Our SDA Silence on Abortion

by Hugo Schmidt

It is my understanding that the Adventist Church does not officially have a position as to when human life begins in the mother's womb! Am I correct on this? So, I would like to ask someone there at Headquarters as to when did the human life begin for Jesus in the womb of Mary? I read sometime back on the internet where a Loma Linda officer said this: Since the scientists do not know when exactly human life begins in the womb, that being the reason the Adeventist Church has refrained from speaking against abortion, which has murdered over 40 millions since Roe v Wade, in this Nation under God. Another Loma Linda Theologian when I asked him about what he thought abortion was, he responded by saying that it is murder and that the Church should strongly speak agains it. However, he himself who has written many wonderfull books has yet to say one word in public against what he calls: murder. Just last Sabbath afternoon I chanced to listen to Dr. James Kennedy where he very passionly pled for America to repent over the sin of abortion. He also stated categorically that life in the mother's womb begins at conception. This man and many other Christians Protestants along with the Catholic Church, strongly support the fact that the sanctity of human life begins at conception and that abortion is murder of a human being. So my question to you at Headquarters. Are we as a Church the only Denomination at odds with the rest of the Christian world? As a 4th generation Adventist I always believed that life in the womb begins at conception, so please clarify for me this issue, as related to the life of Jesus in the womb. If most of the Christian world is wrong on this issue, that leaves the Adventist with a great mission field responsability as it were, to teach them the truth on this issue! Right? We are the Church that claims that we are the Church that is totally biblical correct. Right? The Need to Know the Limits of Human Life by Nic Samojluk What We Seem to Know. We Seventh-day Adventists pride ourselves in having an answer for almost any doctrinal question, because we see ourselves as the prophetical church with the last message for a perishing world . We know the correct day for worship, we know why health is important, we know how to identify the antichrist, we know the exact date when Jesus Christ moved from the Holy Place to the Most Holy in the heavenly sanctuary, and we know what will determine the final destiny of those who claim to be Christ's followers. What We Prefer to Ignore. We seem to have an asnwer to all the most important life and death questions ever posed by human beings. Nevertheless, there is one basic question we do not have answer for, and that is: When does human life begin? This is rather strange, because we used to know the answer for such a question, but it seems like we have decided to forget what the answer was, and this happened shortly after the controversial discussion about human cloning took place a few years ago. Perhaps you are wondering whether I am making this up. Look at the following declaration by a highly respected leader of our church: Quote: The church has chosen not to define the precise moment human life begins--a moment science finds difficult to pinpoint. [ http://news.adventist.org/data/2001/07/0997187695/index.html.en ] What Others Do Know. What surprises me is the fact that members of other religious denominations, that do not claim to be the last prophetic movement before Christ's return to this earth, do know that human life begins at conception. I am thinking about the Southern Baptists, who have such a statement among their fundamental doctrinal beliefs. Even the Pope of Rome, whom we have described in the past as the biblical Antichrist, also knows when human life begins; and not only knows this fundamental biological fact, but also is adamant in the defense of the unborn. And I want to add another group of people: the political leaders of South Dakota, who have recently made such a declaration when they voted on a new law making it illegal for women to have an abortion, except in the case when the life of the pregnant woman is at risk and the physician feels saving the lives of both the woman and the baby is impossible. Note the following statement: Quote: The South Dakota bill declares "that life begins at the time of conception" and "that to fully protect the rights, interests, and health of the pregnant mother, the rights, interest, and life of her unborn child, and the mother's fundamental natural intrinsic right to a relationship with her child, abortions in South Dakota should be prohibited." [ http://www.reason.com/links/links022806.shtml ] Aren't We God's Remnant? My question is: How can we dare to claim to be the prophetic Remnant people of god on earth, having the last message for a perishing world, if we ignore this fundamental truth: that human life begins at conception? We are right in declaring to the world that God's Holy Time--the Sabbath--is sacred; but is human life not sacred as well? We do know the limits of sacred time, we know exactly when the sacred hours of the Sabbath begins: at sun down, but we claim to ignore when human life begins. How can we justify this ignorance? The Need to Know the Limits of Human Life. We do declare that human life is precious in the eyes of God, and that human life should be protected, but how can human life be properly protected if we declare to the whole world that we do not know when human life begins? Would it make sense for the president of the U.S. to assert that our borders should be protected, and then add that we do not know the exact location of those borders? Would it make sense for our government to order our border patrol agents to secure our borders, and then admit that we do not know where those borders lie? We Failed in Nazi Germany. Recently the SDA leaders of both Autria and Germany issued a joint declaration apologizing for the church silence and cooperation with Hitler when the genocide of six million was taking place in Germany during the Nazi regime. By declaring that we do not know when human life begins, are we not endorsing the slaughter of the innocent again, this time the genocide of the unborn? Wouldn't it be better to position ourselves definitely within the Pro-life camp, instead of wavering on the sidelines? Our Defeaning Silence on the Abortion Issue.Why are we silent on this life and death issue? When was the last time you heard a sermon on this subject, or read an article in our magazines condemning the slaughter of the innocents? When you hear the defeaning silence of our church on the issue of abortion, can't we foresee that we are preparing the way for future SDA leaders for a similar apology sometime in the future? Shouldn't we wake up and take a decided stand against this horrendous practice that has since 1973 decimated our future generation by 45 million victims? Can't we see what is taking place in our own country? Freedom to the Iraqis and Death to our Own Children. While we are liberating the Iraqis from decades of opression, we are blind to the fact that our own children are being mercilessly slaughtered in our own backyard. We send our soldiers to protect foreigners from terrorism, but at the same time we do not have the courage to protect our own children from a sure death! We spend billions of dollars to secure the future of foreigners, but fail to secure the future of our own! We try to police the world, while failing to police our own country. Aren't We a Prophetic Movement? If our church is truly a prophetic movement destined to warn the world about the approaching day of judgement, then we can't ignore the fact that God does care for the life of the most innocent members of humanity: the unborn. The one who said, Let the children come to me, will not overlook our actions if we persist in looking the other way while the unborn are being led to the slaughter house. How can those children come to Jesus, if we deprive them of life before they have a chance to take their first breath? Read Other Articles on the Same Subject: If this subject is of interest to you, then let me suggest you also read the following postings: 1. Bill to kill 'Roe' signed into law http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49131 2. The Death of Abortion http://www.covenantnews.com/holman060228.htm 3. In South Dakota life begins at the time of conception http://www.reason.com/links/links022806.shtml 4. A Corporate Apology From the German and Austrian SDA Church http://www.adventistreview.org/article.php?id=92 Abortion Bill Defines the Start of Life by Nic Samojluk    Quote: House Bill 1172 would require abortion providers to notify women, at least 18 hours before the procedure, that life begins at conception; the fetus may feel pain during an abortion; doctors may apply anesthetic to the fetus, which may or may not be paid for by insurance, if the woman is at least 20 weeks pregnant; and the woman is subject to physical risk during and after the abortion ... Full story: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060127/NEWS02/601270530 Contrast what the supporters of this bill say about when human life begins with what my own church leaders have stated about this: Quote: ... Winslow, a professor of Biomedical and Clinical Ethics at Loma Linda University in southern California, says ... in discussing birth control and abortion, the church has chosen not to define the precise moment human life begins--a moment science finds difficult to pinpoint. On this issue, I have chosen to side with the sponsors of this bill and with the Catholic Pope, which agrees with what I did learn in biology. Reference: http://news.adventist.org/data/2001/07/0997187695/index.html.en