Dispute Over Value of Partial Birth Abortion Ban

After the partial birth abortion decision by the US Supreme Court, we are witnessing the most visible and unpleasant dispute in the pro life movement I have seen in my lifetime. Much of the heat is coming from our brothers and sisters on the front line of the pro life movement.

Those who are called by God to be pro-life side walk counselors and rescuers are a lot like Emergency Room doctors. Absolutely essential.

But all ER docs see, all day long is the direct and ugly bloodiness of catastrophic injury and death.

The number of patients may be dropping, the need for the ER services may be lessened, the public may be in large numbers getting wiser and making safer choices, other doctors maybe working effectively to prevent the need for ER visits, the seat belt and helmet laws may be reducing the need for ER visits, the lines waiting for ER services might become less than they were in previous years, people’s attitudes could be changing about public safety, laws could be making products safer----all of which may be evidence that we are gradually make steps toward winning the fight against catastrophic injury and making our world safer.

But--- The ER doctors only continue to see catastrophic injury and bloodshed all day, every day. And so as a result ER doctors can become myopic, subjective and unwilling to be convinced that any progress is being made in the wider area of public safety. ER doctors can also become unknowingly arrogant and self righteous thinking that their work is THE most important work of all in the whole medical community. There is a lot we can learn from ER doctors because they are on the front line of emergency medicine, one of the most vital links in modern medicine. But ER doctors also can become so close to the problem that they become emotional crusaders who are unable to accurately evaluate the wider picture of health and the overall public opinion on safety or percentage of catastrophic injuries in the community.

Let’s pray for our ER doctors. And let’s also pray for our sidewalk counselors and pro life rescuers to have the humility and wisdom to be more effective and discerning in valuing and embracing of all parts of the Body of Christ in the pro-life movement that God has raised up to protect the unborn.