Who has the right to life?

I will be the first to admit that I am not always consistent.   There will be discrepancies between what I say I will do and what I actually do.  There will be the differences between what I am actually thinking and what I am prepared to say out loud.  These can often be reconciled by recognising my laziness, unwillingness to insult someone or to avoid conflict.

But then there are some inconsistencies in our society that I have a problem with identifying how they can be reconciled.

Recently in the USA the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade judgement in relation to abortion which has been the law for 50 years.   This is always a hot topic in the USA among the conservatives particularly in the mid-west and southern States.  

I believe that God as our Creator is the arbiter of life and death.   And that is my belief.  I consider it a right that I have the freedom to believe and have a faith and that right should be respected.   If I claim that as my right, what right do I have of saying to someone else – you have no right to believe what you do.   If I want my rights protected, that means other’s rights must also be protected, and it is not up to me to deny them so. 

With abortion, the problem arises in determining the rights of the unborn who cannot speak for themselves.   Again, this is an area where there are so many ‘beliefs’ as to when there is a life or a sustainable life and who has the right of determination.  So far in the debates the rights of the father don’t seem to play a part, only that of the mother as the unborn is part of her body.

Am I in favour of abortion?  No, but I do think that in matters of incense and rape such an action needs to be addressed with mercy and love. 

So where is the inconsistency?  

I spent two years based in Houston, Texas where a number of people I worked with were part of large Baptist church communities and very “pro-life”.   But this pro-life stance seemed to be limited only to the unborn.   Once you were actually a living human being, all bets were off.

On one occasion one of my colleagues suggested that he take me on Saturday morning to a Gun Show being held at the Astrodome in Houston, because I needed a gun.  This same person had previously led a strong speech on the protection of the unborn and their right to life.  But, here he was, telling me that I needed a gun so that I could kill someone.   This same person also believed in capital punishment. He was extremely persistent. He ended up just putting a gun in the glove box of my car and when I found it, I took it out carefully using tissues as there was something inside me that didn’t want my finger-prints to be a legacy on any such weapon. Needless to say, he just couldn’t understand my position.

He wasn’t alone.  I found many at work and in the congregation I was worshipping with, that saw the world the same way.   It was about protecting the unborn, but once you are born, it is just about protecting yourself and if there is an action that requires death as the outcome, either by me personally or the State, that is just fine.

Currently it seems that those States in the USA that are introducing the most stringent laws concerning abortion, are also the States that resistant any law to control the use of guns, even in the face of so many mass killings that include the death of children.

If people who call themselves ‘pro-life’ change it to being ‘anti-abortion’, there would be no inconsistency.  To be pro-life, I believe also means not supporting capital punishment and euthanasia.

Life is life – all life is precious, during all it phases, trials, tribulations and joys.