Tag Archives: Abortion

Aborting and Shaming Mamas

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What Do You Think? Wednesdays. That’s what I think I’ll call this day that I have used to pose ideas for you to ponder. Today, the first Wednesday in Women’s History Month, deals with mamas. I guess it’s that kind of week. Unlike my Monday post, that highlighted a phenomenal mother, the following anti-abortion ad and fed-up mama video challenge the mothering instincts of women, the first one directly aimed at African American women.

Bad grades land teen on street corner: MyFoxTAMPABAY.com

What do you think of each, especially in light of Scripture? Here are a few verses to consider:

“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate” (Psalm 127:3-5).

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1-2).

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

“Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death” (Proverbs 19:18).

“Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him” (Proverbs 13:24).

“A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him” (Proverbs 17:25).

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

I look forward to hearing your thoughts. You can read some of mine in the comments section here.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Five Choice Lies

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When we hurt and the pain is so deep and the memory consistently fresh, we may choose to live in the grey, that space that blurs the definitive. We want to say yes to help, knowing saying no completely shuts us out from the possibility of help and healing. We live in the grey, the place of self-medication by suppression, an alternate reality we hope will protect us from more pain. In the grey we believe we delay the consequences that come from the yes and the no.

Not because of hurt or pain, some of us live in the grey just because it’s easier that way. I’ve seen this with church folk, those who seek to blur the lines of what Scripture says about abortion so they don’t have to toe the line. They are pro-abortion (pro-choice), not because Jesus is but because they say He is based on his compassion. A classic case of this comes from a sermon listed on the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC) website. The sermon used Mark 5:21-43 to justify why Christians should support women who get abortions, both their choice to have one and healing for them after they have had one.

Yes, without a doubt we should help post-abortive women in their healing process but in no way do I believe Christians should encourage women to have abortions, except perhaps in extreme circumstances. Mark 5:21-43, the story about the woman with the issue of blood, show Jesus’ compassion to heal a woman in pain for 12 years but in no way support a woman’s right to kill. Nonetheless, RCRC attempts to create some grey to dwell in.

Following are statements taken from the sermon that help to lay the foundation for what I call five choice lies:

Statement #1—“As Christians who strive to follow Jesus, we can and must be both compassionate and pro-choice.”
Lie #1—“Jesus was pro-choice which means he would support us choosing abortion.” But Jesus said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37-39). To love God is to obey Him (John 14:15) and he says choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19). And to love our neighbor as ourselves is to love the child in the womb as we love ourselves because the child in the womb is the closest neighbor anyone can have.

Statement #2—“In the 60s, horrified by the injuries and death suffered by women around the country due to illegal, unsafe abortions, religious leaders responded as people of faith and conscience must. Reverend Howard Moody and Arlene Carmen organized the first Clergy Consultation Service in New York City, a network of clergy who agreed to help women gain access to safe abortion providers.”
Lie #2—“It’s better to provide safe abortions so women won’t seek back alley ones.” This is the same notion as giving clean needles to drug addicts and condoms to sexually active teenagers. A safe wrong and an unsafe wrong are both wrong. Romans 13:10 tells us not to do wrong to a neighbor and verses 13 and 14 end the chapter by telling us this: “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (emphasis mine). We are never to provide support for people to commit sin.

Statement #3—“[A] fertilized egg is potential life but not actual life. These Christians hold that the life, health, freedom, and moral agency of the pregnant woman are more important than the potential life in her womb.”
Lie #3—“We cannot scientifically tell when life begins.” This may be okay for non-Christians to say and believe, but Christians who believe the God of the Bible shouldn’t even try to use this one to support having an abortion. Most pro-life advocates believe life begins at conception. The makings of a fertilized egg are the beginning of a baby’s life. But I would add that biblically, life begins even before the womb, in the mind of God. In Ephesians 1:4 God says he chose us BEFORE the foundation of the earth. We were alive to God before we manifested in the earth.
Lie #4—“A woman’s freedom supersedes the life of the unborn child.” 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 says, “‘All things are lawful,’” but not all things are helpful. ‘All things are lawful,’ but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.”

Statement #4—“Without Roe, life for American women would be thrown more than 30 years in reverse, returning them to the days when women could not fully control the number and spacing of their children. Without Roe, women will be forced to carry fetuses to full term – even when those fetuses have no brain, no limbs, no heart.”
Lie #5—“Abortion is a viable birth control method.” Family planning is something that families should decide together, but death should not be a viable means to help women regulate “the number and spacing of their children.” “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13).

The grey might numb the pain or even the guilt but what’s left is a trail of darkness and deception that is hard to flee.

Copyright 2011 by Rhonda J. Smith

Reasons for Sexual Purity

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Through the lips of a nervous smile, she could barely speak: “Would you pray for me about something I did that I regret. I had an abortion a few years ago and I regret it.” Her emotions gripped her now because of what she didn’t know then: Doing what you want with your body may make you feel in control, but because of sexual impurity there are so many consequences that may haunt you for years to come. To wear the badge of strong black woman, so many of us have believed the lie that we are in control of our own bodies, but those bodies then begin to betray that notion in several ways:

? Death may come.

    1) This could be a physical death—for you by way of a disease like AIDS, or your baby by way of an abortion for not wanting a child with someone you just slept with (1 Corinthians 10:8);
    2) an emotional death—by way of feeling unfulfilled after the sexual act and shame because your sexual partner now disrespects you or you disrespect yourself (2 Samuel 13:1-20); or
    3) a spiritual death—by way of a disconnection from God and other believers because of your disobedience (Romans 1:24-32, 1 Corinthians 5).

? You will have an unnatural attachment. Because sex is God’s way of connecting you spiritually to your spouse, having sex outside of marriage still connects you with the person you sleep with (1 Corinthians 6:15-20). You, therefore, may long to be with or even have stalker-like tendencies toward your “unlawful husband.”

? You may damage your reputation. Some of you may be discreet with your stuff, but it will catch up with you eventually (1 Corinthians 4:5). As a woman, you may not be deemed marriage material (“Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?”); as a Christian, you lose your testimony as a credible witness for God’s kingdom because you act like everybody else; and as a mother, “Do as I say and not as I do” doesn’t work. Your children are likely to mimic your illicit behavior (John 4:16-18, 1 Corinthians 9:27).

? You will likely have “baby mama drama.” This may be because you’re trying to get him to take responsibility of the kids you two had or his new girlfriend despises you or you despise her (Genesis 16:1-5).

I’m not insensitive to believe that these results only come to those who initiate sexual impurity. Like me, some of you may have been raped and had to deal with these deaths because of someone else’s impurity. Hear what I’m saying though: whether likely participant or victim, God has given us a choice: “I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). If you can participate in illicit sex, don’t. Save yourself from unnecessary death and drama. Choose life. If you are a victim, choose life through Jesus and the resources that he provides for healing.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Reproductive Rights

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The age old argument for abortion goes: “I’m not in favor of abortion for me, but I believe women should have a choice to decide what they want to do with their own bodies.” I used to think that, too. In my teens and early 20s, I was vocal about it and placed money on it, giving $200 to help fund a friend’s late term abortion. An age old argument for birth control methods goes: “I don’t want to get pregnant so I’m going to take birth control pills. I am being responsible.” That I used to think, too, and placed my money on it, offering a nominal fee to Planned Parenthood for my birth control pills. Even after Jesus became my Savior at 26, I still took birth control pills and did so for the first few years of my marriage. Well, I changed my mind on both when I began to see what use God had for my body:

    “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth”—Genesis 1:28 (KJV).
    “But did He not make them one, (h)aving a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring.”—Malachi 2:15 (NKJV).
    “Or don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself. . .”—1 Corinthians 6:19 (NLT).

God wants me to have children so the earth will be filled with people who live for and worship Him. I can’t decide what I want to do with my body because it doesn’t belong to me, but to God. He is the owner and has the right to tell me what to do with it. So while I understand the classic arguments why people should be able to choose abortion or to control whether or not they have children through other birth control means, I believe that the imminent death of the mother (like in the case of a tubal pregnancy) is the only time an abortion should be performed. And I personally believe that thinking that I can’t handle having another child because of economic or emotional reasons is definitely not a reason to abort and may not be cause to use birth control, especially those designed to kill the fetus after conception (like the Morning After Pill). So the only reproductive right I believe the Christian woman has is to remain in concert with her maker’s intent for her body. This is what I think. You know I want to know what you think. Please give your comments and let’s hash this out together.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith