The Mustard Seed
January 2011
"Ask Pastor"
by Pastor Ron Friedrich
christdeaf@verizon.net
"What if the 'handicap' is deafness?"
Once during our Life Sunday commemoration of the January 22, 1973, Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion-on-demand, Edith approached me and said, "I agree that abortion is wrong, except when the baby is handicapped."
The irony of that statement coming from a Deaf person struck me. So I asked her, "What if the 'handicap' is deafness?"
"Of course not!" Edith answered, giving me a look that hinted that she thought I had lost my mind.
I told Edith about a lawsuit that, at that time, was working its way through the California State courts. The family of 9-year old Joy Turpin sued their doctor for "wrongful life" because he failed to diagnose a genetic condition which caused Joy to be deaf like her older sister. One legal analyst says, "In a wrongful life suit, the child claims that his very life is an injury." The attorney filed the suit in Joy's name, which said in effect, "Because I am deaf, I should never have been conceived."
Edith was shocked. As many victims in the Holocaust discovered long ago, once you begin labeling people as defective, undesirable, and expendable, there is nothing to prevent those labels from sticking to you.
What eventually became of Joy Turpin? At the age of 27 she won the title of Miss Deaf North Carolina and she went on to represent NC in the Miss Deaf America Pageant. Today at the age of 41, Joy is living proof that the lawsuit that was filed on her behalf was wrong in more ways than one.
As a pastor I am sensitive to the difficulty young single pregnant women face in a society that conditions them to believe that abortion is their only option. And when I counsel with those who have chosen abortion, I am acutely aware of the pain and regret they carry for having made that decision.
This issue hits close to home for me. Several years ago, a 15-year old girl named Mary became pregnant by a 25-year old friend. If they had lived in later times without strong family support, Mary would certainly have been pressured to have an abortion, and I wouldn't be here. Fifteen-year old Mary was my grandmother, and the baby in her womb was my mother.
~~Pastor Ron
Do
you have a question about the Bible,
or about teachings & practices of the church?
Email me at: christdeaf@verizon.net