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Title: From Prochoice to Prolife


1
From Pro-choice to Pro-life
  • My Spiritual
  • Pilgrimage
  • Thanks to
  • Shock
  • Therapy

2
The Shock therapy Treatment
  • A. Spectrum Writer How About the 6th
    Commandment?
  • B. Hugo Schmidt You are not Pro-life!
  • C. Jim Walters The SDA Church is Pro-choice!

3
The Shock therapy Treatment
  • D. Teresa Beem I dont want my hands stained
    with the blood of the unborn!
  • E. Richard Fredericks The Dred Scott Ruling
    Regarding Slaves
  • F. Neal Wilson There is too much hunger
    overpopulation.

4
The Shock therapy Treatment
  • G. Castle Memorial Hospital Revenue loss
    Elective Abortions
  • H. Gerald Winslow Five SDA Hospitals Providing
    Elective Abortions
  • I. SDA Pioneers A bunch of dyed in the wool
    Pro-lifers

5
The Shock therapy Treatment
  • J. SDA Guidelines on Abortion Stressing
    Freedom of Choice!
  • K. Maureen Bull You should shout from the
    rooftops!
  • L. Spectrum Magazine How to get published
    without a PH.D.?

6
A Major Life Resolution
  • A Distant Learning Ph.D. Program
  • A Pro-life News Website
  • A Pro-life Ph.D. Dissertation
  • All This while taking care of the Flamingo Real
    Estate business
  • Hard work, sacrifice, prayer and Gods blessing.

7
For the sake of the unborn
8
The Ph.D. Curriculum
  • 1. Hebrew culture in Biblical Times
  • 2. Old Testament history
  • 3. The Life Teachings of Jesus
  • 4. Jewish History
  • 5. Pre-Reformation Christianity
  • 6. Christianity in America

9
The Ph.D. Curriculum
  • 7. World Religions
  • 8. Bible Archaeology
  • 9. Christian Apologetics
  • 10. Thesis Proposal
  • 11. Advanced Research thesis

10
My Goal To save at least one baby from a sure
death!
11
Or perhaps More?
  • To save more than one!

12
FROM PRO-LIFE TO PRO-CHOICE
  • THE DRAMATIC SHIFT OF
  • SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS ATTITUDE
  • TOWARDS ABORTION
  • By

13
NIC SAMOJLUK
  • A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED
  • IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
  • REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
  • DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN RELIGION
  • ANDREW JACKSON UNIVERSITY
  • BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
  • 2006

14
The Dissertation Chapters
  • I. INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
  • II. A PRO-LIFE BEGINNING
  • III. A PRO-LIFE HERO
  • IV. THE LEAST OF THESE

15
The Dissertation Chapters
  • V. THE GREAT CONTROVERSY I
  • VI. THE GREAT CONTROVERSY II
  • VII. THE TIME OF TROUBLE
  • VIII.THE GREAT BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON
  • IX. THE CALM AFTER THE STORM

16
The Dissertation Chapters
  • X. REDEFINING PERSONHOOD THE LIMITS OF HUMAN
    LIFE
  • XI. SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOP
  • XII. IN SEARCH OF THE REMNANT
  • XIII. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS CONCLUDING REMARKS

17
Appendices Bibliography
  • APPENDIX A A DRAMATIC SHIFT
  • APPENDIX B PRO CON ARGUMENTS
  • APPENDIX C PRO-LIFE PRO-CHOICE LISTS
  • BIBLIOGRAPHY

18
From Pro-life to Pro-choice
  • The dissertation is accessible at the following
    Internet site
  • www.sdaforum.com
  • Scroll down to
  • Ph.D. dissertation Forum
  • You can real all the chapters and addendums
  • You can post your comments online.

19
I. INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
  • A. The early SDA pioneers emphasized the
    sacredness of the Ten Commandments
  • B. They identified their movement as the
    Remnant of God proclaiming the last message for
    a perishing world.
  • C. They Chose the Sabbath as a sign of their
    allegiance to God

20
I. INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
  • D. A sign is meaningless if there is nothing
    behind it!
  • E. The first four Commandments deal with our
    respect for the Creator
  • F. The last six Commandments deal with our
    respect for humanity
  • G. The sixth Commandment states You shall not
    murder

21
II. A PRO-LIFE BEGINNING
  • At the time of the early SDA pioneers, the
    Christian church was pro-life
  • Pro-life means you do not harm human life, but
    rather do what you can to save and nurture it.
  • This Pro-life attitude was inherited from the
    Christian tradition going all the way to the
    Apostles.
  • This Pro-life tradition is still found in the
    Catholic the Southern Baptist churches.

22
These SDA Pioneers Were Pro-life!
  • James White, J. N. Andrews, John Harvey Kellogg,
    Ellen White, John Todd, others were all
    Pro-life individuals.

23
The Opinion of James White
  • many a man, who has as many children as he
    can support, instead of restraining his passions,
    aids in the destruction of the babes he has
    begotten. The sin lies at the door of both
    parents in equal measure for the father,
    although he may not always aid in the murder, is
    always accessory to it, in that he induces, and
    sometimes even forces upon the mother the
    condition which he knows will lead to the
    commission of the crime.
  • James White. Solemn Appeal (Battle Creek,
    Michigan Stem Press, 1870), 100.

24
Ellen G. White
  • Was also Pro-life, in spite of never have used
    the term abortion.

25
Ellen G. White
  • If the father would become acquainted with
    physical law, he might better understand his
    obligations and responsibilities. He would see
    that he had been guilty of almost murdering his
    children, by suffering so many burdens to come
    upon the mother,
  • White. Selected Messages, Vol. 2 (Washington,
    D.C. Review and Herald Publishing Association,
    1958), 429-430.

26
Ellen G. White
  • All acts of injustice that tend to shorten life
    . . . or any passion that leads to injurious acts
    towards others, or causes us even to wish them
    harm . . . all these are, to a greater or less
    degree, violations of the sixth commandment.
  • White. Patriarchs and Prophets (Washington,
    D.C. Review and Herald Publishing Association,
    1958), 316.

27
Did Ellen white talk About Abortion?
  • Mrs. White never used the term abortion.
  • She rather talked about almost murdering the
    unborn.
  • What is the difference?

28
Uriah Smith
  • Uriah Smith, long-term editor of SDA
    publications, did not address the abortion issue
    directly, but he stated

29
Should the Church be Silent on Abortion?
  • You show me a church that fails to take a stand
    on political issues that involve moral
    principles, and Ill show you a church that is
    spineless, irrelevant, and morally bankrupt. . .
    . No issue is too controversial for us to address
    and honestly in pages of our church paper.
  • Uriah Smith. Advent Review and Sabbath Herald.
    Quoted by P.A. Lorenz. Adventist for Life News,
    Vol. III, Issue 3. (n.d., Heritage Edition) 3.

30
Chapter II Statistical Analysis
31
III. A PRO-LIFE HERO
32
III. A PRO-LIFE HERO
  • The story of Desmond Doss
  • He refused to carry a gun
  • He determined to keep the Sabbath
  • He was almost court martialled

33
Other SDA Army Draftees
  • In those days, men who served in the army as
    conscientious objectors were held in rather low
    esteem, were often ridiculed by their comrades,
    and mistreated by their superiors. Some of them
    were abused, imprisoned, assigned to menial
    tasks, kicked and beaten, and even dunked
    headfirst into latrines. During the war, 162
    members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church were
    court-martialed because of their religious
    convictions, and when the war ended, thirty-five
    of these men were serving terms of from five to
    twenty years at hard labor.
  • Booton Herndon. The Unlikeliest Hero (Mountain
    View, California Pacific Press Publishing
    Association, 1967), 16.

34
The Man Who Refused to Kill
  • The man who saved others
  • The man who dodged enemy bullets
  • The man who got almost court martialed
  • The man who refused to act in self defense

35
Was Awarded
  • The Congressional
  • Medal of Honor by
  • President Truman

36
Who Stated on Said Occasion
37
At the End of his Speech
  • I am proud of you. You really deserve this. I
    consider this a greater honor than being
    President.
  • Booton Herndon. The Unlikeliest Hero (Mountain
    View, California Pacific Press Publishing
    Association, 1967), 159.

38
Doss Received Other Honors
  • In 1957 he was treated by Hollywood and listened
    with deep interest to the program This is Your
    Life.
  • In 1962, Desmond T. Doss was invited by President
    Kennedy for a ceremony at the White House
    commemorating the 100th anniversary of the
    creation of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

39
Chapter III Statistical Analysis
40
IV. THE LEAST OF THESE
  • The following statement made by Jesus, inspired
    Curt Young to write a book about abortion.
    Chapter IV deals with this material.
  • Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the
    least of these . . . You have done it unto me.
  • Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
    Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
    Moody Press, 1983), 1-220.

41
Do These Qualify as the Least
42
The Declaration of Independence
  • Slide
  • Template

43
Includes the Following Statement
  • "We hold these truths to be self evident, that
    all men are created equal, that they are endowed
    by their Creator with certain inalienable rights,
    that among these are Life, Liberty and the
    Pursuit of Happyness."
  • --Men then meant human beings!
  • --Do the unborn qualify as human beings?

44
Did Slaves Women Qualify?
  • Common sense would suggest that if all men are
    created equal, and entitled to
  • life then this right to life should include
  • the unborn, because the term men is a generic
    term for humans, and includes women and children.
    Besides, the term created seems to imply
    development which starts at conception.

45
Chief Justice Roger Taneys Opinion
  • They the slaves had for more than a century
    been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and
    altogether unfit to associate with the white
    race, either in social or political relations
    and so far inferior, that they had no rights
    which the white man was bound to respect and
    that the negro might justly and lawfully be
    reduced to slavery for his own benefit. He was
    bought and sold, and treated as an ordinary
    article of merchandise and traffic, whenever a
    profit could be made by it.
  • Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
    Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
    Moody Press, 1983), 7.

46
Abraham Lincoln Disagreed
  • The result was the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and
    Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution,
    which specifically forbade slavery, granted
    former slaves the right to vote, and declared
    that no person would be deprived of life
    without due process of law.
  • The term person was designed to include all
    humans, and it was supposed to prevent any future
    attempt to deprive certain groups of people of
    their inalienable rights.

47
And Thanks to One Determined Man
  • The black slaves became members of the human
    race overnight.

48
Then in 1973 Nine Unelected Justices of
  • Slide
  • Template

49
The U.S. Supreme Court
  • Did what the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and
    Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution
    were supposed to prevent
  • They deprived a new group of human beings of
    personhood
  • The unborn ceased to be members of the human race.

50
Two Bad Legal Rulings
  • The similarity between the Roe v. Wade and the
    Dred Scott became unmistakable Just as Taney
    decreed that citizens in the Constitution did
    not include blacks, Blacknum decided person is
    en exclusive term as well, applying to everyone
    except the unborn.
  • Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
    Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
    Moody Press, 1983), 16.

51
A Mysterious double Standard!
  • If the pregnant woman wants the unborn baby, the
    baby is protected. If not she is free to destroy
    the unborn.
  • Examples
  • --Lacy Peterson
  • --Jessie Davis
  • If abortion is not murder, why is it double
    murder when the pregnant woman is killed?

52
Single or Double Murder?
53
Result Lack of Consistency
  • Pregnant women were granted the awesome power to
    determine whether the unborn babies belonged to
    the human race.
  • The power reserved for the U.S. Congress was
    transferred to women.

54
Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
  • 1. All persons born or naturalized in the
    United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
    thereof, are citizens of the United States and of
    the State wherein they reside. . . . nor shall
    any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or
    property, without due process of law nor deny to
    any person within its jurisdiction the equal
    protection of the laws.

55
Two Basic Legal Question
  • Is it fair to deprive the unborn of legal
    protection because they were not born yet?
  • If Yes, then are we free to take the life of
    illegal immigrants who were not born nor
    naturalized in the U.S. either?
  • If No, then why did we declare an open season
    for the killing of the unborn?

56
Planned Parenthood
  • Planned Parenthood, who in 1964 had printed a
    pamphlet which stated, Abortion kills the life
    of a baby, once it had begun, suddenly reversed
    their attitude and argued that abortion would
    prevent the raising of unwanted children, and
    would help in population control.
  • Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
    Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
    Moody Press, 1983), 14.

57
Abortion for Population Control?
  • The same argument (population control) was used
    by Neal Wilson, then president of the General
    Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, to justify
    the provision of elective abortion services in
    SDA hospitals.
  • The same reasoning was mirrored by LLU graduate
    Edward Allred, owner of over 20 California
    abortion clinics.

58
Potential Human Life?
  • In 1973, by the stroke of a pen, a large group
    of human beings were declared less than humans,
    non-persons, entitled to no rights, not even the
    right to life. This action resulted in the
    creation of a new legal term potential life,
    which had never been used before in the legal
    history of the United States.
  • Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
    Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
    Moody Press, 1983), 15.

59
Quality of Life? For Whom?
  • This new outlook on the status of the unborn is
    rooted in the quality-of-life ethic, which is
    based on the false premise that humans moral
    obligation is cancelled when the objective is to
    maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Such a
    humanistic approach to ethics rejects our duty to
    the Creator of life, and establishes our priority
    to look for our own pleasure instead.
  • Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
    Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
    Moody Press, 1983), 24.

60
The Doctors Role To Heal or to Kill?
  • The new attitude towards the sanctity of human
    life, says Young in chapter three, required that
    the centuries old Hippocratic Oath be discarded,
    which mandated that the doctor is never to
    approach the patient as executioner, but rather
    as healer and comforter.

61
Hippocratic Oath
  • I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody
    who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to
    this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman
    an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will
    guard my life and my art.

62
Adventist Eschatology Abortion
  • We need to remember that in the final judgment,
    the destiny of every member of the human race
    will be determined by the way we have treated
    the least of these. Matt. 25 31-46 NIV.
  • Question We have traditionally emphasized the
    Sabbath as determining our destiny. Is the
    Sabbath more sacred than human life? Didnt Jesus
    state that The Sabbath was made for man and not
    vice versa?

63
How to Deal with Crisis Pregnancy
  • The Lord sent his angel to comfort Hagar in the
    desert when she despaired of her life, and said
    heavenly messenger told her that God had already
    picked a name for her son. She might have thought
    that her pregnancy was a mistake, but the Lord
    had a plan both for her and her son.

64
Protection for Newborns Denied!
  • Following the death of Infant Doe, President
    Reagan had the Human Services issue regulations
    requiring federally funded hospitals to post a
    notice asking for any person having knowledge of
    a baby being denied medical care to call the
    Handicapped Infant Hotline.
  • The American Academy of Pediatricians initiated a
    lawsuit, and Judge Gerhard Gessell determined
    that said regulation was arbitrary and
    capricious, and affirmed that newborns could be
    stripped of all legal rights to life on the basis
    of the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

65
Protection for Newborns Denied!
  • What this Pro-life president designed for the
    protection of the just born was nullified by an
    unelected judge.

66
Contrast Between Hitler Lincoln
  • Hitler did succeed in rebuilding the German
    nation both economically and militarily. These
    accomplishments of his have been forgotten
    because he presided over the slaughter of six
    million Jews who were declared non-persons by his
    Nazi regime.
  • In contrast, Abraham Lincoln presided over a
    nation beset by rampant inflation and a
    disastrous economy. In spite of this, he is
    remembered for liberating those whose rights as
    members of the human race had been denied by
    society.

67
Dietrich Bonhoeffers Appeal
  • Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves,
    for the rights of all who are destitute.
  • This verse was quoted by Dietrich Bonhoeffer when
    he opposed Hitlers extermination of the Jews.
  • Prov. 318 NIV

68
Martin Niemoeller summed up the Germans response
  • In Germany they came first for the Communists,
    and I didnt speak up because I wasnt a
    Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I
    didnt speak up because I wasnt a Jew. Then they
    came for the trade unionists, and I didnt speak
    up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they
    came for the Catholics, and I didnt speak up
    because I was a Protestant. Then they came for
    me, and by that time no one was left to speak
    up.
  • Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
    Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
    Moody Press, 1983), 199.

69
Can You Trust Statistics?
  • Prior to the legalization of abortion a
    proponent of abortion on demand claimed that
    10,000 women were dying from illegal abortion
    every year. The official report by the government
    placed those figures at 39 in 1972. Dr. Bernard
    Nathanson, the cofounder of Abortion Rights
    Action League, admitted that he was aware that
    those inflated figures were false, but did
    nothing to correct the misinformation.

70
Chapter IV Statistical Analysis
71
V. THE GREAT CONTROVERSY I
  • This great controversy title for this chapter
    was chosen because the battle between good and
    evil was fought and is being waged right now not
    so much about the Sabbath, but rather about the
    right to life of the unborn, and the death decree
    has been already issued--it was issued back in
    1973--but the victims are not those who worship
    God on the Sabbath, but rather those waiting for
    the privilege of being allowed to jump through
    the loop.

72
Source Material Ministry Magazine
  • The big question is What role did the SDA
    church play in this life and death controversy?
    The best source for this is found in the pages of
    Ministry, the international journal of the
    Seventh-day Adventist Ministerial Association.
    The material for this chapter and the next one
    was gleaned from said source.

73
This is Where the Abortion Battle was Fought
  • All the articles and readers comments dealing
    with the issue of abortion were examined and the
    authors were labeled as Pro-life, Pro-choice, or
    Pro-abortion.

74
A Ministry Readers Comment
  • I am much saddened by George Gainers article
    on abortion (August 1991). It is not pleasant to
    note that for 20 years the overarching ethic that
    determines policy for our health-care
    institutions is money. . . . As a health-care
    worker I have worked in a Catholic hospital.
    Their stand on abortion has been firm all along.
    They are not going under because of their stand
    on abortion. Long ago the servant of the Lord
    wrote, The greatest want of the world is the
    want of men--men who will not be bought or sold.
    (Education p. 57) . . . Surely, as a church we
    carry a heavy load of guilt for our participation
    in abortion on demand.
  • Joseph L. Story, Letters Ministry (Apr.
    1992) 2.

75
In Defense of Autonomy
  • In 1988 Ministry published an article written by
    Gerald Winslow entitled Abortion and Christian
    Principles.
  • Winslow was a professor of Christian Ethics at
    Loma Linda University at the time of his writing.
  • Gerald Winslow, Abortion and Christian
    Principles Ministry (May 1988) 12-16.

76
Gerald Winslow Argument
  • We admit, argued Dr. Winslow, that the early
    stages of human development we do not have a
    person in the full sense of the word, and not
    even immediately after birth nevertheless, the
    destruction of a fetus after the point of
    viability should raise serious concerns. To this,
    we must add that the established human life
    should take precedence over the prepersonal human
    life and we should not forget the value of
    personal autonomy.
  • Gerald Winslow, Abortion and Christian
    Principles Ministry (May 1988) 12-16.

77
Questions for Dr. Winslow
  • Does this mean that no serious concerns would
    have been raised if Mary had aborted Jesus before
    he reached the point of viability?
  • Autonomy means self law. Is Winslow suggesting
    that humans have the right to replace Gods Law
    with self rule?

78
One Ministry Reader Asked
  • According to what I read, the Seventh-day
    Adventist Church considers it all right to kill
    an unborn baby if the babys father was a certain
    kind of sinnera rapist or a child molester. It
    is also considered right to kill an unborn baby
    if its mother became sexually active when very
    young. Why should an unborn baby be put to death
    for its fathers or mothers sins?
  • Thomas Hamilton, Letters Ministry (Mar.
    1988) 2.

79
Another Reader Called for Repentance
  • The well-documented article Less than Human?
    of March 1988 was enlightening but also shocking
    to us. As Seventh-day Adventists we are sure
    about the fourth commandment and emphasize it
    every chance we have. This we should do. But
    apparently we are not so sure about the meaning
    of the sixth and first commandments. This is
    tragic! It appears also that in this area we may
    have to do some repenting.
  • Jeremiah Florea, Letters Ministry (July
    1988) 30.

80
A Call to Ignore Profit
  • I say amen to Richard Fredericks article Less
    than Human? in the March issue. . . . For a
    church whose beliefs are entirely based on the
    Bible and nothing but the Bible, the issue seems
    patently clear--abortion is murder and should be
    clearly recognized as such. The risk of loosing
    some popularity with the majority and loosing
    some of the business in our medical facilities
    are not reasons enough to renege on an issue that
    has such a humane and Christian answer.
  • Glen L. Wiltse, Letters Ministry (July 1988)
    30.

81
Abortion the Hottest Ministry Topic
  • Our articles on abortion have touched a
    sensitive nerve. We are receiving more email on
    this subject than on any other recently published
    article. The letters are running 10 to 1 in favor
    of the church adopting a stricter standard. While
    many simply complain, others are doing something
    positive to help those wrestling with the
    decision of whether or not to have an abortion.
  • J. David Newman, First Glance Ministry (July
    1988) 3.

82
Abortion Guidelines Criticized
  • I commend Ministry for . . . listing the
    abortion guidelines voted by General Conference
    officers in 1971 for Adventist medical
    institutions. However well intentioned, the
    guidelines unfortunately are flawed with
    euphemisms, vagueness, and lack of logic. The
    simple impairment of health qualification could
    be used to justify abortion for a woman who is
    experiencing depression because she is pregnant
    again or who is so under less-than-ideal
    circumstances.
  • Ken Blake, Letters Ministry (May 1988) 2,
    27.

83
Chapter V Statistical Analysis
84
The Two Versions of Pro-Abortion
  • The proponents of abortion on demand have two
    almost identical versions of their Pro-abortion
    agenda. One is called Pro-abortion, and the other
    Pro-choice.
  • Like Mexican enchilada, their main ingredients
    are the same.
  • The main difference is that with Pro-choice, you
    embellish the program with the value of human
    life but end with abortion on demand as well.

85
VI. THE GREAT CONTROVERSY II
  • I cant but think of Mary. Still a teenager, not
    married, very poor, she declared she was pregnant
    by the Holy Spirit. What we would do with such a
    case today in our society that has become so
    permissive about the sacredness of life? Would we
    find her guilty of teenage sexual promiscuity?
    Would we diagnose her a schizophrenic with
    religious delirium? Would we find her too young,
    too immature, too poor, to raise a child
    properly? If because of her situation society
    told her to get an abortion, would we as a church
    remain silent? Could this abortion be carried out
    in an Adventist hospital? Could Christ, our Lord,
    be born in the cities of America?
  • Dennis Fortin, Letters Ministry (Sept.
    1988) 27.

86
The Overcrowding Argument
  • The Christian View on Human Life Committee
    appointed by the General Conference met in
    Washington on April, 1989 to discuss the need of
    official SDA guidelines on abortion. One scholar,
    Dr. Carsten Johnsten, argued for an absolute
    position against abortion . . . Others responded
    by stating that our planet is already
    overcrowded, and that it is irresponsible to let
    children be born whose chances of suffering
    deprivation and abuse is undeniable.

87
How to Solve Overcrowding?
  • If our planet is overcrowded, how about killing
    the guilty instead of the innocent. Wouldnt
    killing the adulterers, fornicators, and rapists
    make more sense than killing the innocent?
  • Since when the mission of medical institutions
    has become killing those who suffer, or rather
    killing those we think might be subject to
    suffering in the future?

88
Elective Abortion in SDA Hospitals
  • When I first heard and then confirmed that the
    hospitals of the Adventist Health System in North
    America were performing hundreds of abortions
    each year, my response was stunned disbelief. I
    was certain that the hospitals and physicians
    involved must be acting outside General
    Conference policy guidelines. I was wrong.
    Criterion No. five of the 1971 guidelines states
    that abortion is acceptable when for some reason
    the requirements of functional human life demand
    the sacrifice of the lesser potential human
    life.
  • George Gainer, Letters Ministry (May 1988)
    27.

89
Opening the Door to Elective Abortions
  • Criterion No. fives some reason not only
    rendered superfluous the first four guidelines,
    and the principles on which they are based, but
    it tragically opened the door to elective
    abortion (i.e., on demand) in Adventist hospitals
    two years before the United States Supreme Court
    Roe v. Wade decision. The time has come to
    change the guidelines.
  • George Gainer, Letters Ministry (May 1988)
    27.

90
Reaction to a Pro-life Article
  • I recently read your article titled Less than
    Human? (March 1988), and I am pleased to see
    that some Adventists are beginning to take a
    clear stand on todays issues.
  • Danny Kumamoto, Letters Ministry (Sept.
    1988) 2.

91
A Tragically Failed Prediction
  • I consider your article on abortion in the
    March Ministry to be a classic and believe it
    will be recognized as a historic statement in the
    Adventist Church. It is the best thought out and
    researched article on this topic that I have read
    within the church. It is extremely persuasive and
    has definitely affected my viewpoint.
  • John G. Kerbs, Letters Ministry (Sept.
    1988) 2.

92
One Reaction to Dr. Winslow Article
  • I appreciated Dr. Winslows perspective on
    abortion (Abortion and Christian Principles,
    May 1988). I have been wrestling with this issue
    in my own mind for quite some time, and this
    article helped me put this matter in
    perspective.
  • M.L. Whiting, Letters Ministry (Sept. 1988)
    2.

93
An Opposite Reaction to it
  • Dr. Gerald Winslows article on abortion (May
    1988) presents many biblical principles (often
    with great skill and clarity), but offers as its
    bottom line and decisive principle a total
    unbiblical ultimate of personal autonomy. . . .
    These biblical terms do not defend personal
    autonomy, but condemn it, including autonomy over
    what one does with one owns body Do you not
    know that your body is a temple of the Holy
    Spirit . . ., and that you are not your own? For
    you have been bought with a price grace
    therefore glorify your God in your body
    freedom (1 Cor. 619,20 NASB).
  • Richard Fredericks, Letters Ministry (Sept.
    1988) 26.

94
A Non-Adventists Reaction
  • It does not surprise when a liberal mainline
    denomination like my own advocates a policy
    against life, but the Adventists--the paragon of
    healthcare, concern for others, adherence to the
    Scriptures? What about Thou shalt not kill?
  • Timothy Jessen, Letters Ministry (Sept.
    1988) 26.

95
The Product of Rape
  • I know a person who is not a victim but the
    product of rape. This person is a child of God, a
    Seventh-day Adventist Christian. I wonder how
    this person feels, thinking that it was Gods
    will that he should have been aborted? . . . I
    think the Devil has pulled a fast one on us
    ethical Christians. Abortion has become our
    Achilles heel.
  • Letters Ministry (Sept. 1988) 27.

96
A Double Standard on Life
  • We, as a church, take the stand that it is
    wrong to take anothers life. For this reason we
    strongly urge our young people to stay out of the
    military. We base this position on the
    commandment that states, Thou shalt not kill.
    Yet we dont seem to apply this same commandment
    when it comes to abortion. Isnt it strange that
    we can see clearly the application of this
    commandment to those already born but not see how
    it could possibly apply to the unborn?
  • Terry C. Grimm, Letters Ministry (Nov. 1988)
    30.

97
For the Sake of Profit?
  • I read the preliminary Seventh-day Adventist
    statement on abortion (July 1990) and dont think
    much of the document. It is very weak. . . . Our
    institutions should be at the forefront of
    institutions that refuse to kill the unborn.
    Guidelines will be subject only to the economic
    concerns of doctors who perform life-terminating
    procedures in our institutions.
  • Hugo Meier, Letters Ministry (Nov. 1990) 29.

98
Are SDA Priorities Out of Order?
  • When physical or mental health takes precedence
    over life, our priorities are out of order. When
    the fetuss not measuring up to our standards of
    perfection is grounds for taking its life, our
    priorities are out of order. When the
    circumstances of conception (rape or incest) are
    the determining factor, our priorities are out of
    order. When it comes to life-or-life situation,
    then and then only with much prayer abortion
    should be considered. Jesus said, Father, if it
    be possible, let this cup pass from me
    nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. We
    say, Father, please remove this cup from me. If
    you dont, then I will.
  • Van Ottey, Letters Ministry (Nov. 1990) 29.

99
Capital Punishment Out of Whack!
  • It seems unbelievable to me that one person
    should be able to decide whether another living
    person shall continue to live or die. To my
    knowledge, our criminal justice system never
    gives the decision on capital punishment to one
    person.
  • R. W. OFfill, Letters Ministry (Nov. 1990)
    29.

100
A Call for a Strong Stand on Abortion
  • I think that the church should take a strong
    stand against abortion. And I definitely believe
    our hospitals should not be allowed to perform
    abortions. The churchs wishy-washy way of
    dealing with abortions is causing people--in and
    out of the church--to loose respect for the
    church.
  • Sarah Endres, Letters Ministry (Feb. 1991)
    2.

101
The Testimony of an Ex-pro-Choice Dr.
  • I believe the members of the committee should
    view ultrasonic pictures of a developing human
    being in the womb. It is this scientific
    development that led Dr. Bernard Nathanson, an
    atheist, head of one of the largest abortion
    clinics, to make the following statement I am
    deeply troubled by my own increasing certainty
    that I have in fact presided over 60,000 deaths.
    There is no longer serious doubt in my mind that
    human life exists within the womb from the very
    onset of pregnancy.
  • Clifford Laurell, Letters Ministry (Aug.
    1991) 28.

102
Should Mental Health Justify Abortion?
  • I call on all SDA pastors and laypersons who
    feel strongly that the slaughter of the innocents
    in our hospitals must end to move as God directs
    them and to petition current church leaders to
    repudiate the liberalized abortion guidelines (as
    amended in 1971), and to reject the Christian
    View of Human life Committees draft statement
    (Ministry, 1990) that would add the pregnancys
    adverse effects on a womans mental health as
    another justification for abortion.
  • Kenneth B. Blake, Letters Ministry (Dec.
    1991) 2.

103
Anti-abortion Pickets at a SDA Hospital
  • My head hangs in shame before all Christian
    leaders who receive Ministry. Are we not the
    remnant that keep the commandments? Is the sixth
    commandment less important than the fourth? In
    evangelism I have lost at least a dozen souls
    because of this inconsistency. Driving by
    Adventist hospitals and seeing anti-abortion
    picketers brings tears to my eyes. Especially
    sic when the Catholic or Baptist hospital down
    the road is known as a non-murdering
    facility.
  • Leo Schreven, Letters Ministry (Dec. 1991)
    27.

104
An Incredible SDA Admission
  • Although I do not adhere to Catholic theology,
    I applaud that Catholic churchs stand on
    abortion. I challenge my church leadership to
    abolish administering abortions in all SDA
    facilities--at the very minimum, abortion on
    demand.
  • David F. Crawford, Letters Ministry (Dec.
    1991) 27.

105
Should Profit Determine SDA Theology?
  • Upon reading the articles by Kis and Gainer, I
    didnt know what to think. Suppose during the
    past hundred years we had handled the fourth
    commandment from an economic standpoint, as we
    appear to be doing with the sixth now, would we
    have a Seventh-day Adventist Church today?
  • Jeremiah Florea, Letters Ministry (Dec.
    1991) 27.

106
Are SDAs Sitting on the Fence?
  • The Ministry editors middle ground
    approach to abortion reflects the Adventist
    Churchs concept of Christianity--the middle of
    the road, or sitting on the fence--a cowardly
    position that disgraces Christ and makes the
    church saltless in an ever-increasingly evil and
    immoral world.
  • William L. Gutel, Letters Ministry (Jan.
    1993) 30.

107
Chapter VI Statistical Analysis
108
The Two Versions of Pro-Abortion
  • The proponents of abortion on demand have two
    almost identical versions of their Pro-abortion
    agenda. One is called Pro-abortion, and the other
    Pro-choice.
  • Like Mexican enchilada, their main ingredients
    are the same.
  • The main difference is that with Pro-choice, you
    embellish the program with the value of human
    life but end with abortion on demand as well.

109
VII. THE TIME OF TROUBLE
  • Speculation about a future death decree should
    not make us actively participate in the present
    one. Surely, for the unborn of America, this is
    already a time of trouble such as has never
    been.
  • Richard Fredericks, A Biblical Response to
    Abortion Spectrum 19/4 (May 1989) 33.

110
The Experience of a Pro-life Nurse
  • After graduation, a nurse learned that not only
    abortions were routinely performed in Adventist
    hospitals, but that most of them were elective
    ones. She had a chance to see the pictures of
    aborted babies and realized that what was being
    dismembered were not unwanted human tissue, but
    rather little hands, feet, heads and torso. She
    learned how one baby that had survived a saline
    abortion and was alive and crying was placed
    inside a sealed bucket to suffocate. She thought
    that this was murder.
  • Richard Fredericks, A Biblical Response to
    Abortion Spectrum 19/4 (May 1989) 33.

111
A Woman Who Left the SDA Church
  • Fredericks met a woman named Patti McKinney, the
    president of Women Exploited by Abortion (WEBA),
    a pro-life organization with 36,000 members with
    chapters in 30 states. This woman left the SDA
    church because she felt she didnt want to share
    in the guilt associated with the killing of the
    unborn. She had challenged SDAs with the
    following question OK, Adventists, what about
    the sixth commandment? Her question was met with
    apathy.
  • Richard Fredericks, A Biblical Response to
    Abortion Spectrum 19/4 (May 1989) 33.

112
The Product of Rape!
  • The greatest gospel singer of this century was
    the illegitimate daughter of a 16-year-old poor,
    black girl who was raped.
  • Beethovens family background included a deranged
    father, a syphilitic mother, a mentally retarded
    older brother, and a sibling born blind.
  • Richard Fredericks, A Biblical Response to
    Abortion Spectrum 19/4 (May 1989) 33.

113
The Story of an Abortion Provider
  • A. Edward Allred joined the SDA church at a
    young age. B. He received a Seventh-day Adventist
    education, including an M.D. degree from Loma
    Linda University. C. He owns and operates Family
    Planning Associates, the largest abortion clinic
    chain in California.
  • Christopher Zehnder, Edward Allred in the
    Pulpit Los Angeles Lay Catholic Mission (June
    1998).

114
Abortion a Means of Population Control?
  • When asked about any guilt feeling for taking the
    life of the unborn, Dr.Allred responded that he
    was providing a needed service to the community
    and that all the moral responsibility for the
    decision to abort was not his but rather that of
    the pregnant women. He expressed his support for
    the practice of abortion on the basis of
    population control.
  • Notice that the same explanation, population
    control, was allegedly given by Neal Wilson when
    he was the president of the General Conference of
    Seventh-day Adventists as the reason for the
    pro-choice position of the church on the issue of
    abortion.

115
The Strongest SDA Defense of Abortion
  • Perhaps the strongest defense of the practice of
    abortion by a SDA leader was written by John V.
    Stevens, Sr., who was occupying the position of
    Pacific Union Conference Public Affairs/Religious
    Liberty Director at the time of publication of
    his article entitled Abortion Answers and
    Attitudes by the Pacific Union Recorder in 1990.

116
Stevens Defense of Abortion
  • The best example is Christ who chose to die in
    order to restore that freedom lost through sin so
    that all can choose to mold their own destiny.
    Christ valued choice over life. . . . Every human
    being, created in the image of God, is endowed
    with a power akin to the Creator--individuality,
    power to think and to do. (Education, page 17)
    This takes place after birth, when the developing
    baby becomes a person.

117
Freedom to Sin or Freedom from Sin?
  • God gives humanity the freedom of choice, even
    if it leads to abuse and tragic consequences. His
    unwillingness to coerce human obedience
    necessitated the sacrifice of His Son. He
    requires us to use His gifts in accordance with
    His will and ultimately will judge their misuse.
  • Seventh-day Adventist Church. Adventist
    Beliefs/Guidelines Guidelines on Abortion (12
    Oct. 1992).

118
Stevens Mistakes
  • The image of God is more than the power to think
    and to do. It is the power to do Gods will.
  • B. Jesus died to free us from sin instead of
    restoring our freedom to sin.
  • C. If Jesus died to give women the right to kill
    their own children, then perhaps he also died to
    protect our right to rape, steal and murder!

119
Jesus Concern for the Little Ones
  • Jesus stated on one occasion Whosoever shall
    offend one of these little ones it is better
    for him that a millstone were hanged about his
    neck, and he were cast into the sea (Mark 942).
  • If offending a little one is such a serious sin
    against heaven, then how would Jesus have
    described the murder of one of these little ones?

120
Harvesting Organs for Research
  • The editor of Waymarks published an article
    entitled In China They Are Eating Babies, in
    Loma Linda, They Are Harvesting Organs. It was
    an excerpt from another article published in the
    January 1996 issue of Rutherford, the official
    journal of the Rutherford Institute.
  • In China They Are Eating Babies, in Loma
    Linda, They Are Harvesting Organs Pilgrims Rest
    Waymarks ( n.d.) 1-2.

121
Human Organs Procurement
  • In America, babies are nod used as food, stated
    the writer, but their organs are used for
    research. This was facilitated by the
    legalization of abortion, which permitted medical
    science to treat unborn babies as products of
    conception, and like most products, the fresher
    the better.
  • Ibid.

122
LLU Controversial Experiments
  • Some of the most controversial experiments were
    done at the Loma Linda University on the ethical
    premise that decapitated fetuses did not qualify
    for personhood. In 1988 LLU gave up the program
    not for ethical reasons, but rather because the
    transplantation techniques failed.
  • Ibid.

123
Chapter VII Statistical Analysis
124
The Two Versions of Pro-Abortion
  • The proponents of abortion on demand have two
    almost identical versions of their Pro-abortion
    agenda. One is called Pro-abortion, and the other
    Pro-choice.
  • Like Mexican enchilada, their main ingredients
    are the same.
  • The main difference is that with Pro-choice, you
    embellish the program with the value of human
    life but end with abortion on demand as well.

125
VIII. THE GREAT BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON
  • In the case of the Seventh-day Adventist church
    attitude towards abortion, the great battle of
    Armageddon has already been fought by the
    denomination, and the controversial issue has
    been decided in favor of those who sided with the
    pro-choice position. This took place on November
    14-16, 1988 in Loma Linda. It was an uneven
    struggle Four pro-lifers against a majority of
    pro-choice advocates defending the practice of
    abortion.

126
SDA Position Papers on Abortion
  • The book, Abortion Ethical Issues Options, is
    a compilation of sixteen essays selected from
    thirty-six presentations made at a conference
    entitled Abortion Ethical Issues and Options
    held November 14-16, 1988 at Loma Linda
    University, under the auspices of the Center for
    Christian Bioethics.
  • David Larson. Abortion Ethical Issues
    Options (Loma Linda, California Center For
    Christian Bioethics, 1992), xi.

127
Is it Wise to Imitate Nature?
  • Timothy Crosby cited Henri Leridon who estimated
    that 56 percent of all embryos spontaneously
    abort usually due to the presence of some
    abnormality in them, and that anencephalic
    children usually die shortly after birth.
  • Comment There is no denying that nature kills
    and destroys, as illustrated by tornados,
    earthquakes, and tsunamis. Should we, therefore,
    imitate nature?
  • Larson, Ed.,125 Timothy Crosby , Abortion
    Some Questionable Arguments.

128
Disposing of Non-persons
  • Before the first Jews entered the gas chambers,
    the charitable Transport Company for the Sick
    carried 250,000 German citizens deemed unfit to
    live to places where they were given good
    deaths. Among those no longer fit to live were
    World War I veterans who were amputees, the
    incontinent elderly, and Gypsies.
  • Larson, Ed.,125 Richard Fredericks, A
    Compassionate and a Christian Quality of Life
    Ethic.

129
The Most Dangerous Time
  • The time spent in the mothers womb is now the
    most dangerous time in the entire human lifespan
    . . . Abortion has made medical professionals,
    whose entire orientation was once toward
    preserving life, the nations foremost
    terminators of life.
  • Ibid., 125.

130
The Survival of the Fittest
  • While the quality of life ethic is totally
    consistent with an evolutionary, atheistic
    survival of the fittest worldview, it is
    antithetical to the spirit of the Gospel. Since
    Eden, God has shown Himself to be redemptive
    through great personal self-sacrifice.
  • Ibid., 131.

131
The Example of Jesus Christ
  • Jesus sacrificed his own life that others may
    live.
  • Those who opt for abortion sacrifice the lives of
    others that they may live--more comfortably.
  • There is an alternative for women in crisis. It
    is called adoption.

132
Women Damaged by Abortion
  • Fredereicks cited the cases of women who showed
    evidence of psychological damage resulting from
    their decision to opt for an abortion. In one
    case, a girl, who worked in the womens
    residence hall, following a suction abortion,
    vomited uncontrollably every time she turned on a
    vacuum sweeper.
  • Ibid., 137.

133
Baby Jessica, Rescued from a Well
  • She was no more human, no more valuable, no
    more vulnerable, no more a member of Gods family
    than an unborn child. So where are the rescuers
    of those children when their mothers wish to kill
    them by abortion? Where are the cries of millions
    around the world for them?
  • Larson, Ed., 155 Teresa Beem, The Hard
    Cases of Abortion.

134
A victim of a Gang Rape
  • I can live with the fact that I have been
    raped, but I could not live in peace if I had
    killed my child. I do not agree with those who
    advocate abortion for rape or incest. One
    violent, cruel act doesnt justify another. Our
    laws do not condemn the rapist to death, so it is
    insane that we would issue a death sentence for
    an innocent baby.
  • Ibid., 157.

135
The Baby Who Refused to Die!
  • This took place years before abortion became
    legal in the U.S. Kathy was raped. She drank
    poison, jumped off tall haystacks, and punched
    her stomach to no avail. The baby refused to
    die, and was eventually born. She named him
    Patrick.
  • Ibid., 160,161.

136
The Product of Rape
  • Patrick is now 22, and I Kathy thank God
    abortion was illegal when he was conceived. If it
    had been available, I do not know for certain
    what I would have chosen, but I am glad I did not
    have the option. I pray for the day when it will
    again be outlawed. I guess both Patrick and I are
    classic examples of Gods mercy and grace and
    what He can do in the case of rape. . . . Every
    life is of immensurable value and importance, no
    matter what the circumstance of their sic
    conception.
  • Ibid., 160-161.

137
Who Deserves Forgiveness?
  • From this experience, Teresa Beem draws the
    following conclusion If Christianity demands
    that we forgive the father, we must also forgive
    the child. We often forget that the child is
    still a part of the mother. The baby may be half
    the rapist, but it is still the mothers flesh
    and blood.
  • Ibid., 161.

138
What If the Woman has AIDS?
  • When we speak of a womans right to choose we
    are speaking of her right to choose to kill her
    child. If we give her that right before birth,
    why not extend the right to the time immediately
    following birth? Maybe even to three days after
    birth? Why not declare a baby legally alive a few
    days after his or her birth? Then we can give the
    parents a real choice! Since only after birth can
    we test that baby for AIDS or some other grave
    handicap . . . We must not kill people because
    they will soon die.
  • Ibid., 162.

139
A Terminal Tuberculosis Case
  • A young woman who was dying of tuberculosis asked
    her hospital physician permission to go home for
    Christmas as her last wish. The permission was
    granted, and upon her return to the medical
    institution, her condition took a turn for the
    worse she vomited continuously, and a test
    revealed that she was pregnant. From the medical
    perspective, an abortion seemed to be the best
    alternative, but the woman and her husband
    refused to consent.

140
Saved from Death by her Unborn Baby
  • Then the unthinkable happened She began to gain
    weight, and as the baby started to push against
    her diseased lung, the TB advance stopped and
    began to recede. To everybodys amazement, she
    gave birth to a healthy baby and the baby whom
    everyone said would hasten her death actually
    saved her life.
  • Ibid. 162.

141
Our God-given Sacred Duty
  • Deliver those who are drawn towards death, and
    hold back those who stumble to the slaughter. If
    you say, Surely we did not know this, Does not
    He who weighs the heart consider it? He who keeps
    your soul, does He not know it? And He will
    render to each man according to his deeds.
  • Ibid., 167. See Prov. 2411 NKJV.

142
A Frank Admission
  • Given the denominations generally conservative
    theology and its extensive health commitment, one
    would guess that the denomination would be
    strongly pro-life yet it is not. The most
    official pronouncement on the subject holds that
    abortion in Adventist hospitals are acceptable
    for such common reasons as maternal health, fetal
    handicap, rape or incest, an early teen pregnancy
    and, most significantly, When for some reason
    the requirements of functional human life demand
    the sacrifice of the lesser potential human
    life.
  • Larson, Ed, 173-174 James W. Walters
    Adventist Guidelines on Abortion.

143
The Lesser Evil? For Whom?
  • Walters suggested that, given the fallen nature
    of this world, there may still be the rending
    dilemma of choosing between the lesser of two
    evils--an abortion or a major life-disrupting
    birth. An Adventist will often choose the
    latter. Ibid., 183.
  • Some Questions for Walters
  • How can an abortion be a lesser evil for the
    unborn baby?
  • Hasnt he heard about the adoption alternative?
  • Can 9 months of inconvenience be worse than the
    death of the womans baby?

144
SDA Churchs Role in Abortion
  • According to Sara Karkkainen Terian, the SDA
    church led the way for the legalization of
    abortion with the permissive Abortion Guidelines
    for Adventist Medical Institutions issued in
    1970, which was further liberalized by the church
    a years later--two years before the Roe vs. Wade
    Supreme Court decision.
  • Larson, Ed., 205 Sara Karkkainen Terian,
    Communicating Grace The Churchs Role in the
    Abortion Controversy

145
A Theological Aberration
  • In the U.S. the frequency of abortion increased
    up to 30 times since the legalization of the
    practice took effect, and it had its effect on
    the Adventist perception of its morality.
  • The SDA medical organization has grown into a
    major industry, said Terian, that no longer
    fits theologically. The question of abortion
    crystallizes this conflict.
  • Larson, 209.

146
Abortion Darwins Evolution
  • Providing abortions can be justified only by a
    complete acceptance of the theory of evolution,
    with both its biological and societal
    implications. When a church begins to merely
    mirror society rather than giving it moral
    guidance or even providing a haven from its
    problems, such a church has lost its primary
    reason for existence, whether as a church or a
    sect.
  • Ibid., 215.

147
Ellen G. White slavery
  • When the issue of slavery was being debated by
    our SDA pioneers, Ellen G. White placed morality
    above the law and encouraged the church not to
    observe it.
  • Ibid., 227.

148
Therapeutic Abortions?
  • On May 13, 1970, the General Conference
    officers, in consultation with the General
    Conference Department of Health, adopted what
    were called suggestive guidelines for
    therapeutic abortions performed in Adventist
    hospitals in the United States.
  • Question Since when killing is a form of
    therapy? Would abortionists accept this kind of
    therapy for themselves? Abortion is no therapy
    for the baby nor for the mother!
  • Ibid., 238 Gerald R. Winslow, Abortion
    Policies in Adventist Hospitals.

149
Chapter VIII Statistical Analysis
150
The Two Versions of Pro-Abortion
  • The proponents of abortion on demand have two
    almost identical versions of their Pro-abortion
    agenda. One is called Pro-abortion, and the other
    Pro-choice.
  • Like Mexican enchilada, their main ingredients
    are the same.
  • The main difference is that with Pro-choice, you
    embellish the program with the value of human
    life but end with abortion on demand as well.

151
IX. THE CALM AFTER THE STORM
  • Following the publication of the book edited by
    David Larson, Abortion Ethical Issues Options
    and the official Guidelines on Abortion
    referred to below, an impressive calm ensued
    about the topic of abortion. SDA publishers
    interest in abortion diminished greatly and the
    number of articles published in SDA magazines
    dropped dramatically.

152
Is Human Life Undervalued?
  • Another discovery revealed that between 1971 and
    2006 there were 242 articles listed in the SDA
    Periodical Index dealing either directly or
    casually with the word abortion, while a
    similar count for the same period indicated a
    21,342 count for the term Sabbath. This
    discovery seemed to indicate that Adventist talk
    and write about what they consider important.
    Worshipping on the correct day of the week seems
    to be important for SDAs, while the genocide of
    the unborn is not!
  • Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index
    Andrews University.

153
A Signal Victory for SDA Liberals
  • The liberal forces within the denomination had
    obtained a signal victory for their cause, and
    some of the most valiant defenders of the rights
    of the unborn, feeling outnumbered and outgunned,
    laid their arms and left the SDA church in order
    to fight on behalf of the little ones elsewhere.
    One of them joined the Seventh-day Baptist
    Church others started independent ministries.

154
SDA Guidelines on Abortion
  • Prenatal human life is a magnificent gift of
    God. Gods ideal for human beings affirms the
    sanctity of human life, in Gods image, and
    requires respect for prenatal life. However,
    decisions about life must be made in the context
    of a fallen world. Abortion is never and action
    of little moral consequence. Thus prenatal life
    must not be thoughtlessly destroyed. Abortion
    should be performed only for the most serious
    reasons.
  • Seventh-day Adventist Church. Adventist
    Beliefs/Guidelines Guidelines on Abortion (12
    October 1992).

155
The Generous Exceptions
  • Abortions for reasons of birth control, gender
    selection, or convenience are not condoned by the
    church. Women, at times however, may face
    exceptional circumstances that present serious
    moral or medical dilemmas, such as significant
    threats to the pregnant womans life, serious
    jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects
    carefully diagnosed in the fetus, and pregnancy
    resulting from rape or incest.
  • Ibid.

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