From Prochoice to Prolife

1
From Pro-choice to Pro-life

• My Spiritual
• Pilgrimage
• Thanks to
• Shock
• Therapy

2
The Shock therapy Treatment

• A. Spectrum Writer How About the 6th
  Commandment?
• B. Hugo Schmidt You are not Pro-life!
• C. Jim Walters The SDA Church is Pro-choice!

3
The Shock therapy Treatment

• D. Teresa Beem I dont want my hands stained
  with the blood of the unborn!
• E. Richard Fredericks The Dred Scott Ruling
  Regarding Slaves
• F. Neal Wilson There is too much hunger
  overpopulation.

4
The Shock therapy Treatment

• G. Castle Memorial Hospital Revenue loss
  Elective Abortions
• H. Gerald Winslow Five SDA Hospitals Providing
  Elective Abortions
• I. SDA Pioneers A bunch of dyed in the wool
  Pro-lifers

5
The Shock therapy Treatment

• J. SDA Guidelines on Abortion Stressing
  Freedom of Choice!
• K. Maureen Bull You should shout from the
  rooftops!
• L. Spectrum Magazine How to get published
  without a PH.D.?

6
A Major Life Resolution

• A Distant Learning Ph.D. Program
• A Pro-life News Website
• A Pro-life Ph.D. Dissertation
• All This while taking care of the Flamingo Real
  Estate business
• Hard work, sacrifice, prayer and Gods blessing.

7
For the sake of the unborn
8
The Ph.D. Curriculum

• 1. Hebrew culture in Biblical Times
• 2. Old Testament history
• 3. The Life Teachings of Jesus
• 4. Jewish History
• 5. Pre-Reformation Christianity
• 6. Christianity in America

9
The Ph.D. Curriculum

• 7. World Religions
• 8. Bible Archaeology
• 9. Christian Apologetics
• 10. Thesis Proposal
• 11. Advanced Research thesis

10
My Goal To save at least one baby from a sure
death!
11
Or perhaps More?

• To save more than one!

12
FROM PRO-LIFE TO PRO-CHOICE

• THE DRAMATIC SHIFT OF
• SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS ATTITUDE
• TOWARDS ABORTION
• By

13
NIC SAMOJLUK

• A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED
• IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
• REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
• DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN RELIGION
• ANDREW JACKSON UNIVERSITY
• BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
• 2006

14
The Dissertation Chapters

• I. INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
• II. A PRO-LIFE BEGINNING
• III. A PRO-LIFE HERO
• IV. THE LEAST OF THESE

15
The Dissertation Chapters

• V. THE GREAT CONTROVERSY I
• VI. THE GREAT CONTROVERSY II
• VII. THE TIME OF TROUBLE
• VIII.THE GREAT BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON
• IX. THE CALM AFTER THE STORM

16
The Dissertation Chapters

• X. REDEFINING PERSONHOOD THE LIMITS OF HUMAN
  LIFE
• XI. SHOUTING FROM THE ROOFTOP
• XII. IN SEARCH OF THE REMNANT
• XIII. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS CONCLUDING REMARKS

17
Appendices Bibliography

• APPENDIX A A DRAMATIC SHIFT
• APPENDIX B PRO CON ARGUMENTS
• APPENDIX C PRO-LIFE PRO-CHOICE LISTS
• BIBLIOGRAPHY

18
From Pro-life to Pro-choice

• The dissertation is accessible at the following
  Internet site
• www.sdaforum.com
• Scroll down to
• Ph.D. dissertation Forum
• You can real all the chapters and addendums
• You can post your comments online.

19
I. INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• A. The early SDA pioneers emphasized the
  sacredness of the Ten Commandments
• B. They identified their movement as the
  Remnant of God proclaiming the last message for
  a perishing world.
• C. They Chose the Sabbath as a sign of their
  allegiance to God

20
I. INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• D. A sign is meaningless if there is nothing
  behind it!
• E. The first four Commandments deal with our
  respect for the Creator
• F. The last six Commandments deal with our
  respect for humanity
• G. The sixth Commandment states You shall not
  murder

21
II. A PRO-LIFE BEGINNING

• At the time of the early SDA pioneers, the
  Christian church was pro-life
• Pro-life means you do not harm human life, but
  rather do what you can to save and nurture it.
• This Pro-life attitude was inherited from the
  Christian tradition going all the way to the
  Apostles.
• This Pro-life tradition is still found in the
  Catholic the Southern Baptist churches.

22
These SDA Pioneers Were Pro-life!

• James White, J. N. Andrews, John Harvey Kellogg,
  Ellen White, John Todd, others were all
  Pro-life individuals.

23
The Opinion of James White

• many a man, who has as many children as he
  can support, instead of restraining his passions,
  aids in the destruction of the babes he has
  begotten. The sin lies at the door of both
  parents in equal measure for the father,
  although he may not always aid in the murder, is
  always accessory to it, in that he induces, and
  sometimes even forces upon the mother the
  condition which he knows will lead to the
  commission of the crime.
• James White. Solemn Appeal (Battle Creek,
  Michigan Stem Press, 1870), 100.

24
Ellen G. White

• Was also Pro-life, in spite of never have used
  the term abortion.

25
Ellen G. White

• If the father would become acquainted with
  physical law, he might better understand his
  obligations and responsibilities. He would see
  that he had been guilty of almost murdering his
  children, by suffering so many burdens to come
  upon the mother,
• White. Selected Messages, Vol. 2 (Washington,
  D.C. Review and Herald Publishing Association,
  1958), 429-430.

26
Ellen G. White

• All acts of injustice that tend to shorten life
  . . . or any passion that leads to injurious acts
  towards others, or causes us even to wish them
  harm . . . all these are, to a greater or less
  degree, violations of the sixth commandment.
• White. Patriarchs and Prophets (Washington,
  D.C. Review and Herald Publishing Association,
  1958), 316.

27
Did Ellen white talk About Abortion?

• Mrs. White never used the term abortion.
• She rather talked about almost murdering the
  unborn.
• What is the difference?

28
Uriah Smith

• Uriah Smith, long-term editor of SDA
  publications, did not address the abortion issue
  directly, but he stated

29
Should the Church be Silent on Abortion?

• You show me a church that fails to take a stand
  on political issues that involve moral
  principles, and Ill show you a church that is
  spineless, irrelevant, and morally bankrupt. . .
  . No issue is too controversial for us to address
  and honestly in pages of our church paper.
• Uriah Smith. Advent Review and Sabbath Herald.
  Quoted by P.A. Lorenz. Adventist for Life News,
  Vol. III, Issue 3. (n.d., Heritage Edition) 3.

30
Chapter II Statistical Analysis
31
III. A PRO-LIFE HERO
32
III. A PRO-LIFE HERO

• The story of Desmond Doss
• He refused to carry a gun
• He determined to keep the Sabbath
• He was almost court martialled

33
Other SDA Army Draftees

• In those days, men who served in the army as
  conscientious objectors were held in rather low
  esteem, were often ridiculed by their comrades,
  and mistreated by their superiors. Some of them
  were abused, imprisoned, assigned to menial
  tasks, kicked and beaten, and even dunked
  headfirst into latrines. During the war, 162
  members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church were
  court-martialed because of their religious
  convictions, and when the war ended, thirty-five
  of these men were serving terms of from five to
  twenty years at hard labor.
• Booton Herndon. The Unlikeliest Hero (Mountain
  View, California Pacific Press Publishing
  Association, 1967), 16.

34
The Man Who Refused to Kill

• The man who saved others
• The man who dodged enemy bullets
• The man who got almost court martialed
• The man who refused to act in self defense

35
Was Awarded

• The Congressional
• Medal of Honor by
• President Truman

36
Who Stated on Said Occasion
37
At the End of his Speech

• I am proud of you. You really deserve this. I
  consider this a greater honor than being
  President.
• Booton Herndon. The Unlikeliest Hero (Mountain
  View, California Pacific Press Publishing
  Association, 1967), 159.

38
Doss Received Other Honors

• In 1957 he was treated by Hollywood and listened
  with deep interest to the program This is Your
  Life.
• In 1962, Desmond T. Doss was invited by President
  Kennedy for a ceremony at the White House
  commemorating the 100th anniversary of the
  creation of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

39
Chapter III Statistical Analysis
40
IV. THE LEAST OF THESE

• The following statement made by Jesus, inspired
  Curt Young to write a book about abortion.
  Chapter IV deals with this material.
• Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the
  least of these . . . You have done it unto me.
• Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
  Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
  Moody Press, 1983), 1-220.

41
Do These Qualify as the Least
42
The Declaration of Independence

• Slide
• Template

43
Includes the Following Statement

• "We hold these truths to be self evident, that
  all men are created equal, that they are endowed
  by their Creator with certain inalienable rights,
  that among these are Life, Liberty and the
  Pursuit of Happyness."
• --Men then meant human beings!
• --Do the unborn qualify as human beings?

44
Did Slaves Women Qualify?

• Common sense would suggest that if all men are
  created equal, and entitled to
• life then this right to life should include
• the unborn, because the term men is a generic
  term for humans, and includes women and children.
  Besides, the term created seems to imply
  development which starts at conception.

45
Chief Justice Roger Taneys Opinion

• They the slaves had for more than a century
  been regarded as beings of an inferior order, and
  altogether unfit to associate with the white
  race, either in social or political relations
  and so far inferior, that they had no rights
  which the white man was bound to respect and
  that the negro might justly and lawfully be
  reduced to slavery for his own benefit. He was
  bought and sold, and treated as an ordinary
  article of merchandise and traffic, whenever a
  profit could be made by it.
• Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
  Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
  Moody Press, 1983), 7.

46
Abraham Lincoln Disagreed

• The result was the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and
  Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution,
  which specifically forbade slavery, granted
  former slaves the right to vote, and declared
  that no person would be deprived of life
  without due process of law.
• The term person was designed to include all
  humans, and it was supposed to prevent any future
  attempt to deprive certain groups of people of
  their inalienable rights.

47
And Thanks to One Determined Man

• The black slaves became members of the human
  race overnight.

48
Then in 1973 Nine Unelected Justices of

• Slide
• Template

49
The U.S. Supreme Court

• Did what the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and
  Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution
  were supposed to prevent
• They deprived a new group of human beings of
  personhood
• The unborn ceased to be members of the human race.

50
Two Bad Legal Rulings

• The similarity between the Roe v. Wade and the
  Dred Scott became unmistakable Just as Taney
  decreed that citizens in the Constitution did
  not include blacks, Blacknum decided person is
  en exclusive term as well, applying to everyone
  except the unborn.
• Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
  Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
  Moody Press, 1983), 16.

51
A Mysterious double Standard!

• If the pregnant woman wants the unborn baby, the
  baby is protected. If not she is free to destroy
  the unborn.
• Examples
• --Lacy Peterson
• --Jessie Davis
• If abortion is not murder, why is it double
  murder when the pregnant woman is killed?

52
Single or Double Murder?
53
Result Lack of Consistency

• Pregnant women were granted the awesome power to
  determine whether the unborn babies belonged to
  the human race.
• The power reserved for the U.S. Congress was
  transferred to women.

54
Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

• 1. All persons born or naturalized in the
  United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
  thereof, are citizens of the United States and of
  the State wherein they reside. . . . nor shall
  any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or
  property, without due process of law nor deny to
  any person within its jurisdiction the equal
  protection of the laws.

55
Two Basic Legal Question

• Is it fair to deprive the unborn of legal
  protection because they were not born yet?
• If Yes, then are we free to take the life of
  illegal immigrants who were not born nor
  naturalized in the U.S. either?
• If No, then why did we declare an open season
  for the killing of the unborn?

56
Planned Parenthood

• Planned Parenthood, who in 1964 had printed a
  pamphlet which stated, Abortion kills the life
  of a baby, once it had begun, suddenly reversed
  their attitude and argued that abortion would
  prevent the raising of unwanted children, and
  would help in population control.
• Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
  Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
  Moody Press, 1983), 14.

57
Abortion for Population Control?

• The same argument (population control) was used
  by Neal Wilson, then president of the General
  Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, to justify
  the provision of elective abortion services in
  SDA hospitals.
• The same reasoning was mirrored by LLU graduate
  Edward Allred, owner of over 20 California
  abortion clinics.

58
Potential Human Life?

• In 1973, by the stroke of a pen, a large group
  of human beings were declared less than humans,
  non-persons, entitled to no rights, not even the
  right to life. This action resulted in the
  creation of a new legal term potential life,
  which had never been used before in the legal
  history of the United States.
• Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
  Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
  Moody Press, 1983), 15.

59
Quality of Life? For Whom?

• This new outlook on the status of the unborn is
  rooted in the quality-of-life ethic, which is
  based on the false premise that humans moral
  obligation is cancelled when the objective is to
  maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Such a
  humanistic approach to ethics rejects our duty to
  the Creator of life, and establishes our priority
  to look for our own pleasure instead.
• Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
  Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
  Moody Press, 1983), 24.

60
The Doctors Role To Heal or to Kill?

• The new attitude towards the sanctity of human
  life, says Young in chapter three, required that
  the centuries old Hippocratic Oath be discarded,
  which mandated that the doctor is never to
  approach the patient as executioner, but rather
  as healer and comforter.

61
Hippocratic Oath

• I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody
  who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to
  this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman
  an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will
  guard my life and my art.

62
Adventist Eschatology Abortion

• We need to remember that in the final judgment,
  the destiny of every member of the human race
  will be determined by the way we have treated
  the least of these. Matt. 25 31-46 NIV.
• Question We have traditionally emphasized the
  Sabbath as determining our destiny. Is the
  Sabbath more sacred than human life? Didnt Jesus
  state that The Sabbath was made for man and not
  vice versa?

63
How to Deal with Crisis Pregnancy

• The Lord sent his angel to comfort Hagar in the
  desert when she despaired of her life, and said
  heavenly messenger told her that God had already
  picked a name for her son. She might have thought
  that her pregnancy was a mistake, but the Lord
  had a plan both for her and her son.

64
Protection for Newborns Denied!

• Following the death of Infant Doe, President
  Reagan had the Human Services issue regulations
  requiring federally funded hospitals to post a
  notice asking for any person having knowledge of
  a baby being denied medical care to call the
  Handicapped Infant Hotline.
• The American Academy of Pediatricians initiated a
  lawsuit, and Judge Gerhard Gessell determined
  that said regulation was arbitrary and
  capricious, and affirmed that newborns could be
  stripped of all legal rights to life on the basis
  of the Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

65
Protection for Newborns Denied!

• What this Pro-life president designed for the
  protection of the just born was nullified by an
  unelected judge.

66
Contrast Between Hitler Lincoln

• Hitler did succeed in rebuilding the German
  nation both economically and militarily. These
  accomplishments of his have been forgotten
  because he presided over the slaughter of six
  million Jews who were declared non-persons by his
  Nazi regime.
• In contrast, Abraham Lincoln presided over a
  nation beset by rampant inflation and a
  disastrous economy. In spite of this, he is
  remembered for liberating those whose rights as
  members of the human race had been denied by
  society.

67
Dietrich Bonhoeffers Appeal

• Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves,
  for the rights of all who are destitute.
• This verse was quoted by Dietrich Bonhoeffer when
  he opposed Hitlers extermination of the Jews.
• Prov. 318 NIV

68
Martin Niemoeller summed up the Germans response

• In Germany they came first for the Communists,
  and I didnt speak up because I wasnt a
  Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I
  didnt speak up because I wasnt a Jew. Then they
  came for the trade unionists, and I didnt speak
  up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they
  came for the Catholics, and I didnt speak up
  because I was a Protestant. Then they came for
  me, and by that time no one was left to speak
  up.
• Curt Young. The Least of These What Everyone
  Should Know About Abortion (Chicago, Illinois
  Moody Press, 1983), 199.

69
Can You Trust Statistics?

• Prior to the legalization of abortion a
  proponent of abortion on demand claimed that
  10,000 women were dying from illegal abortion
  every year. The official report by the government
  placed those figures at 39 in 1972. Dr. Bernard
  Nathanson, the cofounder of Abortion Rights
  Action League, admitted that he was aware that
  those inflated figures were false, but did
  nothing to correct the misinformation.

70
Chapter IV Statistical Analysis
71
V. THE GREAT CONTROVERSY I

• This great controversy title for this chapter
  was chosen because the battle between good and
  evil was fought and is being waged right now not
  so much about the Sabbath, but rather about the
  right to life of the unborn, and the death decree
  has been already issued--it was issued back in
  1973--but the victims are not those who worship
  God on the Sabbath, but rather those waiting for
  the privilege of being allowed to jump through
  the loop.

72
Source Material Ministry Magazine

• The big question is What role did the SDA
  church play in this life and death controversy?
  The best source for this is found in the pages of
  Ministry, the international journal of the
  Seventh-day Adventist Ministerial Association.
  The material for this chapter and the next one
  was gleaned from said source.

73
This is Where the Abortion Battle was Fought

• All the articles and readers comments dealing
  with the issue of abortion were examined and the
  authors were labeled as Pro-life, Pro-choice, or
  Pro-abortion.

74
A Ministry Readers Comment

• I am much saddened by George Gainers article
  on abortion (August 1991). It is not pleasant to
  note that for 20 years the overarching ethic that
  determines policy for our health-care
  institutions is money. . . . As a health-care
  worker I have worked in a Catholic hospital.
  Their stand on abortion has been firm all along.
  They are not going under because of their stand
  on abortion. Long ago the servant of the Lord
  wrote, The greatest want of the world is the
  want of men--men who will not be bought or sold.
  (Education p. 57) . . . Surely, as a church we
  carry a heavy load of guilt for our participation
  in abortion on demand.
• Joseph L. Story, Letters Ministry (Apr.
  1992) 2.

75
In Defense of Autonomy

• In 1988 Ministry published an article written by
  Gerald Winslow entitled Abortion and Christian
  Principles.
• Winslow was a professor of Christian Ethics at
  Loma Linda University at the time of his writing.
• Gerald Winslow, Abortion and Christian
  Principles Ministry (May 1988) 12-16.

76
Gerald Winslow Argument

• We admit, argued Dr. Winslow, that the early
  stages of human development we do not have a
  person in the full sense of the word, and not
  even immediately after birth nevertheless, the
  destruction of a fetus after the point of
  viability should raise serious concerns. To this,
  we must add that the established human life
  should take precedence over the prepersonal human
  life and we should not forget the value of
  personal autonomy.
• Gerald Winslow, Abortion and Christian
  Principles Ministry (May 1988) 12-16.

77
Questions for Dr. Winslow

• Does this mean that no serious concerns would
  have been raised if Mary had aborted Jesus before
  he reached the point of viability?
• Autonomy means self law. Is Winslow suggesting
  that humans have the right to replace Gods Law
  with self rule?

78
One Ministry Reader Asked

• According to what I read, the Seventh-day
  Adventist Church considers it all right to kill
  an unborn baby if the babys father was a certain
  kind of sinnera rapist or a child molester. It
  is also considered right to kill an unborn baby
  if its mother became sexually active when very
  young. Why should an unborn baby be put to death
  for its fathers or mothers sins?
• Thomas Hamilton, Letters Ministry (Mar.
  1988) 2.

79
Another Reader Called for Repentance

• The well-documented article Less than Human?
  of March 1988 was enlightening but also shocking
  to us. As Seventh-day Adventists we are sure
  about the fourth commandment and emphasize it
  every chance we have. This we should do. But
  apparently we are not so sure about the meaning
  of the sixth and first commandments. This is
  tragic! It appears also that in this area we may
  have to do some repenting.
• Jeremiah Florea, Letters Ministry (July
  1988) 30.

80
A Call to Ignore Profit

• I say amen to Richard Fredericks article Less
  than Human? in the March issue. . . . For a
  church whose beliefs are entirely based on the
  Bible and nothing but the Bible, the issue seems
  patently clear--abortion is murder and should be
  clearly recognized as such. The risk of loosing
  some popularity with the majority and loosing
  some of the business in our medical facilities
  are not reasons enough to renege on an issue that
  has such a humane and Christian answer.
• Glen L. Wiltse, Letters Ministry (July 1988)
  30.

81
Abortion the Hottest Ministry Topic

• Our articles on abortion have touched a
  sensitive nerve. We are receiving more email on
  this subject than on any other recently published
  article. The letters are running 10 to 1 in favor
  of the church adopting a stricter standard. While
  many simply complain, others are doing something
  positive to help those wrestling with the
  decision of whether or not to have an abortion.
• J. David Newman, First Glance Ministry (July
  1988) 3.

82
Abortion Guidelines Criticized

• I commend Ministry for . . . listing the
  abortion guidelines voted by General Conference
  officers in 1971 for Adventist medical
  institutions. However well intentioned, the
  guidelines unfortunately are flawed with
  euphemisms, vagueness, and lack of logic. The
  simple impairment of health qualification could
  be used to justify abortion for a woman who is
  experiencing depression because she is pregnant
  again or who is so under less-than-ideal
  circumstances.
• Ken Blake, Letters Ministry (May 1988) 2,
  27.

83
Chapter V Statistical Analysis
84
The Two Versions of Pro-Abortion

• The proponents of abortion on demand have two
  almost identical versions of their Pro-abortion
  agenda. One is called Pro-abortion, and the other
  Pro-choice.
• Like Mexican enchilada, their main ingredients
  are the same.
• The main difference is that with Pro-choice, you
  embellish the program with the value of human
  life but end with abortion on demand as well.

85
VI. THE GREAT CONTROVERSY II

• I cant but think of Mary. Still a teenager, not
  married, very poor, she declared she was pregnant
  by the Holy Spirit. What we would do with such a
  case today in our society that has become so
  permissive about the sacredness of life? Would we
  find her guilty of teenage sexual promiscuity?
  Would we diagnose her a schizophrenic with
  religious delirium? Would we find her too young,
  too immature, too poor, to raise a child
  properly? If because of her situation society
  told her to get an abortion, would we as a church
  remain silent? Could this abortion be carried out
  in an Adventist hospital? Could Christ, our Lord,
  be born in the cities of America?
• Dennis Fortin, Letters Ministry (Sept.
  1988) 27.

86
The Overcrowding Argument

• The Christian View on Human Life Committee
  appointed by the General Conference met in
  Washington on April, 1989 to discuss the need of
  official SDA guidelines on abortion. One scholar,
  Dr. Carsten Johnsten, argued for an absolute
  position against abortion . . . Others responded
  by stating that our planet is already
  overcrowded, and that it is irresponsible to let
  children be born whose chances of suffering
  deprivation and abuse is undeniable.

87
How to Solve Overcrowding?

• If our planet is overcrowded, how about killing
  the guilty instead of the innocent. Wouldnt
  killing the adulterers, fornicators, and rapists
  make more sense than killing the innocent?
• Since when the mission of medical institutions
  has become killing those who suffer, or rather
  killing those we think might be subject to
  suffering in the future?

88
Elective Abortion in SDA Hospitals

• When I first heard and then confirmed that the
  hospitals of the Adventist Health System in North
  America were performing hundreds of abortions
  each year, my response was stunned disbelief. I
  was certain that the hospitals and physicians
  involved must be acting outside General
  Conference policy guidelines. I was wrong.
  Criterion No. five of the 1971 guidelines states
  that abortion is acceptable when for some reason
  the requirements of functional human life demand
  the sacrifice of the lesser potential human
  life.
• George Gainer, Letters Ministry (May 1988)
  27.

89
Opening the Door to Elective Abortions

• Criterion No. fives some reason not only
  rendered superfluous the first four guidelines,
  and the principles on which they are based, but
  it tragically opened the door to elective
  abortion (i.e., on demand) in Adventist hospitals
  two years before the United States Supreme Court
  Roe v. Wade decision. The time has come to
  change the guidelines.
• George Gainer, Letters Ministry (May 1988)
  27.

90
Reaction to a Pro-life Article

• I recently read your article titled Less than
  Human? (March 1988), and I am pleased to see
  that some Adventists are beginning to take a
  clear stand on todays issues.
• Danny Kumamoto, Letters Ministry (Sept.
  1988) 2.

91
A Tragically Failed Prediction

• I consider your article on abortion in the
  March Ministry to be a classic and believe it
  will be recognized as a historic statement in the
  Adventist Church. It is the best thought out and
  researched article on this topic that I have read
  within the church. It is extremely persuasive and
  has definitely affected my viewpoint.
• John G. Kerbs, Letters Ministry (Sept.
  1988) 2.

92
One Reaction to Dr. Winslow Article

• I appreciated Dr. Winslows perspective on
  abortion (Abortion and Christian Principles,
  May 1988). I have been wrestling with this issue
  in my own mind for quite some time, and this
  article helped me put this matter in
  perspective.
• M.L. Whiting, Letters Ministry (Sept. 1988)
  2.

93
An Opposite Reaction to it

• Dr. Gerald Winslows article on abortion (May
  1988) presents many biblical principles (often
  with great skill and clarity), but offers as its
  bottom line and decisive principle a total
  unbiblical ultimate of personal autonomy. . . .
  These biblical terms do not defend personal
  autonomy, but condemn it, including autonomy over
  what one does with one owns body Do you not
  know that your body is a temple of the Holy
  Spirit . . ., and that you are not your own? For
  you have been bought with a price grace
  therefore glorify your God in your body
  freedom (1 Cor. 619,20 NASB).
• Richard Fredericks, Letters Ministry (Sept.
  1988) 26.

94
A Non-Adventists Reaction

• It does not surprise when a liberal mainline
  denomination like my own advocates a policy
  against life, but the Adventists--the paragon of
  healthcare, concern for others, adherence to the
  Scriptures? What about Thou shalt not kill?
• Timothy Jessen, Letters Ministry (Sept.
  1988) 26.

95
The Product of Rape

• I know a person who is not a victim but the
  product of rape. This person is a child of God, a
  Seventh-day Adventist Christian. I wonder how
  this person feels, thinking that it was Gods
  will that he should have been aborted? . . . I
  think the Devil has pulled a fast one on us
  ethical Christians. Abortion has become our
  Achilles heel.
• Letters Ministry (Sept. 1988) 27.

96
A Double Standard on Life

• We, as a church, take the stand that it is
  wrong to take anothers life. For this reason we
  strongly urge our young people to stay out of the
  military. We base this position on the
  commandment that states, Thou shalt not kill.
  Yet we dont seem to apply this same commandment
  when it comes to abortion. Isnt it strange that
  we can see clearly the application of this
  commandment to those already born but not see how
  it could possibly apply to the unborn?
• Terry C. Grimm, Letters Ministry (Nov. 1988)
  30.

97
For the Sake of Profit?

• I read the preliminary Seventh-day Adventist
  statement on abortion (July 1990) and dont think
  much of the document. It is very weak. . . . Our
  institutions should be at the forefront of
  institutions that refuse to kill the unborn.
  Guidelines will be subject only to the economic
  concerns of doctors who perform life-terminating
  procedures in our institutions.
• Hugo Meier, Letters Ministry (Nov. 1990) 29.

98
Are SDA Priorities Out of Order?

• When physical or mental health takes precedence
  over life, our priorities are out of order. When
  the fetuss not measuring up to our standards of
  perfection is grounds for taking its life, our
  priorities are out of order. When the
  circumstances of conception (rape or incest) are
  the determining factor, our priorities are out of
  order. When it comes to life-or-life situation,
  then and then only with much prayer abortion
  should be considered. Jesus said, Father, if it
  be possible, let this cup pass from me
  nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. We
  say, Father, please remove this cup from me. If
  you dont, then I will.
• Van Ottey, Letters Ministry (Nov. 1990) 29.

99
Capital Punishment Out of Whack!

• It seems unbelievable to me that one person
  should be able to decide whether another living
  person shall continue to live or die. To my
  knowledge, our criminal justice system never
  gives the decision on capital punishment to one
  person.
• R. W. OFfill, Letters Ministry (Nov. 1990)
  29.

100
A Call for a Strong Stand on Abortion

• I think that the church should take a strong
  stand against abortion. And I definitely believe
  our hospitals should not be allowed to perform
  abortions. The churchs wishy-washy way of
  dealing with abortions is causing people--in and
  out of the church--to loose respect for the
  church.
• Sarah Endres, Letters Ministry (Feb. 1991)
  2.

101
The Testimony of an Ex-pro-Choice Dr.

• I believe the members of the committee should
  view ultrasonic pictures of a developing human
  being in the womb. It is this scientific
  development that led Dr. Bernard Nathanson, an
  atheist, head of one of the largest abortion
  clinics, to make the following statement I am
  deeply troubled by my own increasing certainty
  that I have in fact presided over 60,000 deaths.
  There is no longer serious doubt in my mind that
  human life exists within the womb from the very
  onset of pregnancy.
• Clifford Laurell, Letters Ministry (Aug.
  1991) 28.

102
Should Mental Health Justify Abortion?

• I call on all SDA pastors and laypersons who
  feel strongly that the slaughter of the innocents
  in our hospitals must end to move as God directs
  them and to petition current church leaders to
  repudiate the liberalized abortion guidelines (as
  amended in 1971), and to reject the Christian
  View of Human life Committees draft statement
  (Ministry, 1990) that would add the pregnancys
  adverse effects on a womans mental health as
  another justification for abortion.
• Kenneth B. Blake, Letters Ministry (Dec.
  1991) 2.

103
Anti-abortion Pickets at a SDA Hospital

• My head hangs in shame before all Christian
  leaders who receive Ministry. Are we not the
  remnant that keep the commandments? Is the sixth
  commandment less important than the fourth? In
  evangelism I have lost at least a dozen souls
  because of this inconsistency. Driving by
  Adventist hospitals and seeing anti-abortion
  picketers brings tears to my eyes. Especially
  sic when the Catholic or Baptist hospital down
  the road is known as a non-murdering
  facility.
• Leo Schreven, Letters Ministry (Dec. 1991)
  27.

104
An Incredible SDA Admission

• Although I do not adhere to Catholic theology,
  I applaud that Catholic churchs stand on
  abortion. I challenge my church leadership to
  abolish administering abortions in all SDA
  facilities--at the very minimum, abortion on
  demand.
• David F. Crawford, Letters Ministry (Dec.
  1991) 27.

105
Should Profit Determine SDA Theology?

• Upon reading the articles by Kis and Gainer, I
  didnt know what to think. Suppose during the
  past hundred years we had handled the fourth
  commandment from an economic standpoint, as we
  appear to be doing with the sixth now, would we
  have a Seventh-day Adventist Church today?
• Jeremiah Florea, Letters Ministry (Dec.
  1991) 27.

106
Are SDAs Sitting on the Fence?

• The Ministry editors middle ground
  approach to abortion reflects the Adventist
  Churchs concept of Christianity--the middle of
  the road, or sitting on the fence--a cowardly
  position that disgraces Christ and makes the
  church saltless in an ever-increasingly evil and
  immoral world.
• William L. Gutel, Letters Ministry (Jan.
  1993) 30.

107
Chapter VI Statistical Analysis
108
The Two Versions of Pro-Abortion

• The proponents of abortion on demand have two
  almost identical versions of their Pro-abortion
  agenda. One is called Pro-abortion, and the other
  Pro-choice.
• Like Mexican enchilada, their main ingredients
  are the same.
• The main difference is that with Pro-choice, you
  embellish the program with the value of human
  life but end with abortion on demand as well.

109
VII. THE TIME OF TROUBLE

• Speculation about a future death decree should
  not make us actively participate in the present
  one. Surely, for the unborn of America, this is
  already a time of trouble such as has never
  been.
• Richard Fredericks, A Biblical Response to
  Abortion Spectrum 19/4 (May 1989) 33.

110
The Experience of a Pro-life Nurse

• After graduation, a nurse learned that not only
  abortions were routinely performed in Adventist
  hospitals, but that most of them were elective
  ones. She had a chance to see the pictures of
  aborted babies and realized that what was being
  dismembered were not unwanted human tissue, but
  rather little hands, feet, heads and torso. She
  learned how one baby that had survived a saline
  abortion and was alive and crying was placed
  inside a sealed bucket to suffocate. She thought
  that this was murder.
• Richard Fredericks, A Biblical Response to
  Abortion Spectrum 19/4 (May 1989) 33.

111
A Woman Who Left the SDA Church

• Fredericks met a woman named Patti McKinney, the
  president of Women Exploited by Abortion (WEBA),
  a pro-life organization with 36,000 members with
  chapters in 30 states. This woman left the SDA
  church because she felt she didnt want to share
  in the guilt associated with the killing of the
  unborn. She had challenged SDAs with the
  following question OK, Adventists, what about
  the sixth commandment? Her question was met with
  apathy.
• Richard Fredericks, A Biblical Response to
  Abortion Spectrum 19/4 (May 1989) 33.

112
The Product of Rape!

• The greatest gospel singer of this century was
  the illegitimate daughter of a 16-year-old poor,
  black girl who was raped.
• Beethovens family background included a deranged
  father, a syphilitic mother, a mentally retarded
  older brother, and a sibling born blind.
• Richard Fredericks, A Biblical Response to
  Abortion Spectrum 19/4 (May 1989) 33.

113
The Story of an Abortion Provider

• A. Edward Allred joined the SDA church at a
  young age. B. He received a Seventh-day Adventist
  education, including an M.D. degree from Loma
  Linda University. C. He owns and operates Family
  Planning Associates, the largest abortion clinic
  chain in California.
• Christopher Zehnder, Edward Allred in the
  Pulpit Los Angeles Lay Catholic Mission (June
  1998).

114
Abortion a Means of Population Control?

• When asked about any guilt feeling for taking the
  life of the unborn, Dr.Allred responded that he
  was providing a needed service to the community
  and that all the moral responsibility for the
  decision to abort was not his but rather that of
  the pregnant women. He expressed his support for
  the practice of abortion on the basis of
  population control.
• Notice that the same explanation, population
  control, was allegedly given by Neal Wilson when
  he was the president of the General Conference of
  Seventh-day Adventists as the reason for the
  pro-choice position of the church on the issue of
  abortion.

115
The Strongest SDA Defense of Abortion

• Perhaps the strongest defense of the practice of
  abortion by a SDA leader was written by John V.
  Stevens, Sr., who was occupying the position of
  Pacific Union Conference Public Affairs/Religious
  Liberty Director at the time of publication of
  his article entitled Abortion Answers and
  Attitudes by the Pacific Union Recorder in 1990.

116
Stevens Defense of Abortion

• The best example is Christ who chose to die in
  order to restore that freedom lost through sin so
  that all can choose to mold their own destiny.
  Christ valued choice over life. . . . Every human
  being, created in the image of God, is endowed
  with a power akin to the Creator--individuality,
  power to think and to do. (Education, page 17)
  This takes place after birth, when the developing
  baby becomes a person.

117
Freedom to Sin or Freedom from Sin?

• God gives humanity the freedom of choice, even
  if it leads to abuse and tragic consequences. His
  unwillingness to coerce human obedience
  necessitated the sacrifice of His Son. He
  requires us to use His gifts in accordance with
  His will and ultimately will judge their misuse.
• Seventh-day Adventist Church. Adventist
  Beliefs/Guidelines Guidelines on Abortion (12
  Oct. 1992).

118
Stevens Mistakes

• The image of God is more than the power to think
  and to do. It is the power to do Gods will.
• B. Jesus died to free us from sin instead of
  restoring our freedom to sin.
• C. If Jesus died to give women the right to kill
  their own children, then perhaps he also died to
  protect our right to rape, steal and murder!

119
Jesus Concern for the Little Ones

• Jesus stated on one occasion Whosoever shall
  offend one of these little ones it is better
  for him that a millstone were hanged about his
  neck, and he were cast into the sea (Mark 942).
  
• If offending a little one is such a serious sin
  against heaven, then how would Jesus have
  described the murder of one of these little ones?
  

120
Harvesting Organs for Research

• The editor of Waymarks published an article
  entitled In China They Are Eating Babies, in
  Loma Linda, They Are Harvesting Organs. It was
  an excerpt from another article published in the
  January 1996 issue of Rutherford, the official
  journal of the Rutherford Institute.
• In China They Are Eating Babies, in Loma
  Linda, They Are Harvesting Organs Pilgrims Rest
  Waymarks ( n.d.) 1-2.

121
Human Organs Procurement

• In America, babies are nod used as food, stated
  the writer, but their organs are used for
  research. This was facilitated by the
  legalization of abortion, which permitted medical
  science to treat unborn babies as products of
  conception, and like most products, the fresher
  the better.
• Ibid.

122
LLU Controversial Experiments

• Some of the most controversial experiments were
  done at the Loma Linda University on the ethical
  premise that decapitated fetuses did not qualify
  for personhood. In 1988 LLU gave up the program
  not for ethical reasons, but rather because the
  transplantation techniques failed.
• Ibid.

123
Chapter VII Statistical Analysis
124
The Two Versions of Pro-Abortion

• The proponents of abortion on demand have two
  almost identical versions of their Pro-abortion
  agenda. One is called Pro-abortion, and the other
  Pro-choice.
• Like Mexican enchilada, their main ingredients
  are the same.
• The main difference is that with Pro-choice, you
  embellish the program with the value of human
  life but end with abortion on demand as well.

125
VIII. THE GREAT BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

• In the case of the Seventh-day Adventist church
  attitude towards abortion, the great battle of
  Armageddon has already been fought by the
  denomination, and the controversial issue has
  been decided in favor of those who sided with the
  pro-choice position. This took place on November
  14-16, 1988 in Loma Linda. It was an uneven
  struggle Four pro-lifers against a majority of
  pro-choice advocates defending the practice of
  abortion.

126
SDA Position Papers on Abortion

• The book, Abortion Ethical Issues Options, is
  a compilation of sixteen essays selected from
  thirty-six presentations made at a conference
  entitled Abortion Ethical Issues and Options
  held November 14-16, 1988 at Loma Linda
  University, under the auspices of the Center for
  Christian Bioethics.
• David Larson. Abortion Ethical Issues
  Options (Loma Linda, California Center For
  Christian Bioethics, 1992), xi.

127
Is it Wise to Imitate Nature?

• Timothy Crosby cited Henri Leridon who estimated
  that 56 percent of all embryos spontaneously
  abort usually due to the presence of some
  abnormality in them, and that anencephalic
  children usually die shortly after birth.
• Comment There is no denying that nature kills
  and destroys, as illustrated by tornados,
  earthquakes, and tsunamis. Should we, therefore,
  imitate nature?
• Larson, Ed.,125 Timothy Crosby , Abortion
  Some Questionable Arguments.

128
Disposing of Non-persons

• Before the first Jews entered the gas chambers,
  the charitable Transport Company for the Sick
  carried 250,000 German citizens deemed unfit to
  live to places where they were given good
  deaths. Among those no longer fit to live were
  World War I veterans who were amputees, the
  incontinent elderly, and Gypsies.
• Larson, Ed.,125 Richard Fredericks, A
  Compassionate and a Christian Quality of Life
  Ethic.

129
The Most Dangerous Time

• The time spent in the mothers womb is now the
  most dangerous time in the entire human lifespan
  . . . Abortion has made medical professionals,
  whose entire orientation was once toward
  preserving life, the nations foremost
  terminators of life.
• Ibid., 125.

130
The Survival of the Fittest

• While the quality of life ethic is totally
  consistent with an evolutionary, atheistic
  survival of the fittest worldview, it is
  antithetical to the spirit of the Gospel. Since
  Eden, God has shown Himself to be redemptive
  through great personal self-sacrifice.
• Ibid., 131.

131
The Example of Jesus Christ

• Jesus sacrificed his own life that others may
  live.
• Those who opt for abortion sacrifice the lives of
  others that they may live--more comfortably.
• There is an alternative for women in crisis. It
  is called adoption.

132
Women Damaged by Abortion

• Fredereicks cited the cases of women who showed
  evidence of psychological damage resulting from
  their decision to opt for an abortion. In one
  case, a girl, who worked in the womens
  residence hall, following a suction abortion,
  vomited uncontrollably every time she turned on a
  vacuum sweeper.
• Ibid., 137.

133
Baby Jessica, Rescued from a Well

• She was no more human, no more valuable, no
  more vulnerable, no more a member of Gods family
  than an unborn child. So where are the rescuers
  of those children when their mothers wish to kill
  them by abortion? Where are the cries of millions
  around the world for them?
• Larson, Ed., 155 Teresa Beem, The Hard
  Cases of Abortion.

134
A victim of a Gang Rape

• I can live with the fact that I have been
  raped, but I could not live in peace if I had
  killed my child. I do not agree with those who
  advocate abortion for rape or incest. One
  violent, cruel act doesnt justify another. Our
  laws do not condemn the rapist to death, so it is
  insane that we would issue a death sentence for
  an innocent baby.
• Ibid., 157.

135
The Baby Who Refused to Die!

• This took place years before abortion became
  legal in the U.S. Kathy was raped. She drank
  poison, jumped off tall haystacks, and punched
  her stomach to no avail. The baby refused to
  die, and was eventually born. She named him
  Patrick.
• Ibid., 160,161.

136
The Product of Rape

• Patrick is now 22, and I Kathy thank God
  abortion was illegal when he was conceived. If it
  had been available, I do not know for certain
  what I would have chosen, but I am glad I did not
  have the option. I pray for the day when it will
  again be outlawed. I guess both Patrick and I are
  classic examples of Gods mercy and grace and
  what He can do in the case of rape. . . . Every
  life is of immensurable value and importance, no
  matter what the circumstance of their sic
  conception.
• Ibid., 160-161.

137
Who Deserves Forgiveness?

• From this experience, Teresa Beem draws the
  following conclusion If Christianity demands
  that we forgive the father, we must also forgive
  the child. We often forget that the child is
  still a part of the mother. The baby may be half
  the rapist, but it is still the mothers flesh
  and blood.
• Ibid., 161.

138
What If the Woman has AIDS?

• When we speak of a womans right to choose we
  are speaking of her right to choose to kill her
  child. If we give her that right before birth,
  why not extend the right to the time immediately
  following birth? Maybe even to three days after
  birth? Why not declare a baby legally alive a few
  days after his or her birth? Then we can give the
  parents a real choice! Since only after birth can
  we test that baby for AIDS or some other grave
  handicap . . . We must not kill people because
  they will soon die.
• Ibid., 162.

139
A Terminal Tuberculosis Case

• A young woman who was dying of tuberculosis asked
  her hospital physician permission to go home for
  Christmas as her last wish. The permission was
  granted, and upon her return to the medical
  institution, her condition took a turn for the
  worse she vomited continuously, and a test
  revealed that she was pregnant. From the medical
  perspective, an abortion seemed to be the best
  alternative, but the woman and her husband
  refused to consent.

140
Saved from Death by her Unborn Baby

• Then the unthinkable happened She began to gain
  weight, and as the baby started to push against
  her diseased lung, the TB advance stopped and
  began to recede. To everybodys amazement, she
  gave birth to a healthy baby and the baby whom
  everyone said would hasten her death actually
  saved her life.
• Ibid. 162.

141
Our God-given Sacred Duty

• Deliver those who are drawn towards death, and
  hold back those who stumble to the slaughter. If
  you say, Surely we did not know this, Does not
  He who weighs the heart consider it? He who keeps
  your soul, does He not know it? And He will
  render to each man according to his deeds.
• Ibid., 167. See Prov. 2411 NKJV.

142
A Frank Admission

• Given the denominations generally conservative
  theology and its extensive health commitment, one
  would guess that the denomination would be
  strongly pro-life yet it is not. The most
  official pronouncement on the subject holds that
  abortion in Adventist hospitals are acceptable
  for such common reasons as maternal health, fetal
  handicap, rape or incest, an early teen pregnancy
  and, most significantly, When for some reason
  the requirements of functional human life demand
  the sacrifice of the lesser potential human
  life.
• Larson, Ed, 173-174 James W. Walters
  Adventist Guidelines on Abortion.

143
The Lesser Evil? For Whom?

• Walters suggested that, given the fallen nature
  of this world, there may still be the rending
  dilemma of choosing between the lesser of two
  evils--an abortion or a major life-disrupting
  birth. An Adventist will often choose the
  latter. Ibid., 183.
• Some Questions for Walters
• How can an abortion be a lesser evil for the
  unborn baby?
• Hasnt he heard about the adoption alternative?
• Can 9 months of inconvenience be worse than the
  death of the womans baby?

144
SDA Churchs Role in Abortion

• According to Sara Karkkainen Terian, the SDA
  church led the way for the legalization of
  abortion with the permissive Abortion Guidelines
  for Adventist Medical Institutions issued in
  1970, which was further liberalized by the church
  a years later--two years before the Roe vs. Wade
  Supreme Court decision.
• Larson, Ed., 205 Sara Karkkainen Terian,
  Communicating Grace The Churchs Role in the
  Abortion Controversy

145
A Theological Aberration

• In the U.S. the frequency of abortion increased
  up to 30 times since the legalization of the
  practice took effect, and it had its effect on
  the Adventist perception of its morality.
• The SDA medical organization has grown into a
  major industry, said Terian, that no longer
  fits theologically. The question of abortion
  crystallizes this conflict.
• Larson, 209.

146
Abortion Darwins Evolution

• Providing abortions can be justified only by a
  complete acceptance of the theory of evolution,
  with both its biological and societal
  implications. When a church begins to merely
  mirror society rather than giving it moral
  guidance or even providing a haven from its
  problems, such a church has lost its primary
  reason for existence, whether as a church or a
  sect.
• Ibid., 215.

147
Ellen G. White slavery

• When the issue of slavery was being debated by
  our SDA pioneers, Ellen G. White placed morality
  above the law and encouraged the church not to
  observe it.
• Ibid., 227.

148
Therapeutic Abortions?

• On May 13, 1970, the General Conference
  officers, in consultation with the General
  Conference Department of Health, adopted what
  were called suggestive guidelines for
  therapeutic abortions performed in Adventist
  hospitals in the United States.
• Question Since when killing is a form of
  therapy? Would abortionists accept this kind of
  therapy for themselves? Abortion is no therapy
  for the baby nor for the mother!
• Ibid., 238 Gerald R. Winslow, Abortion
  Policies in Adventist Hospitals.

149
Chapter VIII Statistical Analysis
150
The Two Versions of Pro-Abortion

• The proponents of abortion on demand have two
  almost identical versions of their Pro-abortion
  agenda. One is called Pro-abortion, and the other
  Pro-choice.
• Like Mexican enchilada, their main ingredients
  are the same.
• The main difference is that with Pro-choice, you
  embellish the program with the value of human
  life but end with abortion on demand as well.

151
IX. THE CALM AFTER THE STORM

• Following the publication of the book edited by
  David Larson, Abortion Ethical Issues Options
  and the official Guidelines on Abortion
  referred to below, an impressive calm ensued
  about the topic of abortion. SDA publishers
  interest in abortion diminished greatly and the
  number of articles published in SDA magazines
  dropped dramatically.

152
Is Human Life Undervalued?

• Another discovery revealed that between 1971 and
  2006 there were 242 articles listed in the SDA
  Periodical Index dealing either directly or
  casually with the word abortion, while a
  similar count for the same period indicated a
  21,342 count for the term Sabbath. This
  discovery seemed to indicate that Adventist talk
  and write about what they consider important.
  Worshipping on the correct day of the week seems
  to be important for SDAs, while the genocide of
  the unborn is not!
• Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index
  Andrews University.

153
A Signal Victory for SDA Liberals

• The liberal forces within the denomination had
  obtained a signal victory for their cause, and
  some of the most valiant defenders of the rights
  of the unborn, feeling outnumbered and outgunned,
  laid their arms and left the SDA church in order
  to fight on behalf of the little ones elsewhere.
  One of them joined the Seventh-day Baptist
  Church others started independent ministries.

154
SDA Guidelines on Abortion

• Prenatal human life is a magnificent gift of
  God. Gods ideal for human beings affirms the
  sanctity of human life, in Gods image, and
  requires respect for prenatal life. However,
  decisions about life must be made in the context
  of a fallen world. Abortion is never and action
  of little moral consequence. Thus prenatal life
  must not be thoughtlessly destroyed. Abortion
  should be performed only for the most serious
  reasons.
• Seventh-day Adventist Church. Adventist
  Beliefs/Guidelines Guidelines on Abortion (12
  October 1992).

155
The Generous Exceptions

• Abortions for reasons of birth control, gender
  selection, or convenience are not condoned by the
  church. Women, at times however, may face
  exceptional circumstances that present serious
  moral or medical dilemmas, such as significant
  threats to the pregnant womans life, serious
  jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects
  carefully diagnosed in the fetus, and pregnancy
  resulting from rape or incest.
• Ibid.

156