A Christian Doctor explains why he performs abortions.

[Witsec7]

Q. Why did you change your outlook on abortion?

A. I wrestled with the morality of it. I grew up in the South and in fundamentalist Protestantism, I was taught that abortion is wrong.

Yet as I pursued my career as an OB/GYN, I saw the dilemmas that women found themselves in. And I could no longer weigh the life of a pre-viable or lethally flawed fetus equally with the life of the woman sitting before me.

In listening to a sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King, I came to a deeper understanding of my spirituality, which places a higher value on compassion. King said what made the good Samaritan “good†is that instead of focusing on would happen to him by stopping to help the traveler, he was more concerned about what would happen to the traveler if he didn’t stop to help.

I became more concerned about what would happen to these women if I, as an obstetrician, did not help them.

Read the rest of Huffpo's Q and A with Dr. Parker here:

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2 ... aign=ppact

[Glass Cowcatcher]

Bravo!

...I hope his insurance covers firebombing...

[doggie]

Man A human christian. hard to believe sometimes.

[Markie]

Kudos to this doctor. Yes. There can be "human" Christians, just like any other religious group. There can also be "inhuman" Christians, as well as atheists.

[treemom]

This article is good because it discusses some of the things I always bring up. Which is only 11% of providers offer late term abortions.

[bananacat]

I don't like the way the article frames "Christian abortion doctor" as some weird anomaly. Most doctors in the United States are Christian, because most people here are Christian. The rate hovers around 70-75%. A Christian doctor providing abortions is just a plain old doctor providing abortions. And being anti-abortion is not the default Christian viewpoint. I have to blame the fundies for this one for trying to use the term "Christian" just for themselves but not for the all the other Christians.

[Esteleth]

The value of him being up-front about his faith is that it snatches that weapon away from the anti-choicers. By attacking their rhetoric and poking holes in their bullshit arguments - including the religious ones, he's challenging the idea that to be a devout Christian you must be anti-abortion.

Oh, and he's probably giving the women he's helping more comfort by allowing those who want it to find peace with God.

[emmiedahl]

He does a good job of emphasizing that these are real people in difficult situations. Women in perfect situations rarely need abortions. It is often the most at-risk and least-advantaged who could potentially have their lives destroyed by an unplanned pregnancy.

[Lady]

Actually there is a biblical argument to be made that life begins at birth, not conception as we are so commonly told.

"Then the Lord God formed a man[a] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Genesis 2:7 NIV

"This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ’â€Ezekiel 37:5-6 NIV.

There are more references to life beginning at first breath but two is enough to prove my point. One can be a Christian in the sense of following the bible and preform abortions.

[bananacat]

Lady, as I said before, there are tons of pro-choice Christians. Most people in the US are Christian, and most women who have had abortions are Christians. It's the fundies who try to claim that only their brand of Christianity counts, and we play into their game when we act like "Christian" usually only applies to conservative Christians. A Christian doctor who performs abortions is completely unremarkable. A Christian woman who gets an abortion is completely unremarkable. And as we all know, fundies don't care at all what the Bible actually says when it comes to anything, yet they are the first to insist that they are the only real, true Christians.

[Lady]

Lady, as I said before, there are tons of pro-choice Christians. Most people in the US are Christian, and most women who have had abortions are Christians. It's the fundies who try to claim that only their brand of Christianity counts, and we play into their game when we act like "Christian" usually only applies to conservative Christians. A Christian doctor who performs abortions is completely unremarkable. A Christian woman who gets an abortion is completely unremarkable. And as we all know, fundies don't care at all what the Bible actually says when it comes to anything, yet they are the first to insist that they are the only real, true Christians.

bananacat, I agree with what you are saying and I understand the truth of it. I am simply saying when people quote the bible to support their pro-life stance there's another side to the coin. As someone who left the church and returned I was afraid my convictions about gays and abortion and my other liberal beliefs would clash with my Christian beliefs. I wanted to return to the safety and comfort of religion but I was not willing to give up my other deeply held beliefs. Imagine my surprise when I actually read the bible for myself and my beliefs were supported, unlike what had always been quoted at me.

[Minerva]

I don't like the way the article frames "Christian abortion doctor" as some weird anomaly. Most doctors in the United States are Christian, because most people here are Christian. The rate hovers around 70-75%. A Christian doctor providing abortions is just a plain old doctor providing abortions. And being anti-abortion is not the default Christian viewpoint. I have to blame the fundies for this one for trying to use the term "Christian" just for themselves but not for the all the other Christians.

This. So much. I have no doubt most American abortion providers are Christian.

Actually there is a biblical argument to be made that life begins at birth, not conception as we are so commonly told.

"Then the Lord God formed a man[a] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." Genesis 2:7 NIV

"This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord. ’â€Ezekiel 37:5-6 NIV.

There are more references to life beginning at first breath but two is enough to prove my point. One can be a Christian in the sense of following the bible and preform abortions.

My favourite supposedly "pro-life" verses are the ones that essentially say "God formed you in the womb". As far as I understand, there are two ways they could be considered anti-abortion:

1. They're being used to justify lifepersonhood beginning at conception. You became you at conception. Except fertilization never happens in a womb. It either happens in a petri dish or a fallopian tube.

2. They're being used to point out that fetal development happens in the womb. Perhaps in response to the pro-choice non-argument that fetuses are shapeless lumps until they exit the vagina? Well, no one actually believes that. Except when it comes to neurological development (where anti-choice people decide modern science doesn't apply), anti and pro-choice folks are usually going on the same scientific facts. Except for those 12 year olds on the internet and equally educated adults in front of clinics who try to tell you your 7 week fetus is 4 inches long and has toes. But I digress. So either that, or it's arguing that you became you in the womb. Well that's generally the pro-choice stance, I'm afraid.

If anti-choice people were serious about making sense, they'd leave those quotes out of their repertoire. But we all know they just spew everything vaguely womb/fetus-related in order to take up space and hide the fact that they don't have a leg to stand on.