Two Human Beings

Two Patients, Not One

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 139:14

Walked in the annual Birmingham March for Life today. Always encouraging to see old friends, folks from all manner of denominations and communions, and people of deep conviction for the pro-life cause. The abortion issue to me is quite simple: if the fetus is not human then have it–allow the fetus to be born. If the fetus is not human, then you have nothing to fear–the child, or whatever, will not be human. The fetus born will not be a baby.

But, the fetus is human–a child made in the image of God–a person who deserves the opportunity to live. The child should not be penalized for the choices of the parents.

Since the life of the human fetus is a human life, with the potential of becoming a mature human being, we have to learn to think of mother and unborn child as two human beings at different stages of development. Doctors and nurses have to consider that they have two patients, not one, and must seek the well-being of both. Lawyers and politicians need to think similarly. . . . Christians would wish to add ‘extra care before birth’. For the Bible has much to say about God’s concern for the defenceless, and the most defenceless of all people are unborn children. They are speechless to plead their own cause and helpless to protect their own life. So it is our responsibility to do for them what they cannot do for themselves.

John Stott, Issues Facing Christians Today (London: Collins/Marshall Pickering, 1990), 327.