Abortion: The Pro-Life & Pro-Choice Positions.

At the heart of the Abortion issue is the question of Personhood (of the Fetus). At what point in the process of gestation can we say the fetus is a ‘person’?  Currently, the supreme court has endorsed 24 – 26 weeks as the point at which the fetus is able to live on its own (viability). The issue with this is being able to reliably measure viability as it varies based on place and available technology. There are a few more proposed ways to determine personhood (the decisive moment):
•Determining the moment when the brain develops or the point at which the brain of the fetus begins to function:
•Determining Sentinence – the point where the fetus is capable of experiencing sensations, especially pain
•Determining Quickening – the first time the mother feels the fetus moving inside her womb
•Determining the appearance of Humanness of the fetus – the point at which the fetus begins to resemble a baby
•Birth as the decisive moment
•Implantation – the point at which the embryo establishes its presence in the womb by signals
•The point of conception as the decisive moment


                         PRO-LIFE
The biblical position on the decisive moment of personhood is the point of conception. Scott Rae (1) posits:
•“An human being is the end result of the continuous growth of the organism from conception
•“From conception to adulthood, this development has no break that is relevant to the essential nature of the fetus
•Therefore, one is a person from the point of conception onward. The fetus has their own unique and separate genetic identity, needing only nutrition and shelter to mature into a full newborn baby and later into an adult.
“God is intimately involved in the forming of the unborn child and cultivating an intimate knowledge of that child”(2)  The Bible gives several references to God’s view on the matter including Job 3:3, Jeremiah 1:5, Isaiah 49:1 and Psalm 139 – all pointing to God’s foreknowledge of a person prior to birth. Therefore, abortion “involves not only the termination of a pregnancy, but also interrupting the sovereign work of God in the womb”(3).  This is at the heart of the abortion debate. With the secularization of the issue and the prevalence of postmodernism, this issue continues to be hot topic.
                       
                        PRO-CHOICE
The pro-choice movement (those in favor of abortion) sees the issue this way:
•The woman has a right to do with her own body whatever she chooses – this is not about the baby. It’s her body and therefore her choice to do as she wishes
•The rendering of abortion as illegal will result in “back alley” abortion providers
•The unavailability of abortion options will be very hard for poor women
•No one should force a person to bring an unwanted child into the world – even if the pregnancy is as a result of rape, incest or abuse
•No one should force women to bring handicapped children into the world
•Restrictive abortion laws serve to discriminate against poor women.

Establishing the issue of Personhood will invalidate the pro-choice position as abortion then would be considered murder – the killing of another person. But as long as the debate continues and the courts continue to set these provisions then the pro-choice position will be remain legal, believing that restrictions serve as an undue burden to women. As we do not live in a world governed by Christian Theism, government must provide alternatives for people and abortion alternatives even though gained under false pretense is one way it fulfills its duty to society. The Christian community (pro-life) just needs to stay engaged and show love to the opposing (pro – choice) side.
** If you are in need of help please consider abortion alternatives services in your state/country or partner with the local church. See a link below:
Abortion Alternatives & Crisis Pregnancy Center://www.facebook.com/aacpc/

Blessings.


References:
Scott Rae, Moral Choices (Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan, 2009), 142.
Ibid., 129.
Ibid., 127.
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Written by Pastor Kevin A. Hall.