Abortion: A Non-Controversial Approach -- By: R. Jay Sappington

Journal: Trinity Journal
Volume: TRINJ 14:2 (Fall 1993)
Article: Abortion: A Non-Controversial Approach
Author: R. Jay Sappington


Abortion: A Non-Controversial Approach

R. Jay Sappington*

Osterville, Mass. (AP)—Marjorie thought she had nowhere to go when she became pregnant a year ago. Her boyfriend initially wasn’t supportive. And while her family tried to understand, Marjorie felt being pregnant and single would hurt the reputation of her father, a Presbyterian minister in a big Minnesota city. She was two courses short of her bachelor’s degree in German and English literature. Marjorie considered abortion. She also thought about moving some place where she would not be known. Then a friend told her about …1

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Jim and Lorijo Nerad and their two children went on welfare when he lost his job due to injury. Their social worker suggested Lorijo use contraceptives, but doctors wouldn’t prescribe them since Lorijo had a bacterial infection. Reluctantly, Jim had a vasectomy instead. It turned out Lorijo was already pregnant with their third child. She was happy immediately. Then the social worker told them about …2

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What do Marjorie, Jim, and Lorijo need? What will benefit them and their families? What options should their friends and social worker suggest? What is our responsibility, as Christians, as a church, as a society, to people in their circumstances?

I have set myself a tough task: to offer a perspective that can help us, as a church, discern that responsibility, and to propose steps that we all can all agree with and act on together, whether we are “pro-choice,” “pro-life,” or somewhere in between. I aim, in short, to offer a non-controversial approach to abortion.

It may seem an impossible task to address the topic of abortion without being controversial. (It sometimes seemed impossible as I

* R. Jay Sappington is in the M.A. Christian Thought program at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

wrote this article!) But I won’t be addressing the morality of abortion itself. I will not debate the moral status of the unborn child and its relationship to women’s right to choose abortion. Those discussions are important—very important—but they are not what I will deal with here.

Instead, I will defend the following proposition:

Abortion is a personal and national tragedy harming millions of women annually, and damaging our society. Christians, regardless of their stance on the morality of abortion, can and should work to reduce the incidence of abortion and its harmful effects on women. The avenues for such service ar...

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