What's Missing from the Abortion Debate

What’s Missing from the Abortion Debate?

Men, Science, and the Soul

Abortion Definition: the deliberate termination of a pregnancy

Is it Right or Wrong for a woman to intentionally terminate a pregnancy?

Is it Right or Wrong for a man to ejaculate in the vagina of a woman?

We hear the first question debated ad nauseum. Why don’t we hear the second question debated? Could it be because men don’t want to take responsibility for their actions? Could it be because women have commonly been accused of Wrongdoing since The Garden story found its way into the human psyche? There would be no pregnancy if no sperm found its way from the penis to the egg by way of the vagina. Yes – that’s science.

We have a lot to talk about. I am a man. My first child was aborted. I have a PhD in Health Education and was a Christian minister for 30 years. I have a right to talk a little, but you won’t hear worn out arguments and accusations. Let me talk about my first child.

I was 26 years old and still as naïve and irresponsible as many of my peers. No job; no savings account; no house; no car; and no plans for the future. I had known her for several months and we had been intimate before, but this day was different. What made it different? I could describe the physical surroundings and weather conditions which were obvious to me; what I did not know was her level of fertility. The egg was ready. Her pheromones were infusing me with their debilitating power. I was helpless to her seduction. I didn’t know it, but I impregnated her. When she ‘disappeared’ from the commune, I was told she had gone to the city to get an abortion. I followed and found her in the hospital. It was not a happy time for either of us.

Was it Right or Wrong for her to intentionally terminate that pregnancy?

Was it Right or Wrong for me to ejaculate in her vagina?

Should she or I or the doctor performing the abortion be criminalized?

I don’t apologize for telling my personal story. Every vaginally penetrating sex act resulting in a pregnancy is a personal story and involves a man and a woman. Accusers don’t know the personal stories of the accused and don’t seem to care. Oh, and the sperm giver is never mentioned.

I do apologize for setting this up as a Right or Wrong question. Right or Wrong is a matter of one’s personal beliefs of morality based on cultural traditions passed on for generations and often biased against women, people of color, and the disabled.

Enter the Soul. Hmm? When does the soul enter? The abortion debate talks about a human being having rights – in reference to what is developing in the womb of the woman. It was indeed a human sperm fertilizing a human egg to form a zygote that developed into a blastocyst and implanted in the uterus as an embryo where it would later be called a fetus when all the body parts were present. That’s right, all the Body parts. Hmm? Has the Soul entered yet? Is it a human Being yet? What constitutes a human Being? Would anyone argue that the Soul is the same as the body? Most Christians teach that the Soul needs to be saved – not the body; the body goes back to the dust.

If the Soul is present in the zygote, blastocyst, embryo or fetus and the body dies, what happens to the Soul? Does it perish, go to purgatory (limbo), or go to heaven? Can an abortion kill the Soul? Doesn’t the Soul have to sin before it dies? Certainly, no Soul in the womb has sinned. It takes Self-consciousness and knowledge to sin although some Christians believe the unborn is already a sinner due to ‘Original Sin.’ There is no confirming statement in the Bible as to what, exactly, the Soul is or when it might enter the body. I personally contend that Soul or Self is not present in the body until there is Self-Awareness around the age of two. That is a personal belief. The whole abortion debate is based on personal beliefs. If the Soul is not yet present in the body, then it is not yet a full Human Being (body, soul, and spirit).

“Thou shalt not kill.” As the story goes, this was one of the 10 Commandments delivered to the people by Moses on Mount Sinai. Then, when the twelve tribes of Israel were moving back to Canaan land, God had Moses to tell Joshua to kill every man, woman and child of the towns and cities that would not welcome them and accept their monotheistic belief. Sounds like “Thou shalt not kill” had conditions then as it does today. Some Christians believe it’s still okay today to take an eye for an eye rather than turn the other cheek. Some believe killing self-labeled “terrorists” is okay; killing someone you feel threatened by is okay; killing innocent people in declared or undeclared war is okay and calling it collateral damage. The commandment is not black and white. Stop using that commandment against a woman who is terminating her pregnancy.

Pro-Life/Pro-Choice are baited terms to divide and condemn. Everyone is pro-life until such time the benefits of dying outweigh the benefits of living. Everyone is pro-choice as evidenced by their demands for freedom and self-determination. The next time you use the baited terms, remember they were created to divide and condemn. Were you drawn into the trap? Do you want to remain a pawn to the divisive, condemning agenda of the judging virus? There is no freedom in an agenda that condemns a woman for making a choice to terminate her pregnancy. There is no freedom in an agenda that condemns a physician for performing treatments that protect the health of the patient. The only freedom is for men to continue to ejaculate in the vaginas of women around the world without consequence.

The premises of the debate render the debate a sham as deadly as the Salem witch trials and the Christian holocaust that murdered millions of women in Europe suspected of being witches. It is a sad statement that we are still having this debate and that women are still used, abused, and condemned throughout the world. We may be human beings, but we have yet to become a humane people.

Scripture references can be provided.