Monday, June 7, 2010

Georgia Right To Life and Karen Handel

I admire the work of Georgia Right To Life. They stand for one topic and one topic only and design their political advice off of just that one topic - life.

Jesus is for life. God is for life. I am for life.  I believe that life begins at conception.  I do not like mercy killings because it looks more like suicide by proxy.  Life is God's to give and to take.  When we mess with it we are acting in God's stead.  This is why God says in Exodus 20:13 "You shall not murder."

Life is known by God even from the very beginning.  Look at Jeremiah 1:5:
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."  Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)
God knew Jeremiah before he was formed in the womb!  Jeremiah's spirit had life before being placed in the womb.  Is this the only place this happens?  Look at the life of Paul in Galatians 1:15:
"But when God, who set me apart from birth (Or from my mother's womb) and called me by his grace, was pleased" Galatians 1:15 (NIV)
Life begins at conception and to me that means as the egg and sperm cells merge to form an embryo.  What about in vitro fertilization?  This process of developing multiple embryos is a beautiful method developed to help barren parents have hope at having a child.  The problem many Christians have with this process (and it bothers me also) is what happens to the embryos after success.  Will they be donated to other parents?  Will they be destroyed?

I read an article from Focus on the Family about this in vitro process.  They make a very valid point.  Instead of making a bunch of embryos, why not just save the sperm and the eggs and join them together as needed?  Would this not solve the ethical problem with this process?  I think potential parents should be coached on this method as a means of sparing them from having to make the decision as to whether they should destroy the remaining embryos or not.

What about abortion?  GRTL is firmly against any form of abortion and rightly so.  Abortion is another form of destroying the life which God knows.  Doesn''t the body of a woman belong to herself, and shouldn't she have the right to decide?  First of all, I am not hating on women here - I am saying that since life begins at conception (you know the whole dividing of cell thing which we all learned about in science class), we need to take the responsibility of conception a lot more seriously because removing this life from the body is removing life known to God.

"You are ignoring the whole issue about women."  No, I am just getting started..  Just because someone is irresponsible with their sexual practices does not mean they should be irresponsible with the life they helped to create all for the sake of convenience.  Wrong is wrong and adding another wrong to the mix does not create responsibility.  People need better counseling about this decision to end the life of a child than what abortion advocates give - "Oh, let's just get that thing out of you.  You will not suffer any long term problems."  You can read more about the real complications of abortion here.

But what about rape and incest?  Rape is wrong.  Incest is wrong.  Rape and incest destroys the security of a woman.  They steal one of the most important concepts of life from women.  Rape poisons the mind.  Incest can create a genetically challenged child.  Both are reprehensible acts of violence.  I cannot blame a woman or a little girl for not wanting anything to do with the child forming inside her after being a victim of rape or incest.  This breaks my heart and as the tears flow I cannot imagine the decisions process flowing through the woman who faces this heinous act of sexual abuse.

That's why it pains me more to say that even acts of rape and incest do not automatically deem abortion as the first act of justice.  Creating one more victim is not the answer.  I suggest better counseling to help the mother make a more informed choice.  Tell them what life is, how they will be affected both ways, and the perfectly acceptable use of adoption.

So why bring up the whole GRTL issue?  They refused to endorse one candidate for Governor of Georgia.  They solely pointed out one candidate who does support the in vitro processes and accepts the right women to abort a child formed in the violent act of rape or incest.  Yet, she was up front and honest.  She has integrity.  Here is what she had to say:
"My husband Steve and I tried for nearly ten years to have children. It is the single greatest disappointment in my life, and I can say with certainty that no one in this race cherishes human life more than I do."
I will post Karen Handel's full statement in a post.  The issue here, does her stance mean she is incapable of being a good governor or bearing the responsibility placed upon the office?  No, and I will not judge her on just one issue.  Karen is pro-life.

I may disagree with her full stance on abortion but I do not condemn her for it.  The fact remains that until the federal government gets its hands out of the abortion issue, we will never see real abortion reform.  Even if we do get some reform, Karen's stance is not wrong though I would suggest a slight change.
  • In vitro fertilization is no more destructive than failed pregnancies.  I know because my wife and I have suffered through the pain of losing a child in the early stages of pregnancy.  The in vitro process, however, should be challenged to change.  They should wait until the implementation process before creating embryos.  This way couples are not faced with the decision of having to destroy the life of their frozen embryos.
  • A woman's or girl's choice to abortion after rape or incest should be tempered with proper counseling to help them make the most informed decision.  I am torn here but see more positives in the birth of the child than the constant reminder that develops after an abortion.  I cannot imagine the pain God must go through as He watches men choose to abuse their responsibility towards women by causing harm to them and putting them in this position in the first place.  I am for the eye for an eye thought here - castration is a very good punishment for this crime against women...
I wish I had all the answers but I don't.  I know God has far better answers than I do.  Read the Bible and pray and make your decision.  But don't ignore the faults of the other candidates just for the sake of one issue.  I am pro-life and for Karen's campaign for governor.  I'll take honesty and integrity any day!

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