A WOMAN, A BABY, A CHOICE

Will Sanborn

I’m really not much of a radical. I don’t generally march or protest or do things like that. But there I was one day standing with a sign in my hand on a busy city street in Hartford, Connecticut. I had decided to take part in what was called a Life Chain, supporting the rights of the unborn. As cars went by, some people waved, some smiled, some glared, some swore, some ignored us altogether. But I have a vivid memory of one young woman who screamed angrily as she drove past, “Don’t you tell me what to do with my body!”

I’m really not much of a lawyer. Oh, I’ve watched the same lawyer shows on TV that you have, and I did take a couple business law classes in college, but settling issues of constitutional law? That’s beyond me. Her statement, though, was a claim of basic rights, and it’s a claim that makes all the difference in the abortion debate.

Many people believe, as she did, that the woman alone has the right to choose what to do with her body in case of a pregnancy. Others believe that there is someone else’s life involved, that the unborn child has a right to live that rivals the woman’s right to choose. Legally, who is right? Biologically, which is accurate?

I’m really not much of a scientist. I don’t know nearly what I should about life and the body and things. But I do know the significance of one crucial scientific question: When does life begin? I mean, if real human life doesn’t begin until birth, not before, then I’d have to agree with that woman. No one would have the right to tell her what to do with her body.

But suppose life begins before that. Suppose real human life is there in the womb. If it is a baby, and not just tissue, that is being destroyed, then wouldn’t that shift the whole drama around?

I sometimes wonder why it is that on the one hand, the government warns pregnant women of the dangerous effects of tobacco or alcohol or drugs on their unborn child and yet, on the other hand, it allows the taking of that life. Now how can it be both human life to be cared for at one level and just fetal tissue to be disposed of at another? Isn’t it ironic that the same medical technology used to terminate a pregnancy is also used to perform surgery in the womb to preserve the life of the fetus? We can’t seem to make up our minds just what is inside the womb.

I really wouldn’t be much of a person if I didn’t care. If a woman’s rights are being denied, she needs my support. But if someone else’s life is being taken, then she or he needs my protection.

Maybe it’s time to think this through again. I wonder if the unborn child wouldn’t want the chance to say, “Don’t tell me what to do with my body.”

Will Sanborn

Author of “Ouch! When Ministry Hurts”

Kharis Publishing