Letters: Get ready for all those babies

This is a photo of a dad with his hands in a heart shape holding his 3 week old infants feet.

image_pdfimage_print

GO TO TOPICS: Abortion Law, Gambling, Glorieta, Voting Rights, Gay Marriage

Understand the consequences

My cousin, a professor at one of the universities in Texas, put your article on our Facebook page. I am a retired physical therapist. It was excellent and intelligent, explaining  the outcome of the laws of Texas and other states that have no understanding of the consequences of what can happen to these young girls and/or women.

I believe the majority of women who are pro-choice are not for abortions but are worried about the health of a  woman and the old hangers used to abort fetuses. I will be 70 July 18, and I tell everyone, “No man or woman has the right to tell me what to do with my body!”

In the Jewish religion, the health of the mother comes first, because the belief is that she can have more children.

These clinics not only do abortions; they do cancer screenings and health checkups. If they are not there, the women do not get checked, can get sick and pass the illness on.

It is not morally incorrect to have sex education in the schools or parenting classes. Maybe there would be fewer children having children if they really new what to expect. Young people today know too much, but really not enough. They have all the technology in front of them, but they have lost the ability we had to think, imagine and figure things out.

Arlene Chodock Adelman


Sign up for our weekly edition and get all our headlines in your inbox on Thursdays


Pittsburgh,Pa.

Restored hope

Thank you, thank you, thank you for “Get ready for all those babies” .

I left the Baptist church after 55 years due to the irresponsibility shown toward poverty and due to the “holier-than-thou” tactics of congregants. 

You, my friend, have restored my hope and faith in sensibility among the new Pharisees.

Roni Archer

Deer Park

Aching for a lost generation

Hmmm … I read the editorial (“Get ready for all those babies”). Thought-provoking stuff.

I was surprised to find nothing at all mentioned about preventing these pregnancies. Have we given up hope that the biblical teaching of saving sex for marriage can have any impact at all on this troubling issue?

I’m not a bumper-sticker, crosses-in-the-yard person, and I agree we need to do a much better job showing compassion and care for the poor. But let’s not give up on the battle for “Thy will be done on earth ….” Surely the way kids—and adults!—are treating sex as just a form of recreation, even a “right” of every individual, isn’t what God wants.

We need to focus on both—compassion for those who have already made these misguided choices and promoting self-control, patience and true love among our young people.

Perhaps this just wasn’t within the scope of your piece—and it is a good one, so thanks! But perhaps I speak for others who treasure both the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage, and whose hearts ache for a generation that is so very lost and confused by the current twisted culture of sexuality.

Julie Bolin

Waco

Are you pro-abortion or pro-life?

Why is it that as I read your editorial (on the proposed Texas abortion law) I got the feeling you would rather the babies be aborted than have the parents take responsibility for their actions and take responsibility for the children they have procreated? Maybe that was not your intent, but it sounded like you were against the changes in the law.

Are you pro-abortion or pro-life? Be clear.

According to abortion advocates, only 12 percent of abortions take place after the third trimester. The Texas law does not go far enough in protecting the life of the unborn, but at least any thoughtful and reasonable person would think that a child who could be viable outside the womb should be given the rights of personhood in the womb as well. Thank God for the 12 percent of children who will be able to survive the abortionist’s blade in the state of Texas.

J.E. Hail Jr.

Pasadena

Count the cost

“Get ready for all those babies” certainly is going to have the ramifications you’ve mentioned.

I’ll never understand how we can be so short-sighted in our legislation! To “begin with the end in mind” is a totally foreign concept, and making decisions like this one with such short-sightedness is such poor leadership. People who say they are people of the Bible, should learn from Luke 14 about building a bigger tower, or waging war and count the cost of these decisions.  

In a day when our state ranks at the very bottom in so many aspects of taking care of our people, it is incredulous that we simply turn a blind eye to the future and the impact of the decisions that are made for the sake of favorable national approval of one-sided political thinking. 

Larry Link

Arlington

Care for the onslaught

I couldn’t agree more with your editorial, “Get ready for all those babies.” 

What concerns me more than anything is that those advocating this new abortion bill have not, to my knowledge, proposed one thing that would care for the onslaught of new children who will be born into poverty, hunger, illiteracy or abuse. They also have not made one provision for those young women who will show up in emergency rooms needing medical care as a result of back-alley abortions.

Gov. Rick Perry’s announcement to bail out just as this law passes, in my opinion, is an act of cowardice.  If the man is going to make the law passes then he should stick around and help clean up the mess he is largely responsible for making.

The whole issue of abortion is not as black and white as the radical right wants to make it.

Sad days ahead for sure.

Glen Schmucker

San Antonio

Research abortion before debating

As I read letters to the editor in newspapers, I see emotions riding high on both sides of abortion and related events in Texas. Whether one is pro-life or pro-choice, there are two groups of facts one needs to know in order to be well informed when taking a stand. These are facts, not opinions. They certainly are facts on which opinions can be based, but they are facts, nonetheless. Therefore, I am challenging both sides to research these two groups of facts, whether online or otherwise.

First, study the facts about the development of the unborn child—fetus—from conception until birth.

Second, research the methods of abortion and learn what happens to both the woman and the fetus in each method.

If one is going to take a stand, one must be informed. If these basic facts are not known, one is not well-informed. The challenge is before each one of you on both sides of the abortion issue.

LaBetha Casey

Stonewall, La.

Call out the church

In “Get ready for all those babies,” you predict a significant increase in the number of babies born. Less than 1 percent of abortions are performed after 20 weeks of gestation and none in Europe. That amounts to less than 2.5 babies per day, which is statistically insignificant. One usually invokes “multiply” to indicate doubling, tripling, etc. Even one life is significant, but that ethical issue can be debated later. I hear the whine about clinic closings (not you), but since we keep hearing about dirty clinics, you would think more people would want cleaner clinics.

You painted with a broad brush concerning our response to the abortion bill. Yes, it needs to be “all the above.” You were correct to lump religious folks together as being unresponsive. But I hoped you would not just admonish us but call us out more forcefully.

I cannot remember when I was in a Baptist church where ministry to families dealing with this issue was active. I tip my hat to Catholics, who at least post a sign that says: “Pregnant? Need help?” I never have seen anything in front of a Baptist church, seen a church bulletin that mentioned a ministry to women who chose not to abort, heard a sermon preached on the subject except about Moses, or seen anything on any Baptist church website addressing the issue.

Churches have been given the perfect opportunity to respond in a life-affirming manner.  Will they?

Jim Smith

Richardson

Injustice to women

Something no one seems to mention is the fact that some women who want to have abortions but are not legally allowed to have one will find other ways to do it, like going to quack “doctors” and using other methods to abort, such as sipping turpentine over a period of time (I heard that from a group of low-income women). This means, of course, more dead young women.

Legal abortions were supposed to stop such things, and now they will return. How a group of “stupid” men can justify such injustice to women is hard for me to understand.

Ken Tapp

Rowlett

Where are the Christians?

I’m glad to see the editorial,  “Get ready for all those babies.” 

Baptists and other conservative Christians often advocate policies that actively harm women, children, and families. It’s like they say, “Love the fetus; hate the child.”

Women are told they have no moral autonomy. Old white men decide their fates—not that this editorial will change anything. 

Why not add making fathers pay child support? So many women I know never got a penny from the fathers after divorce or desertion. 

My friends working in summer nutrition programs see hungry families every day. They have to get the child who is one of the lucky ones to eat in front of them; otherwise, they will take it home to other family members who have nothing. 

Where are the Christians then?  Wallowing in moral certitude while the widows and orphans—the least of them, of whom the Bible speaks—are of no interest to them.

Susan Chizeck

Dallas

 

Worth ‘all the trauma’

In answer to just one of the questions you ask in your follow-up article  to “Get ready for all those babies”: “ If the new law won’t prevent abortions, why did we endure all this trauma?”

The law will eliminate abortions at a time in the baby’s development when doctors acknowledge s/he feels pain—and goes on record as admitting that babies do feel pain while being aborted. (Maybe setting the stage for further limits on the same basis.)

The law will protect the health of women who have abortions, and in some cases prevent the death of the woman from complications. Higher health standards also will protect babies who survive abortion from infanticide.

I believe these changes are worth “all the trauma,” whether they lower the number of abortions or not.

I believe we should do more to limit abortion, and, yes, I agree we need to do better by “all those babies” and their mothers—both as a state and as individuals. And I think you made several sweeping statements where a more balanced editorial would have been more helpful and less divisive. 

But that is another issue for another letter. If you respond compassionately to this one.

Gena Deeds-Page

Waco

Abortion antidote: comprehensive sex education

Thank you for your comments regarding the abortion bill, now passed and awaiting the governor’s signature. 

It is time for pro-lifers to step up to the public plate and really and truly be pro-life—supporting these babies through adoption, nutrition and all the rest you named. 

I would add that better comprehensive sex education is also called for. That would probably reduce abortion more than any legislation. After all, there was abortion before Roe v. Wade, and there will be after these laws take effect.

Charles Kiker

Tulia

On board to help babies

Great article“Get ready for all those babies” .

Churches have become complacent over the years. We, who follow Christ, have largely been blind to the slowly decaying family and have been noneffective in mentoring, discipleship, and charity—unconditional love. We stand up firmly against abortion, as we should, but we have ignored the fatherless, the impoverished, the neglected. 

Because of many years of passing judgment instead of loving guidance and prayer asking God to change hearts, we are attempting to affect changes in a society that is so distrusting of our faith that they won’t even listen to us anymore. We know the talk, but we don’t do the walk. 

Each of us adamantly against abortion needs to open our homes through fostering and/or adoption of these unwanted babies—children, spend time in prayer for our country, ask forgiveness for our complacency, be obedient and step out of our comfort zone to help just one person better their life. If so, just imagine the blessings. 

All that being said, how do we organize such a seemingly impossible task as this? I’m on board.

Shari Mills

Lexington

Promote sex education and birth control

Yes, Texas is obsessed with the welfare of its fetuses yet seemingly oblivious to the needs of its actually born children.

Your list of actions is good, but one important one was omitted—one that totally eliminates abortion—effective sex education and free access to birth control. 

All those pregnant teens you mentioned might not have become pregnant in the first place if they had learned everything possible about preventing unwanted pregnancy and had access to birth control, IUDs, condoms, etc. to safely and effectively prevent unwanted pregnancy. Texas needs to get serious about preventing abortion by preventing unwanted pregnancy. 

Gov. Perry apparently hasn’t concluded that a woman won’t consider an abortion if she isn’t pregnant, so if she doesn’t get pregnant she will never have to consider abortion. Perry should enact a solid program of free condoms in jars in as many places where sexually active heterosexuals might happen—beauty shops, barber shops, gyms, liquor stores, movie theatres, bars and, yes, churches. 

Why aren’t there public service announcements about pregnancy prevention? For many of Texas’ high school dropouts, their access to education is over. Similarly, for many high school graduates, the only education they will get is what they seek out on their own. Why isn’t Texas making it as easy as possible to prevent getting pregnant? And, please, don’t even utter the word “abstinence.” It has been proven time and again that abstinence programs do not work. 

John Nikolatos

San Antonio

Sin of good intentions

Marv Knox has written a provocative editorial with lots of broad generalizations that may or not be true. I don’t keep statistics in my head to know. What is the experience of the some 10 other states and much of Europe who also have such “stringent” abortion codes? 

Knox cavalierly declares Texas is “among the nation’s leaders …and “suffer[s] the blights of child poverty, teen pregnancy, dropout rates and illiteracy much more promiscuously than their more secular counterparts. Those are the states many Texans and Southerners call ‘pagan’ and ‘dark.’”

My, my, he does enjoy poking all those Bible-believers in the eye with his enlightened perspective, doesn’t he? 

Knox’s argument is a non-sequitur. He says, “Some people attribute these maladies to dependence on government. … If that were true, then their incidence would be higher in states that spend the most on child welfare … not the least-spending, small-government states, like Texas.” 

Not true. Knox’ argument makes the correlation one of money. More money will produce less child poverty, teen pregnancy and dropout rates. But it’s not a problem of more money. It’s a problem of good intentions. Government welfare and those like Knox who prop it up operate from the sin of good intentions. Theirs is a paternalistic role. Government welfare and liberal churchmen:

•Act from a place of power and an attitude of moral superiority

•Weaken the moral fiber of those they serve

•Foster dishonest relationships

•Erode the recipient’s work ethic and

•Deepen dependency

Deane Parker

Plano

Consequences that will follow

In response to Get ready for all those babies” :  I have been searching for a way to verbalize my reaction  to all that has happened in our Texas legislature over the abortion law that recently passed. Thank you for your comprehensive response to this controversial issue. I have shared it with many people, because you address the biggest problem I have with all this. 

I fear the people who supported the bill the most have the least care about taking responsibility for the consequences that will naturally follow. We do indeed need to get ready to take care of these babies. However, based on how we take care of those already with us, I question how successful we will be with the “help” of our Texas Legislature. 

Janet Rodriguez 

Fort Worth

 

 

Examine gambling evidence

Regarding “Compulsive gambler feels fleeced by casino, betrayed by regulators,”  it’s easy for the MGM Casino to claim:  “MGM Resorts stands by the integrity of its operations and denies any and allegations of improper conduct on our company’s part. Both the courts and the regulators have agreed with our position,” when the MGM, the regulators and the courts have all made the evidence of the MGM’s crime out to be something other than the facts.  

My book, License to Cheat, and its accompanying documentation provide readers with the opportunity to decide for themselves whether the MGM is a gambling cheat and whether gambling regulation in Nevada is nothing less than a sham.

Given the history of casino operators, wouldn’t it be reasonable to examine the evidence before accepting the word of a casino operator?  

John Nelson

Houston
 

Looming tragedy at Glorieta

I pray everything will be done in a prayerful way to prevent the tragedy that is looming over Glorieta Baptist Encampment and all those who have residences there.  I have spent many weeks attending music-week clinics at Glorieta, and it would be absolutely terrible if the threats which are seemingly imminent are carried out. 

This has been a matter of prayer for a while, and I am wondering if those who are in charge are really considering what a negative impact such moves would have on all those who will be affected by those changes. 

May God intervene and keep things the way they have been and should continue to be. 

LaVerne Sepulveda

Arlington

Reach out to the oppressed

Thanks for a very timely editorial,  “Voting rights decision rains on the Fourth.”

After teaching “Cultural Diversity” and “Race, Ethnicity, and Women” for 31 years at one of our Texas Baptist universities (Hardin-Simmons), I discovered there is still a great need for the law that was recently weakened greatly by the U.S. Supreme Court.

I base this statement on the many cases of discrimination and prejudice shared by minorities in and out of class. Ask any African-American or Hispanic friend or acquaintance, and they will corroborate this fact.

The Scriptures are replete with verses that admonish us to reach out to those oppressed and socioeconomically disadvantaged, both in the Old as well as the New Testament. Here are just a few:  Leviticus 19:34; Deuteronomy 27:19; Matthew 25:35c; Acts 20:35; Romans 15:1; and Galatians 6:2. 

Let us remember the Cross symbolizes many things, one of which is that it has a vertical beam pointing upward to God, but also a horizontal one reminding us of Jesus’ compassion for us all.

Julian Bridges

Abilene

 

Same-sex isn’t “marriage”

Why do Baptist leaders continue allowing anything besides the Bible or anybody besides God to define marriage?

There is no such thing as same-sex marriage. The gay community has assumed usage of the term in order to bestow some kind of justification on their perverted unions. Let them call their practice of living together whatever they want to, but once and for all remove “gay marriage, same-sex marriage, etc” from the vocabulary of those who believe it to be contrary to the message of the Bible.

There are many terms to define perverted unions, but marriage is not legitimately one of them. Marriage between a man and a woman is a proper term and a valid reality, and it truly exists because that’s the design and purpose of God.

Why do we continue to debate the scripturally nondebatable? And when will our leaders realize that the debate is the best thing the gays have going for them? We need to preach, teach and witness the gospel and live by the Great Commission instead of giving validity to those who desire to reduce the gospel of Jesus Christ to some kind of social, political or legal issue.

How long will God be patient with us?

Bill Lawson

Collinsville


We seek to connect God’s story and God’s people around the world. To learn more about God’s story, click here.

Send comments and feedback to Eric Black, our editor. For comments to be published, please specify “letter to the editor.” Maximum length for publication is 300 words.

More from Baptist Standard