Posts tagged ‘Ireland’
Ireland Legalizes Abortion
Credit: William Murphy
This blog was one I was hoping I would not have to write.
When I first heard the news that Ireland was voting on a referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment to its Constitution – which recognized that both a mother and her unborn baby have an equal right to life, effectively barring abortion-on-demand – I almost began preparing a blog under the assumption that the amendment was going to be overturned. But then I saw that polls showed a narrowing contest. So, I waited and hoped. My hopes were not realized.
Ireland was the last major European nation to have broad restrictions in place against abortion. The fact that legalized abortion-on-demand has come to yet another country grieves me deeply. Here is why:
- I am grieved because abortion clinics tend to market themselves to minority communities, leading to a devastating and decimating loss of life among these communities.
- I am grieved because some men will use this repeal as a hammer to pressure their hookups, their girlfriends, and, perhaps, even their wives into getting abortions they don’t want in order to appease astonishingly selfish men who do not want to raise children they don’t think they need.
- I am grieved because I know that, for many women, abortions leave emotional and spiritual scars of guilt, shame, and pain that often go unaddressed and unadmitted.
- I am grieved because I know that some women will not fully or truly understand that they have traded the preciousness of life for a vaunted “choice” that only proves to be shadowy and sad.
- I am grieved because I know that, before this referendum passed, some women in Ireland whose pregnancies imperiled their lives did not receive the medical attention they needed.
- I am grieved because I know that some people who claim the name “Christian” have self-righteously condemned those who have gotten abortions.
- I am grieved because thousands upon thousands of little lives will now be lost as abortion comes to yet another place.
Yes, I am grieved for many reasons. And yet, at the same time I grieve, I am not, to borrow the juxtaposition the apostle Paul uses in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, grieving without hope. Here, again, is why:
- I am hopeful because I know that, even as abortion clinics set up shop in minority communities, churches are there too, offering clarity and care to expectant mothers in frightening situations.
- I am hopeful because I know that, for every selfish man, there are many brave women who will push against the pressures and persuasions of self-centeredness and, instead, heroically raise children as single mothers, or even put up children for adoption as they seek to give their precious little ones good lives instead of tragic deaths.
- I am hopeful because I know that even as many women will surely be hurt by the abortions they endure, many more women will also discover the healing and forgiving grace of Christ and will use their pain to help others make different decisions.
- I am hopeful because I know that even a choice of death through an abortion cannot overcome the choice of God to grant life through His Son.
- I am hopeful because I know that, at the same time some medical professionals are foolish and harmful in their opinions and practices, many more are careful, kind, and wise in how they approach and treat their patients.
- I am hopeful because I know that, for all the people who self-righteously judge those who have gotten abortions, many more humbly help and demonstrate Christ’s love to those who desperately need compassion and care.
- I am hopeful because I know that the millions of children who have been lost to abortion aren’t really lost, for abortion is no match for eternal life.
I grieve what has happened in Ireland. I grieve what has been happening since 1973 in my own country. But I do not grieve without hope. Indeed, I cannot grieve without hope. For I follow a man who, when He was confronted with His own death, responded to those who were bent on His execution by saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Christ confronts death with forgiveness. I am hopeful that Christ will confront our decisions toward death in the same way. Abortion may have won a vote, but I am still hopeful that life will win the victory.
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