Pro-Life Reply: When Does Life Begin

The Pro-Life Reply to: “No One Knows When Life Begins”

In this video, Dr. Tara Sander Lee, a molecular geneticist and Director of Life Sciences for the Charlotte Lozier Institute, delivers a scientific response to this common argument and dives into the developmental stages of the preborn child.

Have a listen. This lesson is under 5 minutes. In it, the speaker makes these points:

• Not knowing when life begins should be an argument AGAINST abortion
• The developing baby grows at an extremely rapid pace, especially in the first trimester
• At 22 weeks, it is possible for babies to be born and survive outside the womb
• In the womb, babies exhibit behaviors we do as adults
• Zygote, blastocyst, embryo, and fetus are all terms that merely refer to age
• Preborn babies are not parasites; if they were, the mother’s immune system would attack it
• It is a scientific certainty that human life begins at the moment of fertilization

Pro-Life Reply: My Body, My Choice

The Pro-Life Reply to: “My Body, My Choice”

In this video, Kirsten Watson, mother of 7, including twins, explains how to respond to “My Body, My Choice” and reinforce the pro-life argument for the most vulnerable members of society. Be informed and better prepared in less than 5 minutes. Some of the points she makes are:

• When a woman is pregnant, there is more than one body involved
• A right isn’t a right if I only apply it to me
• A woman’s right over her own body does not give her the right to end the life of any other human being
• Mothers and fathers have a natural and legal obligation to support their children after birth, so it should follow that they have this obligation before birth
• “My body, my choice” encourages men to use women, not respect them

American Madness

Anthony the Great of Egypt, as recorded in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, said, “A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, ‘You are mad; you are not like us.’”

After the chief medical officer at the New York City Department of Health issued the tweet quoted below, for what did the Department of Health apologize?

“The urgency of this moment is clear. Mortality rates of birthing people are too high, and babies born to Black and Puerto Rican mothers in this city are three times more likely to die in their first year of life than babies born to non-Hispanic White birthing people.”

They apologized for “inadvertently” gendering Black and Puerto Rican birthing people!

I am not a biologist, but I know that all “birthing people” are women. I am not a dictionary, but I know that women who give birth are mothers.

Freezing human embryos

A baby born from a 27-year-old frozen embryo has been big news recently. Molly Everette Gibson, born this past October from an embryo that was frozen in October of 1992, is just over 6 weeks old, yet only 18 months younger than her 29-year-old mother! The primary newsworthy item to the secular press is that Molly sets a record and makes history as the longest-frozen embryo to come to birth.

Dr. Jeffrey Keenan, President and Medical Director of the National Embryo Donation Center said, “I think this is proof positive that no embryo should ever be discarded, certainly not because it is ‘old!’ ... it’s a testament to how good God is, and to His infinite goodness and love.”

For some reason, this news item grabbed my attention in a way that such has not previously. I suppose I have never given this subject much deep thought. Assisted reproduction technologies have been around for decades, with great “success.” However, this success has created a surplus of frozen human embryos – around 1,000,000 in the United States alone, according to the National Embryo Donation Center.

If life begins at conception (as many of us believe), is it really moral and ethical to freeze live human beings?

On the Day My Baby Died

Please take the time to read this post:

On the Day My Baby Died -- "While I only knew my child in the womb for a few weeks, the Lord had already firmly planted him or her in my heart. I prayed for that child. I loved that child."

A theology of marriage and childbearing

Is there a theology of marriage and childbearing? What do the Scriptures say? Do the Scriptures present marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman in which children are intended and expected? Or do the Scriptures present marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman in which a choice to have or not have children is part of the covenant they make between themselves? Does it matter one way or the other? The following are some Bible verses that relate to the issue.

1. When we look at the original, we see a lifelong union between one man and one woman with the blessings and responsibilities of bringing forth children. Quote: Gen 2:18,21-24 - And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him...And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (cf. 1:27,28)

2. Fruitfulness is a blessing and a command to Adam and Eve. Quote: Gen 1:27-28 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

3. There is a similar blessing/command motif for Noah and Jacob. Quote: Gen 9:1 - And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. Gen 35:11 - And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.

4. God's creative plan is that the woman should bear children. That she would bear them "in sorrow" is a result of the fall. Quote: Gen 3:16 - Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

5. The Lord has power over the womb, both opening and shutting. Quote: Gen 29:31 - And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. I Sam 1:5 - But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.

6. Children (and even grandchildren) are an heritage (inheritance) and a reward from God. Quote: Psalm 127:3-5 - Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. Psalm 128:1-3 - Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Prov 17:6 - Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.

7. Paul exhorts younger women to marry and bear children. Quote: I Tim 5:14 - I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.

8. Marrying and bearing children seem to be the normal and expected course for the Christian (so much so that Paul assumes the elders will be married with children). Quote: I Tim 5:10 - Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. Titus 2:4,5 - That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. I Tim 3:2-4,12 - A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife...One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity...Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

9. There are exceptions to this "normal course". For persons to devote themselves to remain unmarried in order to give themselves over to the Lord's service seems above average, but certainly a good thing and that is acceptable to God. Quote: Matthew 19:12 - For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. Compare I Corinthians 7:8, et al.

10. Examples of Jesus' feelings toward children: Quote: Matt 19:14 - But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Matt 18:2-6 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 

I would like to keep any discussion impersonal and Scripture-oriented. Regardless of one's personal status in this matter, I hope that we agree that it is Scripture and not our practice that decides the truth. The general tenor of Scripture combined with specific teachings gives strong evidence that children are an intended and expected consequence of marriage. 

Thoughts?