Pls, Let's Not Remain Quiet...

It was a happy day for the anti-abortion people in the USA last Friday when the Supreme Court struck down the earlier precedent-setting case from 1973...!  And one of the justices was reported as saying he wants to re-open the questions of gay marriage and gay sex....  I think this man lives in a dark place where social rights are concerned....

Myself, I've made a suggestion to my police associates that we can continue working on the LGBTQ rights but we'd have a chance to generate good publicity if we could go forward with our public news story this year--they wanted to do it at a Halloween time....  Some of us have already spent decades working on this matter, and we have a right to be acknowledged openly and to get our pay....  There have also been many community members and church members who have supported the police and they've apparently been forced to remain quiet!?  I'd really like to see us go public.

In my opinion, nobody has a realistic expectation that the police and their Hollywood friends should have to resolve all the issues in gay rights....  We've done a lot, a lot has changed, and I believe it'd be good--it'd be preferable--to go public very soon.  I understand that this year marks the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the special police project.

An Extra Issue

Have added a short note to the recent Update--April 20--for new readers.  Just wanted to say that besides helping with the LGBTQ+ rights, the police in the special project have wanted to show support for abortion rights.--Some police have, actually, while others may not be completely on board...!?  The civilian associates may have various opinions also....  Gay rights and abortion rights are fairly significant social issues, in my opinion. 

Some Follow-Up Details

There are around four million births in the USA each year.  I'd like to be positive and say that most of these are happy events.  However, there are about 800 deaths of the mothers during childbirth or within 42 days after giving birth also.  Black women are affected more than whites.  An independent, non-profit media organization, "NPR," is reporting on the Internet that there are an estimated 50,000 other mothers who come close to dying each year, as well....  And there is emotional and financial trauma for the mothers and their families....  

Most countries of the world have reduced their rates of death in childbirth but the American rates have actually gone up, for different reasons....  Some politicians and a business have designated funds to try to improve this situation, over time....  Hemorrhaging is one of the leading underlying causes of pregnancy-related deaths and 70% of these are said to be preventable, according to research found by a writer for the Journal of the American Medical Association/JAMA Network.  

In the state of Texas, suicide, homicide, and drug-overdoses account for nearly half of the post-partum deaths....  Texas has also tightened their abortion restrictions severely, starting last fall....  

According to the Internet, abortion rights have generally been increasing throughout the world.  I saw on the Pew Research Center website recently that a lot of people in the States would support abortion but wouldn't mind some restrictions....  The full-term abortion rights are fairly generous, in my opinion, except if there are actual physical problems with the fetus or if there's a physical danger to the mother--even if these problems are diagnosed late in the pregnancy....  

In the 1980s, some anti-abortion people were quite violent and caused millions of dollars worth of property damage.  I hope that people could be sensible and consider all the issues involved!?  

The Christian Researchers--Part 3

In my church's pamphlet on abortion, I almost have to thank one of their references for stating that choosing a mother over her unborn child opens the door for abortion....  A mother may already have enough other children to care for...or she may be contributing to society through her career--if not in a helping profession, through another necessary product or service...!  Other lives may very well depend on a woman, whether she's a Christian or not....

A different Christian leader, who appears on television, stated that abortion is like in the Bible when some heathens gave their young children to their gods--the children were burned in fires....  (See Leviticus 18:21 or 2 Kings 23:10)  Have read on the Internet that some people in Uganda have practised child sacrifices; and it's considered to be child abuse, and laws have been enacted against it.  Abortion isn't child abuse, in my opinion.

Was a little concerned about the second- and third-trimester abortions, or abortion rights, that  I've heard about....  But I've read from credible sources on the Internet, including CNN, that the abortions later in pregnancy are more rare....  They're usually done because of health problems in the unborn or that would cause problems for the mother in delivery....  Some of these problems aren't able to be diagnosed until later in the pregnancies....  When doctors have to face legal problems or delays in doing these abortions, it can affect the mothers....  For this reason, I believe the laws should be flexible to cover last-minute problems that can come up....  It doesn't seem to be a question of healthy mothers wanting to abort healthy and viable fetuses....  

A few years ago, Donald Trump was reportedly stirring up controversy about abortion and after-birth death at a political rally....  I've read on a website from the Netherlands that third-trimester abortion and euthanasia after birth are legal in the case of untreatable medical problems which cause unbearable suffering....  Again, it's not healthy babies which are in question....  [Also, in some cases of giving birth, a mother can bleed to death....  There are many possible complications and the average person doesn't understand them all.]

The Christian Researchers--Part 2

It wasn't my intention to embarrass my church here, but I suppose they have to take responsibility for who they're going to follow....  Maybe I'll give them a chance to respond to these blog posts, if they're interested?  (Some people at the church headquarters used to read my blog but am not sure they've always continued?)  [I'll send them an email.]  Have I mentioned my church didn't used to oppose abortion over 30 years ago?

Whatever else can be said about an embryo or fetus, I believe it's true that they don't have a conscience.  Some of the researchers wanted Christians to pity and defend the lives of the unborn, on account of them being helpless....  But as I said, I believe God wants us to help and defend ALL the disadvantaged people in this world, as far as possible.  And we're supposed to preach the gospel to everyone.  A youth or adult person who has been living in this earth has been invested in--and they have choices to make regarding good and evil.  The unborn have been invested in fairly little....  For most young adults, it doesn't take a lot to get pregnant....

Is it fair to spend our resources--if we don't feel prepared for whatever reason--on bringing up the unborn?  

The researchers who don't value the lives of mothers over the unborn are almost guilty of violence towards women, in my opinion.  Under normal circumstances, wouldn't a reasonable person choose the mother's life over the baby's--if only one of them could be saved [due to some unusual health circumstances]?

Pregnancy and childbirth can be a wonderful and miraculous experience...but unfortunately it isn't always seen that way and it may be for good reason....  Medical science has given pregnant women a choice, if they're allowed to use it.

The Christian Researchers Missed Something

My church has published a booklet on abortion which is available to download for free--Release #20--at  "adventistbiblicalresearch.org," as of this date....  The name of the department is the Biblical Research Institute, at the church headquarters in the USA.  This booklet was written by a man, with references to books written by other men who aren't in my church....  These men seem to be quite well-educated...except they've never been a mother...!

One of the first authorities quoted in the booklet suggests that the New Testament of the Bible is symbolic; and since Mary and her cousin Elizabeth, the mothers of Jesus and John the Baptist were happy when they found out they were pregnant, all women should be happy when they get pregnant...!  Never mind that Jesus was arguably the most significant historical person who ever lived.

If the above male researchers want to study the Bible, maybe they should read Matthew 24:19, "Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those [last] days!"  NRSV--New Revised Standard Version, my brackets.  If this is a literal--and symbolic--meaning, I believe it means that IN SOME CASES, pregnancy and caring for a helpless infant are not desirable...!?

Further in the booklet, some other experts don't want to value a mother's life over an unborn child's life--in cases where one of the lives needs to be sacrificed for health reasons.  Hasn't the mother had a lot invested in her life, for her to have arrived at an adult age?  Isn't this investment worth something?  These experts say this line of reasoning opens the door to abortion for any reason....  And isn't that almost the bottom line, I'd like to ask?

In my view, an embryo and a young fetus are alive--they're "life."  But they're not viable until a certain stage....  If a woman ACCIDENTALLY becomes pregnant when she didn't mean to, there may be factors which are a greater consideration in life than the task of raising a new person to responsible adulthood....

According to my beliefs God gives new life; and He gives it when a sperm fertilizes the egg.  Period. I believe a distinction should be made between early abortions and late abortions....  These decisions shouldn't be made lightly....  But life comes in many forms and we have the underprivileged among us and throughout the world.  I believe God wants us to help them [see Matthew 25, in the New Testament and Isaiah 58, in the Old Testament].  We also have to take care of ourselves and live our best lives....

Medical science has given us fairly safe, simple, and effective ways to end unwanted pregnancies.  Should society--or Christians--demand that these methods never be used?  And should women be forced to endure the pregnancies and then go through the heartbreak and anguish of giving their babies away in adoption--not to mention that the children might suffer in their lifetimes also?