Freedom of Choice Act

An Open Letter,

It is not my normal practice to be political. I tend to try to educate and allow folks to discern how to vote or decide. An example was this past election. I had personal and spiritual differences with some of the candidates for the Presidency from both parties but did not try to persuade the congregation how to vote. I merely asked them to compare the stands of their candidate with the Bible and vote accordingly.

I pray daily for our President, Barack Obama, but one of the concerns I had about his Presidency was his outspoken support of Planned Parenthood and the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), which has been tied up in legislation since it first appeared in Congress in November of 1989. This piece of legislation masks its true impact, by appealing to those who believe it is the right of a woman to decide what happens in her own body. This piece of legislation will remove all laws curbing abortion on demand at any time during a pregnancy (more on this later), by all states.

The norm of society shouldn’t become the norm for the church. There are times when the church must speak out against the society, even if it affects the church in doing so. I believe more and more we will see our society and the church defer and we will come under persecution for our differences (more on that another time). I will try to stay on topic in the paragraphs that follow.

I believe that life begins at conception. The Bible supports this belief. I also believe that God has a plan for each life and that taking life takes away from God’s ideal plan.

At a very young age, Jeremiah received a word from God about his calling and ministry. He was told that he was called and set apart before he was born, while in his mother’s womb.

Jeremiah 1:4-6 – 4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." 6 "Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."

God used Jeremiah in a special way, but I do not think that God’s plan for Jeremiah, the fact that He had one, is unique. I believe that God has a plan for each life and that this plan goes beyond viability or the post womb life. How many Jeremiahs have we aborted since Roe v. Wade became the law of the land? The Psalmist believed that life began in the womb as well.

Psalms 139:13-15a – 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.

Should abortion be available for certain cases? Absolutely! When there are life verses life issues such as tubal pregnancies where the mother’s physical life is in danger and the unborn child is not viable, abortion, although still taking a life, is a necessary evil. Even if one would add rape and incest into the equation, which I wouldn’t, such accumulative cases, according to studies I have read are leniently estimated at less than 5% of the abortions performed today. The remainder fall into life circumstance rather than life verses life. I believe that some are using abortion as a birth control method and this is totally unacceptable.

Some who would support FOCA believe they are doing so to protect women from oppression or to give them the freedom of choice. The rhetoric often used – to protect the innocent – is a misnomer. By allowing abortion on demand, the most innocent, the yet to be born human baby, is having their life and God given purpose ended.

My wife works for an organization, Bethany Christian Services, in Crofton, that places babies with Christian families. These are usually children where the parent(s) are not capable of or willing to parent. Other cases include those who believe having someone else parent their child is in the best interest of the child. They have never failed in placing a single child that comes into their care, to my knowledge. Some of these children are born in the worst of conditions medically and physically speaking. The old saying that abortion is removing unwanted children is a lie. There are no unwanted children.

If anyone is pro-choice, let me suggest that the choice should be about educating people on abstinence, birth control, and decisions we make dealing with our reproductive systems. The wrong choice is made when we have sexual relations outside of a loving marriage. The wrong choice is made when we have unprotected sexual relations outside of marriage. When a baby is the product of these choices, it is ungodly, amoral, and completely unscientific to say it is merely tissue that a woman can chose to remove from her body.

As a pastor, I can say from my pastoral experience, that abortion doesn’t free a woman from the pain of childbirth. It may remove the baby developing within her, but it introduces a new pain, that of taking a life. As I have ministered to post-abortion women, I have never met one that was glad she took this action. It may have seemed like the only out at the time, but it becomes a prison from which no surgery can free for them.

As a church that stands for life, we must do more than preach/teach against abortion on demand. And we do. We have members who work in the area of crisis pregnancy, in adoption, and in the social work fields. We financially support ministries that help support mothers who decide to allow the life inside of them to live. As a pastoral staff, we counsel those who are contemplating abortion and those who have experienced abortion and its pain. We must be non-judgmental and caring for those who struggle with this issue, while sharing the truth with love. We must be part of the solution and not simply call out the problem.

I will end as I began (not that I have covered all areas of concern). I do not normally speak politically. In this case, I have read nothing positive about FOCA, and I have read about it on sites that support it as well as others. FOCA removes all attempts to curb abortion on demand, at any and all stages of the development of life. It removes the safe guards and takes away the rights of others who desire to protect a woman’s choice for life.

I have read that FOCA will overturn the following:
 State abortion reporting requirements in all 50 states
 Forty-four states’ laws concerning parental involvement
 Forty states’ laws on restricting later-term abortions
 Forty-six states’ conscience protection laws for individual health care providers
 Twenty-seven states’ conscience protection laws for institutions
 Thirty-eight states’ bans on partial-birth abortions
 Thirty-three states’ laws on requiring counseling before an abortion
 Sixteen states’ laws concerning ultrasounds before an abortion

I have read that FOCA will do the following:
 Eliminate regulations that protect women from unsafe abortion clinics
 Force taxpayers to fund abortions
 Require all states to allow “partial birth” and other late term abortions
 Subject women to abortions by nonphysicians
 Violates the conscience rights of nurses, doctors and hospitals
 Strips parents of their right to be involved in their minor daughter’s abortion decision

So what will you do? I urge you to call your representative(s) and give them your opinion. I urge you to write them as well. We are ordering 1,000 post cards that will make this easier. They should be available this coming Sunday and will be available at the front door. I urge you to take a stand for those who cannot stand, the innocent who are having their lives cut short by the millions each year. I pray you will do so and will help me fight an unjust law, even as we struggle with this and other important life issues.

Your Pastor and Friend,
Rev. Dr. Ramon E. McDonald II

If links are not active – here are the links in order of their appearance:

Planned Parenthood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf0XIRZSTt8

FOCA: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1173

Post cards: http://www.nchla.org/datasource/idocuments/Postcards.Eng&Sp.pdf

An Article about Abortion

If you are home today with little to do or would like to read in the future about a United Methodist organization that is very pro-life and supporting efforts to support the unborn, check this page - http://www.lifewatch.org/.

A testimony from a UM pastor is found at http://www.lifewatch.org/a_testimony2.html.

You can also check out some discussions on my blog page http://raymcd.blogspot.com/. Articles dealing with this subject are – Roe v. Wade and Who Are These Society Would Abort and Laws to Protect the Helpless. You may have to look in the archives for the last two.

The United Methodist Church’s stance on abortion has become more and more pro-life since 1976. Read about it at http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=1080. You can read some of the wording of the 2008 Book of Discipline in this article.

The Durham Declaration (http://www.lifewatch.org/durham.html) is something I signed years ago and will bring to the Church Council for consideration.

In one of my articles I wrote – I believe in the sanctity of life and that life begins at conception if not before. We are not merely creatures of our sinful human desires but of a God with a plan for our lives. God had a plan for and knew Jeremiah before he was in his mother’s womb. Jeremiah 1:4-5 - The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." God is creating our inmost being, our spirit, even as we are developing physically in our mother’s womb. Psalms 139:13-14 - 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Here is a very important question for the church today. How can the church hold their beliefs on issues like abortion and at the same time minister to those who have experienced abortions? We are not judges, we are called to share the mercy and grace of God to all. How about some comments on this question.

Roe v. Wade

January 22, 1973, Roe v. Wade became law. Here is a link to look at what was decided.
http://www.tourolaw.edu/patch/Roe/

What are your thoughts on this anniversary. Are we in a better place some 36 years later? Abortions are on the decline according to some reports.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1860289_1859694,00.html

What would happen if Roe v. Wade were overturned? What if abortions were only available for rape, incest and the life of the mother (not life circumstance but the actual life)? Some speculate that only 7-12% of all abortions fall into this category. Most abortions are abortions of convenience. I would rather not be pregnant!

Would better education by parents and society reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies? Remember, there are no unwanted children. Bethany Christian Services proves this every year as they (and other organizations like them) place special needs children 100% of the time.

Prayer is needed today and everyday as we as a society continue to kill millions of lives through abortion. Prayers are needed today for the women caught in a place where they feel aborting their unborn child is their best solution.

As a pastor, I have had to deal with post-abortion syndrome in a number of women through counseling. The pain goes beyond the abortion.

Please pray today.

Who Are These Society Would Abort?

Would you consider abortion in any of the following four situations? Often the argument is made by society that quality of life or the threat of a lessened quality of life is reason to abort. Would you consider abortion or suggest abortion in any of these circumstances?

1. There's a preacher and wife who are very, very, poor. They already have 14 kids. Now she finds out she's pregnant with her 15th. They're living in tremendous poverty. Considering their poverty and the excessive world population, would you consider recommending she get an abortion? - This baby was John Wesley - the founder of the Methodist Church

2. The father is sick with syphilis, the mother has TB. They have 4 children. The 1st is blind, the 2nd is dead, the 3rd is deaf and the 4th has TB. She finds she's pregnant again. Given the extreme situation, would you consider recommending abortion? - This baby was Beethoven

3. A white man raped a 13 year old black girl and she got pregnant. If you were her parents, would you consider recommending abortion? - This baby was Ethel Waters - a great Gospel Singer

4. A teenage girl is pregnant. She's not married. Her fiancee is not the father of the baby, and he's very upset. Would you consider recommending abortion? - This baby was Jesus

Laws to Protect the Helpless?

Every once in awhile articles written in the newspaper catch your eye and cause you to think. This is the case recently as I was reading with interest three articles of a similar tone.

The first story that caught my eye was the on-going saga surrounding Michael Vick, the starting quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons football team of the NFL. Mr. Vic has been indicted for having dog fights on his property. Recently he has been barred from camp. There are big fines, jail time and other consequences facing him if he is found guilty. It is appalling that anyone would make a sport out of dogs fighting and find enjoyment in two animals tearing each other apart. Personal satisfaction and entertainment drive us to do some terrible things in this society.

Another story was about a disturbed man who was angry with his neighbor. Two days in a row he came to his neighbor’s home and each day he stomped a cat to death. This is a horrific act and this man could face years of incarceration for this evil act, or at least years of psychological care.

On another day someone was charged with animal cruelty because they left some rabbits alone at home for an extended period and they starved to death. These animals were being kept as food for snakes the man kept. But instead of feeding them to the snakes they starved to death and for this, the man will face a great fine and jail time for cruelty to animals.

I believe that animals should be protected and there should be severe penalties for this sort of mistreatment of animals. Laws should exist to protect the innocent, those who cannot help themselves, in these cases, animals. I’m glad we live in a society that cares for animals.

Unfortunately, we live in a confused society where some people do not want to take responsibility for their actions and simply want to please themselves. It is very confusing to me that we live in a society which protects animals with fines and jail time but allows thousands upon millions of babies to be killed each year in various stages of human development through abortion. Why would we make laws and issue fines for people who mistreat animals yet allow people to kill unborn yet often viable children? I believe that human life, even the unborn, is more valuable than animal life and we should protect the innocent unborn with more fervor than we do the helpless animals.

Please hear me when I say I know this is an emotional and sometimes complicated subject. Rape, incest, teen pregnancies, and other factors can create a no win situation. I read somewhere that rape and incest accounts for only 2 % of all abortions though. In many cases abortion is being seen as removing an unwanted appendage or tissue.

Each time abortion is the choice of the adult(s) involved, the life of the unborn, the helpless baby, is lost. I wonder at times how many significant contributions to society have been swept away in abortions. Often the adults involved have a choice prior to the abortion. They can abstain from sexual activity or use contraceptives. The unborn child has no choice.

I believe in the sanctity of life and that life begins at conception if not before. We are not merely creatures of our sinful human desires but of a God with a plan for our lives. God had a plan for and knew Jeremiah before he was in his mother’s womb. Jeremiah 1:4-5 - The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." God is creating our inmost being, our spirit, even as we are developing physically in our mother’s womb. Psalms 139:13-14 - 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

As I open this subject to debate, I also acknowledge that as a church body, we cannot merely be against abortion, but as we have in the past and even more in the future, support adoption, agencies like Bethany Christian Services (a crisis pregnancy counseling center and Christian adoption agency), single mothers in our church and community and more. We have to remind ourselves that abstaining from sexual activity outside of marriage is not just an old time value. It is a Godly value that is meant not only to protect the gift of sexuality for one partner for life but to protect us from issues like the one we are discussing.

Using abortion as a form of birth control devalues human life and the intrinsic value of the persons involved. As a pastor for 30 plus years I know the pain that is caused post abortion to the women and men involved. I also know there is no such thing as an unwanted child after watching my wife and others work with families who have opened their hearts to any child, in any condition. Unwanted or unexpected or even crisis pregnancies maybe, but that unborn child is loved by someone and if the birth mom is unable to care for the child, someone will!

Back to my original thought of confusion. In a society that has laws to protect animals from cruelty and abuse, why not more laws to protect the most helpless of humans, the unborn, of intrinsically more worth than any animal? Instead we have laws that allow for their death.

What are your thoughts on the subject?