Abortion and what the Bible Says
Uploaded by lemonh7863 on Nov 08, 2002
What is the question?: There are really two, different, very active abortion questions:
1. If a woman finds herself pregnant, what it the best (or least worst) solution for her and the potential newborn that she is carrying? 1) To do nothing, have the baby and raise it herself (hopefully with help from others).2) To do nothing, have the baby and give it up for adoption.3) To have an abortion and end the pregnancy. 2. If a woman finds herself pregnant, discusses her options with her physician or counselor, and decides to have an abortion, should the state override her decision and prevent her from having an abortion?
Life and personhood are two very different matters. The human ovum (egg) is already clearly alive when it enters the fallopian tubes, many hours or days before it has the opportunity to be fertilized. Women release one about each month between puberty and menopause - a few hundred in a lifetime. Almost all of these are destined to die and be ejected from the body. Unless a couple is having difficulty conceiving, very little thought is given to these hundreds of deaths. Although the ovum is a form of life, there is a consensus that it is not a human person.
Hundreds of millions of male sperm are liberated during a typical sexual encounter -- a sufficient number to theoretically double the earth's human population in a week or two if each were used to fertilize a separate ovum. Sperm are also clearly alive. Viewing them under a microscope reveals them to be energetic swimmers. Essentially all of these will die within days. Again, unless infertility is a problem, little attention is given to these deaths. An average man produces thousands of sperm a second. At most, a very few during his lifetime will contribute to the formation of a baby. The rest will die. Few men are consciously aware of the loss. Although sperm are very much alive and kicking, there is a consensus that they are not human persons.
Among women without an IUD, about 50% of fertilized ovum develop into a baby which is born some nine months later. Some of the rest are aborted. Others, because of genetic imperfections or other reasons, are lost by a miscarriage.
A consensus exists that an infant is the most precious form of life on earth, and needs to be protected under law....