Avoid suffering at ALL costs!

I (I'Ching) was having a lunch meeting with a few fellas when the topic of abortion came up. We were discussing how there is a general lack of moral reflection on the issue where Christians merely assert that abortion is wrong as the bible says so; or that it is murder, and that's that. But as we all know from real-life experience, such a statement is insufficient as an evidence to support that abortion is wrong - it is merely an assertion, not a valid argument. Besides, nowhere in the bible does it state that abortion per se is wrong or immoral. The conclusion that abortion is wrong comes more from a reflection on what the bible teaches about the human person and when does a human life begin - at conception or at another point of the fetus's life in the mother's womb.

I will not get into the details of the reflection and its conclusion here but if any of you are interested, email me and I will send you a paper I presented last year at a public forum on abortion in Singapore. Suffice to say here that I believe that human life begins at conception and that the fetus is already a human person right from that point. This means, regardless of the "good" reasons for abortion or the time when it is performed, the termination of the life of the fetus is murder of a human being.

So, back to the meeting with my friends. One of them continued to state that he believes abortion is wrong but he still "personally feels" that he would allow for abortion for rape victims. He cited the shame and emotional anguish of the woman as too much suffering for a rape victim to endure. Now, I was surprised to hear such reasoning coming from this friend. So, without cutting him off in mid-sentence, I let him finish what he was saying and then cautiously state my view. I informed him that many reliable surveys have shown that aborting the baby does little to alleviate the pain and suffering of the rape victim. In fact, in most cases, victims who have undergone abortion feel even more anguish as not only do they bear the shame and pain of the crime, they now bear the guilt of terminating the life of one who shares a unique bond with her even though the unborn may "remind" her of the traumatic experience. I also added that the emotional response such as my friend's is understandable. However, if we believe that the unborn is a human being right from the point of conception, abortion is the murder of another human being regardless of the reasons for it.

My friend's view, it seems, was one that is motivated merely by pragmatic reasons i.e. the well-being of the woman. While I am not trivializing the pain and suffering of a rape victim, but authentic compassion would not eliminate the life of another as a means to alleviate suffering itself. If we go along the pragmatic line of argument, does it mean that it is okay for one to terminate the life of his or her child if the child shames him or her or bring much emotional (or even physical) suffering to them? I have heard of parents who have adult kids who borrow much money from illegal loan sharks and gone into hiding and the parents have to bear the violent threats of the loan sharks! Does this kind of suffering justify the murder of one's child? Surely not!

Besides, the unborn baby is just as much of a victim as the mother herself. Should another crime (of abortion) be committed to alleviate the suffering of the rape victim? As Christians, we are always called toward compassion for the sick, the aged, the victimized and the unborn. It calls us to strive to alleviate suffering, BUT always with respect for the inviolable sanctity of ALL human life.

It is understandable for those who have not had an encounter with Christ, the one acquainted with sorrow and suffering, to view suffering as the ultimate evil and hence the relief of suffering seen as the greatest good. Under such a view, suffering is deemed to be meaningless and to be avoided at all costs and by all means. However, I think as Christians, we must be able to see the redemptive quality in suffering and strive to live counter the "culture of death" that is so prevalent and popular in our social spheres. Much can be said about this but I have gone on too long...