When I was eight years old, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jane Roe. The ruling stated a woman had the right to choose what to do with her body without excessive oversight from the government. This ruling sparked a series of debates between conservatives, who viewed the practice as a barbaric form of murder, against liberals, who viewed the decision as a monumental leap forward in the battle for women’s rights. Forty years later, the issue is still a hot-button topic that frequently becomes entangled in political rhetoric.
During the years immediately following the court’s ruling, the central issue of debate was when life began. Opponents of abortion argued life began at conception. Dr. Micheline M. Matthews-Roth of Harvard Medical School, stated:
In biology and in medicine, it is an accepted fact that the life of any individual organism reproducing by sexual reproduction begins at conception, the time when the egg cell from the female and the sperm cell from the male join to form a single new cell the zygote; this zygote is the starting cell of the new system (Campaign Life Coalition, 2002).
If Dr. Matthews-Roth’s statement is correct, abortion is murder. Or is it? Supporters of the ruling along with women’s right proponents deny such claims. They argue that while a cell might in fact ‘be alive,’ it is not a human being. Rather it is simply a zygote, a collection of cells akin to an egg yolk, nothing that resembles a person.
While the arguments on both sides remain formidable and unwavering for the time being, perhaps a different approach will shed new light on the issue and offer a fresh perspective. Instead of debating when life begins, let’s take a moment to define when it ends; that is, death. Much like defining when life begins, the pronouncement of its conclusion can be equally ambiguous depending on the situation. For example, although the heart and lungs may be functioning due to artificial means, the brain cessation may have ceased. In this case, “a human being dies with the irreversible cessation of function of the entire brain” (Shofield, Urch, Stebbing and Giamas, 2014). Such circumstances are unique. A more traditional definition is “death occurs when there is an irreversible cessation of cardiopulmonary function” (Shofield, Urch, Stebbing and Giamas, 2014).
It is somewhat ironic that defining when life begins and ends is such a complex process. Perhaps that is because we are not meant to make such a determination. Nevertheless it does make the point that what occurs between those two events is in fact significant. Therefore, life should be held in the highest regard and preserved to the fullest extent possible, which brings us back to the original topic. The book of Genesis contains the familiar account of creation in which God created man. In chapter 2, verse 7, we read, “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [emphasis mine] and he became living being” (NIV). After disobeying God, Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden. They fulfilled God’s command and reproduced.
Pausing for a moment, it is worth noting that only man and animals are ever referred to as containing the breath of life. There is great similarity in the reproduction process between man and animals. This similarity is indicative of God’s perfect plan for creation. Additionally, all living things – humans, animals, and vegetation – have the ability to reproduce and perpetuate their existence. God created the earth to be self-sustaining. Specifically, he created man, male and female, to “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 2:28, NIV). Man was given dominion over the earth. Integral to that edict was the ability to reproduce.
Genesis is a book of firsts, most notably the first act of disobedience to God, namely sin. When sin entered the world, it was forever changed for the worse. Man had not been created to die. That was not God’s intention. As the Wesminster Catechism states, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” However, sin irrevocably marred man’s relationship with his Creator. In just a single generation, physical death entered the world when Cain killed his brother, Abel. God confronted Cain and said, “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10, NKJV). Death does not go unnoticed by God because it is not man’s intended outcome. It is a consequence of sin.
All life is precious to God. David wrote, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:4, NIV). Indeed, we are all created by God via the process of reproduction. Abortion as a process dates back to ancient history. As a practice, it can trace its roots back to the 1800s. However, it was not until recent decades that it appeared on the forefront of society. Intertwined with human rights and politics, the legality, albeit morality, of abortion has been hotly debated. Having drifted away from the central issue of when life begins, the focus has shifted to a woman’s right to choose. This has served to minimize, if not completely negate, the moral aspect of life and death surrounding the procedure and redefine it as a legal issue. In essence, God has been removed from the equation.
God is the origin of all life. His creation is one of precision and exactness. There is no ambiguity, no margin of error. Jeremiah wrote, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (1:5, NKJV). We reproduce because it is part of the reason we were created. As Dr. Matthew-Roth noted above, life begins at conception. Terminating that life, as with any life, results in death. For many, life is defined as a state of physical existence in which we breath and our organs operate as intended. Others, believers, realize life is more than just physical. Human beings possess a soul, a spiritual element, which is contained in a physical body. Upon death, the body ceases its biological functions and the soul is released, destined for one of two places. Not normally discussed as part of the gestation process, that soul is part of life instilled at the moment of conception. And that soul will either spend eternity in Heaven or in Hell.
In our effort to dominate the world and understand it, we observe, study, categorize, and define. Sin has marred our ability to interact with the world as God intended. Nevertheless we have been given the command and privilege to reproduce, to bring new life into the world and dominate it. While there are valid reasons to determine when life begins and when it ends, we must remember that all life is precious to God. Minimizing the process by relegating it to a legal issue vice a moral one does not invalidate the action or absolve oneself of responsibility and consequences. Changing the definition of when life begins for social convenience and legal requirements does not redefine life. It merely alters one’s perspective and opinion. Reproduction transcends the physical, for all human beings possess a soul. As Shofield et all (2014) concluded, “A final thought is that in designing a definition [of death], it is probably better to wrongly assign ‘alive’ to those who might be considered dead, than ‘dead’ to those who many would consider alive in some important way.” Such is the value of life!
References
Campaign Life Coalition. Abortion: A briefing book for Canadian legislators. (2002). Retrieved from: https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/shared/skins/default/pdf/abortionbriefingbook.pdf
Shofield, G., Urch, C., Stebbing, J. and Giamas, G. (2014) When does a human being die? Retrieved from: https://academic.oup.com/qjmed/article/108/8/605/1549487
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