Guest Editorial
March/April, 1984
Volume 19, Number 2
Abortion on demand It is one of the most emotionally debated issues of our time. In the Roe v. Wade decision of January 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that state laws prohibiting abortion were unconstitutional. Since the flood-gates have now been opened, the number of abortions performed annually is staggering. Worldwide, more than 55,000,000 abortions are performed annually. This is approximately one-fourth of all pregnancies. Here in the United States, the National Center for Health Statistics has estimated that there are about 1,250,000 abortions performed every year, and the number is growing.
These of course are cold, hard, impersonal statistics. But behind the statistics are real people — people who are confused, distressed, alarmed, brokenhearted, shattered and guilt-ridden. For centuries, Christians in general have regarded human life and the quality of a person’s life, as something unique — as something to be protected and loved — because human life is a gift of God and is created in the image of God. We all know from the Creation account that Adam was formed out of the dust of the ground, and that God breathed into his nostrils the “breath of life,” and Adam became a living soul. Christendom as a whole has commonly referred to this foundational principle as the sanctity of human life.
Human life is a deep and wonderful mystery. Each cell that forms the various parts of our bodies has within it secrets which all the intelligence in the world can’t unlock. In awe and wonderment, the Psalmist wrote: “You (God) were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! You saw me before I was born, and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your Book!” (Psalm 139:15-16 L.B.).
In many parts of the world today, the term “life is cheap” could certainly be applied. Yet this same low view of life has permeated the most advanced of cultures — including our own! When one considers the 1,250,000 babies who are aborted annually in this country, we can hardly say as a nation that we have maintained a high view of life.
This “life is cheap” philosophy has come into play because society as a whole no longer bases its belief on a thoroughly Christian foundation, but rather on one that dethrones an omniscient, all-knowing God. When God’s ultimate supremacy and omniscience are challenged, there is then no adequate basis for treating people as unique, special persons to be respected and loved. Thus, by reasoning and logic, many in our day determine whether life should be preserved or destroyed. There are those who say, “i want to choose whether or not this embryo or fetus is going to live or die. That’s my choice, and no one else’s.”
Those of us who take a high view of the Scriptures, maintain that God is the Author of life. And because He gives life, He alone has the prerogative to take it. We have affirmed with Job that “the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away” (Job 1:21).
In the article which follows, Dr. Robert White graphically describes his first-hand experiences of observing the tragedies of abortion. May each of us be challenged by Dr. White’s account, and say with the Psalmist, “My times are in thy hands” (Psalm 31:15).
The Death Doctors
by Robert B. White, M.D.
For a long time I have tried to begin to write, searching for the proper phrasing, wondering as to the wisdom of public disclosure, weighing the risk of open conflict against the tension of a serene but haunting silence. I begin very simply, therefore, by saying that I made a trip to two abortion facilities, one in Wisconsin and one in Michigan. I spent a day at each, after careful preparations for the visits were made. I told them, “Yes, I am an active pro-life physician, but I want to learn; I want to know.” You see, I was trained in a medical era when induced abortion was a criminal act, and I never saw one. Now, almost daily I see women whom I refer for legal abortions, and I need facts. “Fine,” they said, “please come; we’ll show you all.”
I was met by courteous personnel at the airport and greeted by doctors and nurses with kindness and respect. And I saw all. I was impressed by glistening floors, plush carpeting, comfortable furnishings, modern equipment, immaculate nurses, medical efficiency, sterile instruments and procedures, and the concern (even tenderness) with which women were treated who passed through these fast closing doors. Certainly no “back-alley” abortions here, I thought, and I was momentarily comforted.
I sat in the waiting rooms to get a feel for what was happening. I listened to the counseling that was given to the women. I observed the nurse’s interview and medical work-up. I stood beside the doctor and observed closely every detail of the abortion procedure. I sat with women in the recovery room and then saw them discharged. I went through all this six times. It really wasn’t all that bad. It is a routine that can be quickly learned — simple, effective. But let me back up to details.
The uterus does not yield its contents easily. The suction tube is a little smaller than a garden hose. It is inserted under anesthesia into the previously opened uterus. The suction machine is turned on and the force is considerable — 30 times more forceful than a vacuum cleaner. Even then, rotary movements of the tubs with full suction force are required for thirty to sixty seconds before the developing body is torn loose and evacuated into the receiving jar with an accompanying ripping and gushing sound that is audible above the constant, rather loud whir of the machine.
At one point I asked if I could examine the gross specimen. “Oh, that is done by one of our technicians.” “I know, but could I see it, please?” “Yes, of course, but are you sure you wish to?” “Yes, I’m sure.” With gloved hand, I felt the bony parts, the legs, the arms, the skull. Less recognizable were the internal organs, but they were there. It was all there, the mangled remains of one human life.
The doctor did ask one woman, just before beginning, if she felt comfortable about what was soon to be done. Her answer was disturbing: “Well, I’ve thought about it a lot; but you know it’s legal and so many of my friends have had one; it can’t be all that wrong, can it?” “I understand. I think you’re doing the right thing,” was his reply.
I spent some time in the recovery room where as many as six women would be waiting on comfortable cots for an hour or so before discharge. I sat beside them. I looked deeply into their eyes. I tried to discern their thoughts, but couldn’t. There were tears in the corners of a few eyes, but for the most part, just blank and expressionless faces. There were no words. But to me the non-verbal vibes were heavy and powerful, like nuclear waste.
During one day, six women came in who were too far along for suction abortion. Ultrasonograms were done to determine exactly how old the baby was in each case — the oldest was 24 weeks. These all entered a nearby hospital where the same doctor would abort them by a salting-out procedure. This is a trickier technique requiring 12 to 24 hours of hospitalization.
I asked the doctors how they had gotten into this. They were all expert, Board-certified obstetrician-gynecologists. One said he had begun a few years ago doing four or five a month. “And how many are you doing now?” “About 100 a month.” “And what about the rest of your obstetrical practice)” “I now do only one day per week of other gynecological procedures.” I asked a second doctor the same questions.
“I started three years ago doing four or five per month.” “And how many are you doing now?” “Two hundred per month.” “And what about the rest of your gynecology practice?” “Abortions are all that I do now.”
I sank into my seat on the plane that would bring me home. I purposely sat in the smoking section, in the last row, closest to the engine noise. I don’t smoke, but for once I needed that bluish stuff along with the noise, to insulate me from the real world. I needed transition time back to family, my own office, my own examining rooms, stethoscopes, patients, and familiar surroundings.
What had first escaped me during those two days came crashing suddenly into my consciousness. I had almost overlooked the incredible atmosphere of sadness of all that I had seen and felt and heard. And in the midst of it all, those medical people had slowly and subtly fallen victim to an irrational logic, leading them to sincerely believe they were doing the world a much-needed service.
I recalled in vivid detail my handling of freshly killed, tiny human beings. And then I thought back to my first training in human anatomy some twenty-eight years earlier. I, along with a beloved classmate, had fully dissected a human cadaver. We did it meticulously, methodically, but with awe born out of reverence for life instilled by mentors who made it clear that we were privy to the wonders and complexities of the human organism. We were to be healers and protectors of human lives entrusted to our care.
Have we now lost our way? To be sure, we have witnessed some near medical miracles, and I along with others, have not only given, but have been the recipient of this care which has dramatically improved the quality of life. From whence then did this monstrous absurdity derive that we could also be party to the violent destruction of over 1,000,000 tiny human beings every year in the United States of America alone? For the first time in my life I experienced a sense of shame for being a part of a profession which wittingly or unwittingly, court or no court, free choice or no free choice, finds itself the sole segment of society which can both heal and kill, and do so legally.
I was jarred to reality by the slightly bumpy touchdown of the airplane on to the snow-covered runway. As I descended the ramp steps, an old biblical statement flashed from memory to conscious thought: “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14: 12). I was now sure that description was an accurate account of what I had experienced for two days.
I am home now. I have learned the facts. And with this knowledge has come the growing conviction that I must lovingly, but vigorously, fight to my last breath this hideous evil which like a tidal flood has left us morally awash.
Reprinted by permission from the Christian Medical Society Journal, Fall, 1981. The Christian Medical Society is a fellowship of Christian physicians and dentists representing Jesus Christ in and through medicine and dentistry.
The Church of the Brethren needs a strong statement opposing the practice of abortion. We have strongly affirmed peacemaking, and we must strongly affirm the rights of the unborn child. We look with horror (and rightly so) at the prospect of nuclear war. We pray that our children and our children’s children will never be dismembered, blown apart, incinerated, or exposed to chemical warfare. Yet more than a million unborn each year (in the USA) are dismembered, blown apart, or subjected to chemical warfare through abortion. As a denomination and as individuals, we must.
