Oct 29 2008
Purpose of Families, Continued
Yesterday I wrote on the importance of family, how God intends for us to have children and why, and my belief that families can be together forever. Today I’ll continue along the same vein of families and children with the issue of abortion. Once again I will be borrowing heavily from Elder Oaks’s devotional from 1999.
Elder Oaks states, “More than 30 years ago, as a young law professor, I published one of the earliest articles on the legal consequences of abortion. . . . I have been fascinated with how cleverly those who sought and now defend legalized abortion on demand have moved the issue away from a debate on the moral, ethical, and medical pros and cons of legal restrictions on abortion and focused the debate on the slogan or issue of choice. The slogan or sound bite “pro-choice” has had an almost magical effect in justifying abortion and in neutralizing opposition to it.
However, Oaks councils, “Choice is a method, not the ultimate goal. We are accountable for our choices . . .” Yes, it is a choice, but we must make the right choice. One of the ten commandments is to not commit murder, nor anything like unto it. Abortion, not matter the stage of pregnancy, it murder or something like unto it.
A popular argument it that the woman should have control over her own body. Yes, every woman has control over and responsibility for her own body, how she uses it and how she cares for it. If a woman chooses to remain chaste, modest in her dress and manner of behavior, then she has made choices that will enable her, that will give her more good choices to choose from. It is highly unlikely that she will be faced with the choice to abort a life or not.
On the other hand, if a woman dresses provocatively, behaves in a fashion that puts her in a situation where pre-marital sex occurs and pregnancy begins, then she has made a wrong choice which will limit her future choices. She now has a responsibility for the life growing within her as well as her own body. If the pregnancy puts a damper on her plans, the inconvenience of the child does not justify her in an abortion. She chose what would happen to her body and risked becoming pregnant. Our wrong choices limit our future choices. Those who choose to drink and drive suffer the consequences of losing their licenses, wrecking their cars, or worse, being the cause of another’s death or their own. Those who choose to use drugs make the choice to harm their bodies and lose some of their faculties, as well as create a possibility of hurting others. Those who choose to lie, cheat, steal make wrong choices which will harm them and limit their future choices.
Those who make choices which lead to unwanted pregnancies have lost some of the freedoms which they desire. They cannot simply abort because they want to continue having illicit sex, or because they want to continue using drugs, or smoking, or because they wanted a career first, or even because they wanted to finish high school first. The woman has already had her choice.
The child within her is innocent. The child within her has done nothing wrong and would like nothing better than to come into a family where it will be loved and cared for. If the woman is not willing or able to care for the child, there are avenues other than abortion. Adoption, for one. There are many women unable to become pregnant who would love to care for a child. There is no need to silence a life, when there are those willing and desiring to care for it.
I have a friend that said she was “pro choice” and then followed it up with “you made the choice when you got into the bed.”
I have two kids, so I know that being pregnant is hard and take a toll on our bodies, but there is a bigger picture at stake. Once you are pregnant you are responsible for that life you carry, and I believe with all my heart that we will be held accountable for what we do with that life; both the mothers and the fathers. I believe in this so strongly that it affects the type of birth control I use.
I once heard someone justify their “pro choice” standpoint on the idea that there are more abortions each year than couples on the adoption list. I think that is a paltry excuse. If there were more babies available for adoption then the adoption process would become more efficient and I believe that there would be no problem finding families willing to open their homes to these little ones. I personally know of 2 couples who have dropped out of the adoption process because the wait was too painful or because they had mothers change their minds at the last moment.
Abortions are breed of pure selfishness and I believe that, except of cases of rape or incest, they should be made illegal.
Thanks for being straightforward about a sensitive issue. We truly live at a time when we have to stand up and let our voices be heard, even when our opinions about moral issues are not popular. I especially loved Elder Nelson’s talk in the October Ensign on the issue of abortion. Like Elder Oaks, he bears a powerful witness in favor of the gift of life. Thanks again for your words.