the problem of abortion is sorely needed, commissioners had the power – and the responsibility – to raise that standard. They may not have sought such a role but, as people in the pews looked to them to advise and lead and guide the church, they were called to be the captains of the gate barring Scriptural vacuity and moral ambiguity from getting more entrenched.
Alas, the majority of commissioners abrogated that role and, instead, meekly acquiesced to a staff-generated and leadership-endorsed policy that perpetuates the abortion lie and continues the bureaucratic institution’s 40-year slide into irrelevancy.
And it doesn’t matter when you believe life begins, whether at conception or at some ill-defined point before birth. That’s irrelevant. All sides in the debate agree that post-viability abortions are inflicted at a time when the baby can live outside the womb. And it doesn’t matter that the policy uses “mother” and “child” rather than “woman” and “fetus” – that’s semantics, and can’t paper over the fact that the denomination sanctions the killing of babies.
Oh, sure, the policy includes the usual mealy-mouthed phrases, such as “it is a matter of grave moral concern” and “may be undertaken only in the rarest of circumstances.” In sanctioning the procedure “when necessary to save the life of the woman” or “to preserve the woman’s health in circumstances of a serious risk,” it contradicts reports showing partial-birth abortions are never medically necessary to protect a woman’s health.
And that is the evil of the policy – stubbornness in the face of Scripture’s clear instructions, stubbornness in the face of overwhelming medical evidence, stubbornness in going along with a culture-accommodating leadership.
The General Assembly voted despite a stark warning from a lone commissioner that, “in all probability, the procedure will be outlawed.” Just a few days later, the House of Representatives joined with the Senate to ban the procedure. In the House, 67 percent voted for the ban and, in the Senate, 66 percent – a marked contrast to the 78.9 percent of commissioners who voted to sanction partial-birth abortions.
Bush says he’ll sign legislation
The legislation still must go to a conference committee, but President George W. Bush has indicated he will sign it – which puts the denomination in the awkward position of sanctioning partial-birth abortions when they are banned in the country.
Once the nonsense and obfuscation are removed from the debate, what it really boils down to is simple: The clear instructions of Scripture, 2,000 years of moral teaching and the law of the land show that partial-birth abortions are wrong. Those who support the lie do so because they don’t know it’s a lie – one that seeks to replace a clear right and wrong with an ill-defined argument soaked in pop sociology, clothed in “me” language and wrapped in the cloak of political self-interest.
And because they don’t know it’s a lie, because they don’t know that it flies in the face of the Christian ideal, they probably will contest the legislation in the courts once the president signs it. And they’ll probably do so without a word from Louisville which, at press time, hadn’t commented on the vote in Congress.
In this, the majority of commissioners and Louisville are unlike the 21.1 percent who, in the spirit of G.K. Chesterton, voted against sanctioning partial-birth abortions. “The Christian ideal,” Chesterton reminds us, “has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.”