This is undoubtedly a very hot topic and will continue to be so for years to come.  But there are some issues I have with both sides and I want to address them here.  I'll begin with those who believe as I do, that abortion is wrong.

I have been appalled at what I've seen and read over the last two years.  First there were the remarks made by professed Christians after a couple of abortion doctors were murdered that were totally uncalled for and did nothing to further the cause of Christ or Christianity.  For me, a Christian listening to them, I was shocked and ashamed that the remarks were made and that this was the view many people were getting of Christianity...and those people may never get another view of what true Christianity is.  Murder was not condoned by Christ to take care of unrighteousness in his time.  He knew that the only way to change people was to change their hearts.  His reaction to those who sinned and were caught or confessed was that of compassion and his words were those of promised hope and healing.  Now, I don't believe these murders were performed by Christians, no true believer would do something outside of the will of God like that.  But I also believe that those who condone those actions are partially guilty as well.  There is no excuse for murdering someone.  Murdering abortion doctors will not solve the problem.  Only as people come to know Christ and his will for their lives will things like abortion stop.  And what I'd like to end my words to you with is this:  We have a legal way of trying to make changes.  We are in a country where we are supposed to have the freedom to speak our minds and petition to make needed changes.  Those are the only avenues I support.  I am also appalled at the website that is so horrible it warranted a court battle.  This is so wrong.  Those that feel so free in giving out the names of these doctors' children's names and their addresses and license numbers, you should be ashamed of yourself.  This is not only endangering the doctors and enticing the crackpots out there who think nothing of taking lives, but it is also endangering the lives of their families.  Again, this is not the way to go about making changes.  This only alienates the public, including those that are contemplating abortions.

Secondly, I was appalled last year when I found out some grieving parents were being harassed and called murderers because they chose to terminate their pregnancies after leaning their babies were severely disabled and wouldn't have lived had they given birth.  Now, again, I'm not condoning abortion, but neither do I condone the horrible things so called Christians said to them in their guestbook.  It was cruel...even resorting to name calling.  And because I wrote a compassionate note to them in their book, I was emailed with slander from these harassers.  These people were contacting those who signed this couple's guestbook and were trying to get them on their side.  This is so wrong.  This is so hurtful.  I couldn't help but think of what Christ would have done had he talked to this grieving couple.  They didn't callously take the life of their child because they didn't want a child.  They agonized over the decision and painfully aborted.  I can't judge them.  I don't know what I'd do for sure had I been in their shoes.  I'd like to think I'd have left it in God's hands and had the child...but I will never know.  If Christ had talked to them in person, he would have ministered love and compassion to them.  He would have spoken words that bring healing and life...not pain and death.  If they were wrong, he would have gently and lovingly let them know.  But Christ wasn't interested in just pointing out people's past sins.  He was concerned with their present and future.  He was concerned about what they were going to do with the rest of their life.  And he knows that many of us need his words of healing and life before we can go on to make better choices based on what he wants us to do.  These people were not his spokesmen, and it grieves me to think that so many of these outspoken people that put themselves up on a pedestal and prophesy doom and destruction are harming the cause of Christ.  I am sometimes embarrassed to tell people I'm a Christian...and it's not because I'm ashamed of Christ.  It's because I'm ashamed of the association with these people.  If we are proclaiming to speak the words of Christ, we better make sure we are on his same wavelength.

Now to those that are pro-choice...It bothers me that whenever I hear of an abortion clinic being bombed, or a doctor killed, it is immediately assumed and the media is very quick to accuse fundamentalist Christians.  This is what I hate about labels.  They are too general and too easy to use.  I am, I guess,  a fundamentalist Christian and I would never do such a thing or support such actions.  And until I learn differently, I will consider all options.  It could be a parent who just learned his or her child had an abortion without consent.  Or it could be a parent whose child died or almost died from complications of an abortion.  It could have been a father of an aborted child who didn't know and want the mother to kill his child.  It could have been a woman who had an abortion and in the aftermath felt distraught over what had happened.  Perhaps until she did it, she bought into the claims that it is not really a baby, and now is faced with guilt and depression.  It could be some crackpot just out to make a name for himself or is angry and decides this is as good a bandwagon to get on as any.  The media and others are too quick to pin it on us.  And then you may never hear what the actual truth is later.  I'd like to see some research into this subject and find out what the driving force was behind the murders and bombings.

I'd like to challenge both sides.

To the pro lifers: add some compassion to your passion for the life of the unborn.  Remember that our battle is not with people.  The Bible says we war not with flesh and blood but with principalities.....  Your battle is not with the doctors who perform abortions or the women who get them.  There is more at stake here than the lives of the unborn.  Unless we show compassion and offer words of healing and hope, then we've lost the battle already.  And stand up and speak out against those that try to take the law into their own hands.  Speak loudly.  Never support a murderer or bomber with words or actions.  And remember not to judge.  Unless you have walked in their exact shoes, you can never know what you'd do.  And as Christ said, "He who is without sin, cast the first stone."  And as I looked to God for what my part was in this seemingly impossible and overwhelming battle, he reminded me of the scripture.. 2Ch 7:14 --"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

To pro-choice activists:  Don't get hooked into the media's system of labeling us.  Don't be too quick to assume and accuse Christians when anything goes wrong at an abortion clinic.  If pro-choice activists began killing off Christians in their anger, or began bombing churches, I don't think you'd want to be labeled with pro-choice people anymore.  What an individual pro-choice activist does, does not reflect on all the others.  Give us the same courtesy.

You have a completely one sided view on this topic. You are looking at how you feel and not taking into consideration the other side of the matter. I am very upset with the fact that you could even try to argue for both sides when clearly in the firstline of your site you say you are against abortions.  Magichnds

annie's response:  I'm not sure you really read my views.  I never argued for abortion.  My case is against the way Christians treat and judge those who have had abortions and doctors who provide them, and on the other side I'm against the way the media is so quick to accuse Christians before the facts are all in and put us all in the same catagory.  

I'm Anti-abortion. I read your comments and agree with everything you've stated. A large problem as I see it, is that no one wants to use common sense. "Pro-choice" is a term concocted by the supporters of abortion to give a positive term to a negative outcome. It is also a "liberated female" indoctrination tool. Soften or camouflage the words used in discussing the issue of abortion. I agree that it is convienent to call a fetus a human life under one set of circumstances, (ex. when the fetus is wanted by the pregnant woman and lost due to doctor incompetancy or physical abuse or assault), and then call it just body tissue if it's not wanted by her (Ex. aborting (killing) the child).

It comes down to simple "common sense" if trying to justify my anti-abortion position in secular terms, and that's the only terms most Pro-choice people want to hear. No biblically moral arguments are justifable for them. My justification is this. If this country has a constitutional right to "LIFE, Liberty, and The Pursuit Of Happiness" then all LIFE is protected. The question then comes down to the definition of LIFE. It comes down to this question because that is the only place that the Pro-Choice supporters could take this issue to remain in any debate about it. They have taken it to this level because they know that it cannot be proven, without a doubt, where life begins. Ideal! A definate lethal action rendered and executed, based on an inconclusive determination of LIFE's origin.

Well that makes for a sound argument in itself when conbined with our Constitution. It comes down to the fact that one side MUST be wrong in it's definition of where LIFE begins. Our Constitution protects Life and even more-so should protect "innocent, defenseless life". If the question of where LIFE begins is debatable because it can not be definatively proven, shouldn't our National policy and laws reflect the protection of LIFE? If Anti-Abortion advocates are wrong, then no one has lost their lives and our Constitution has not been violated, but if we are right and LIFE begins at conception, then millions of innocent people have been and are being murdered. Given that one side must be wrong, shouldn't this country take a position that if it were in error that it would error on the side of life and not murder?

I found your article interesting, and caused me to consider the general question of "How should a christian deal with an obstinate, unrepentant sinner?" I looked in Matthew chapter 18.  Interestingly, in between the parable of "the lost sheep" and "the unforgiving servant", I found verses 15 through 17: " ... If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector."  It would seem that those who participate in an abortion, and continue to insist that it was/is justified are clearly being obstinate and unrepentant.  There are no christian churches that sanction or condone abortion.  It would seem, therefore, that denouncing unrepentant abortionists is allowed.  Mute silence and a weak " ... God loves you anyways ...", especially without the sinner repenting, seems to say that abortion is no big deal.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  Saline solution burns and dismemberment are hidious things to do to an unborn child.  Curtis

annies response:  I do want to point out that the above scripture is talking about a 'brother' meaning a confessing believer.  The Bible is very specific on how to treat both believers and non-believers.  For more on the scriptures and how I see it, please go to, "Through My Eyes: Forgivenss, Christ's Way."

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