Wednesday, October 01, 2008

An Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and World-renowned Physician Addresses Abortion

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently wrote an article addressing abortion. You may read it by clicking here.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

This is the first article I read in this month's Ensign. This is a timely topic with an election just around the corner, because abortion is always a hot topic for discussion. And this article summarizes why I will always say that I am definitely pro choice---and pro responsibility. You can't have one without the other.

Anonymous said...

The article summarizes why you are pro-choice? Did you mean pro-life? I'm confused.

Personally, I think it is an issue which should be decided state by state.

Craig said...

What Sean means is that when people engage in sexual intercourse, they have made their choice and must accept the consequences, including an unwanted pregnancy.

So he's pro-choice in that people have the right to choose whether to have sex. But they shouldn't be able to avoid the consequences through abortion.

I feel the same way.

Anonymous said...

interesting. so your belief system provides that abortion is allowed when:

* there has been forcible rape
* the mother's health would be put in serious jeopardy
* incest
* the baby cannot survive beyond birth

already that's much more lenient than what is allowed here in the philippines (we only provide for condition #2). the other 3 could lead to criminal prosecution of the mother, doctor, her family, and other people involved.

what if the woman consented to sex, but is below the legal age of consent? for example, i've heard of mothers aged 12 and 13.

thanks for this information. :)

Craig said...

Kouji,

Great question. The key principle is whether the mother consented to sexual intercourse. Even though she may not be legally capable of consenting, she is still morally capable.

And even with the exceptions, abortion should be a last resort when it is to protect the health of the mother. Thankfully, medical knowledge is such that an abortion will be necessary to protect a mother's health only in the rarest of circumstances.