Governments are doing their best to save our lives. Even those with doubts about some of our Government's policies will surely acknowledge that they are motivated to protect us. I'm grateful; for my age puts me and my wife into one of the 'at risk' categories. The Bible tells us to respect those in authority so no matter how much we may inwardly kick against the restrictions now forced upon us it's necessary we obey the regulations; staying at home, keeping our distance etc. The NHS is rightly being held in probably higher regard than ever before with almost all of us knowing someone, or related to someone, or being the someone on the frontline of care. Again, anything we can do to stop them being overwhelmed by too many sick people is clearly vital.
How do we feel in the midst of all this? My deepest feeling is one of sadness,even grief, over the issue of abortion. A few younger people have already, very sadly, died in this pandemic, but the main effort of government is really directed towards saving the lives of the elderly who are by far the most likely to die if they catch the virus. So we are prepared to trash our economy to the point of what potentially could be financial ruin for huge numbers of people and businesses in order to save the elderly (mainly) while we kill the young. Four things have caught my attention in the last couple of weeks. I give these in no particular order:
In Texas, in the USA, state authorities have called for the suspension of abortions during the present crisis. But medical authorities have responded by calling for abortions to be protected during this time. I quote: 'The consequences of being unable to obtain an abortion profoundly impacts a person's life, health and well-being.' Does it even need me to make the point about a babies' well-being that an abortion kills a living child in the womb. Personally, I find the above statement quite sickening.
David Lammy MP (and the political party is of no interest to me here as politicians from all parties have voted in favour of abortion) in a tweet of his, that I read, expressed his fury at a comment made by Dominic Cummings. I am not writing in support of Mr Cummings, that is not my point at all.There was an unconfirmed report that in some Government meeting Dominic Cummings had advised against stringent restrictions which could negatively affect the economy and that if some old people died as a result, then so be it. I've checked David Lammy's voting record only to discover that he has recently voted in favour of imposing very liberal abortion laws on Northern Ireland. To my mind his vented fury against an unconfirmed statement by Mr Cummings is sickening hypocrisy.
We all remember the heartwarming empathy displayed by New Zealand prime Minister Jacinda Ardern towards the victims of the truly shocking terror attacks made on Mosques in that country last year. She was an outstanding example in showing compassion as she hugged the victims and stood with them in their grief. As the New Zealand Parliament in the last few days was agreeing stringent control restrictions to save lives during the present pandemic their Prime Minister was at the same time supporting and promoting what may be the most liberal abortion laws in the world. This includes, as I understand it, that an abortion can be carried out until the point of birth and in the case of a botched abortion,so that the baby lives, they will be left to die. I can't find the right words to express my horror at this terrible contradiction of attitudes towards human life.
According to Right to Life UK, a few days ago in the British House of Lords, while CoronaVirus legislation was being discussed, in order to protect lives, there were Pro-choice Members seeking to bring amendments to the legislation that would have further liberalised our own abortion laws. Again the idea that at the same time you legislate to save the lives of the elderly while seeking to more easily eliminate the young is I believe, one of the greatest outrages of our time.
Since the 1967 Abortion Act the life of a baby has been ended every 3 minutes in the UK. There have been a number of responsibly thought out predictions of the death toll in the UK in this pandemic. As I read these predictions it seems unlikely that it will exceed 20,000. That's a scary enough figure but really is just a fraction of the number of babies aborted and killed since 1967.
CoronaVirus and Abortion; we fight the one and tolerate the other. Abortion remains the most evil of stains upon our society and the present pandemic serves to show our inconsistencies and hypocrisies. If we fight for the lives of the elderly we should be even more diligent in fighting for those who should have their whole life ahead of them.
God help us.
I am personally and solely responsible for the views and opinions expressed here. They are not intended to represent the views of any particular church or group or family of churches or indeed any individual who may post this blog.