Abortion is a Blessing...

It is hard to believe that clergy that claim to profess the Christian faith would hold views such as these! Here are excerpts from the infamous "Abortion is a blessing" speech by the Rev. Dr. Katharine Ragsdale, dean of  Episcopal Divinity school! Parts of it are quite painful to hear!

Christians have as a whole always valued and respected life from the earliest of times. Here is some of the witness from our history:

"...The second commandment of the Teaching: "Do not murder; do not commit adultery"; do not corrupt boys; do not fornicate; "do not steal"; do not practice magic; do not go in for sorcery; do not murder a child by abortion or kill a newborn infant..."  Didakhe , 1st century

 "...In our case, murder being once for all forbidden, we may not destroy even the foetus in the womb. To hinder a birth is merely a speedier man - killing; nor does it matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to the birth - Tertullian Apologia 9.6

 "...Sometimes, indeed, this lustful cruelty, or if you please, cruel lust, resorts to such extravagant methods as to use poisonous drugs to destroy the conceived seed by some means previous to birth, preferring that its offspring should rather perish than receive vitality; or if it was advancing to life within the womb, should be slain before it was born..."- St. Augustine, 

What is it about us Episcopalians who in the name of inclusiveness allow  voices like these to go largely unchallenged? We are responsible not only for the evil we commit but that which we excuse or allow, for the things we have done and left undone. Clearly the problem of unplanned or unwanted pregnancy in our  society is complex, but to call a procedure that  results in the end of an innocent life a blessing is unthinkable!  

A pregnancy termination may sometimes be necessary to save a life but , abortion, used as it is increasingly in our society, is most certainly no blessing at all! At a time in history where contraception is inexpensive and widely available, the killing of unborn humans as a method of birth control is an objectionable abomination, a crime against life!

Blessings

Seraph