The womb also belongs to the child

(This article was sent to the Forum on December 28, 2004 and published shortly thereafter under the above headline as a letter to the editor. It is being reprinted as the 35 anniversary of Roe v. Wade approaches, the Supreme Court's decision legalizing abortion.)

Fetus at 8 weeks attached to the lining of the womb

The following is an interesting perspective that has application to abortion and women's rights.

In Job (3.10), Job bewails the day he was born and wishes it blotted out "Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes." [King James translation.] The Hebrew, however, does not say "my mother's womb," but simply "beteni," meaning "my womb."

Scientifically and logically, the term "my womb," when referring to a fetus, is correct. When the embryo divides, it attaches to the inside lining of the womb, creating the umbilical cord, its lifeline. But now the womb is its womb, the baby's womb, not just the mother's womb. It is community property, and for the contents or occupants of this house to be removed, both owners should have to consent to it. Thus, when a woman takes on the responsibility of having sex, she loses the exclusive right to the womb, for she is allowing another person to move in and have possession of it for shelter, food and life.

Roe v. Wade gets around this by simply saying that the new inhabitant is not a person, not a human being, and thus has no rights and can be exterminated. It has merely the status equal to that of a pest. The mother can even poison the food of the womb's new tenant, the fetus, by drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, and have no legal liability, because of the inhabitant's non-person status. You can kill rats and poison them, right?

Even the father can not defend the rights of the new inhabitant, because the fetus is legally not a person and has no legal status. It is logically odd, however, that this non-human fetus in utero becomes a human at birth. Of course, it does not follow that an animal pest can become a human. A human being at birth comes from a human being in utero.

The reason that we have the tortured reasoning in Roe v. Wade is because we as a society have elevated the right of sex above the right to life, with a woman's right in this case the only right. She as the mother has the exclusive power of death or life in her hands concerning the fetus and no one else. The rights of the father do no count, nor the fetus.

This one sided view would change if the logically sound Biblical perspective were held today of the womb being the child's womb, as well as the mother's. And if that view were adopted, abortion would be murder.

James Horsley
Moorhead

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Scientists Produce Embryonic
Stem Cells from Skin

by Joe Palca, from All Things Considered, National Public Radio, November 20, 2007

Two teams of scientists have independently discovered a way to turn ordinary human skin cells into stem cells with the same characteristics as those derived from human embryos, a breakthrough that could open the door for advanced medical therapies.

If the work holds true to its promise, it would largely bypass ethical issues that have dogged research on human embryonic stem cells. It could also allow scientists to tailor the cells to specific individuals, eliminating the possibility of rejection.

The crux of the discovery, published online Tuesday by the journals Cell and Science, is a "direct reprogramming" technique that adds a cocktail of four genetic factors to run-of-the-mill human skin cells. The Cell paper is from a team led by Dr. Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University; the Science paper is from a team led by Junying Yu, working in the lab of stem-cell pioneer James Thomson of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The discovery builds on work presented in 2006 by Yamanaka in which the same technique was demonstrated for skin cells from mice. The two teams have been able to isolate cells that look and behave like embryonic stem cells. The researchers caution that there are still many steps to take before the cells are useful for human therapies.

Yamanaka said he knew that the real payoff would be if his work on mouse cells could be translated to human cells.

"We started working on human cells more than a year ago, but in the beginning, the four factors didn't work," he told NPR. He said it was unclear whether the cells he produced from skin were identical to embryonic stem cells, but "all I can say is they are very similar."

While Yamanaka was working on mice to find the critical factors for transforming skin cells to embryonic stem cells, Thomson was already working on human cells. His team also reports four factors that can transform skin cells, but two of them are different from those Yamanaka found.

"It does seem that there are multiple paths to the same outcome," Thomson said. "How divergent those paths are remains to seen." Thomson, 48, made headlines in 1998 when he announced that his team had isolated human embryonic stem cells.

Since then, the research has pitted groups that question the ethics of harvesting stem cells from human embryos against those that hope the line of research could result in important medical breakthroughs. The latest announcement from the Japanese and American teams could skirt the controversy.

It changes everything

"It changes everything in that these are not cells derived from embryos anymore," Thomson told NPR. But "we are back at the starting point now. These biologically ... appear to be the same as embryonic stem cells, and we still have to figure out how to differentiate them into useful things."

The whole idea of stem-cell based therapies is that the stem cells could be used to replace or repair cells damaged or destroyed by disease or injury, such as new heart cells for people who have had heart attacks or new neurons for patients with Alzheimer's disease. "This is a huge deal," said Jose Cibelli, a researcher at Michigan State University.

"Anybody can do this procedure. It's a very simple recipe," he said. "A combination of three or four genes, and in a couple of weeks, you go from a skin cell to an embryonic stem cell. It's remarkable."

Science catching up to ethics

"Once again science is catching up to ethics, proving that the moral way is the most sound, scientific choice. This breakthrough allows scientists to further their research and continue to develop medical advances while still honoring the sanctity of life," said Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America. "Policymakers can safely abandon the politically-charged demand to fund the destruction of embryos to find stem cell solutions." On learning of the breakthrough, President George Bush said he was pleased to learn that scientists have reprogrammed skin cells into stem cells "within ethical boundaries."

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Thank you, our pro-life friends
for your 40-day prayer vigil

We live in a world where youth often become pre-occupied with "self," thinking they are entitled to everything and continuously being instantly gratified. No wonder schools are bombarded with a different culture of problems-from the gap of sexuality to drugs. The TV, videos, movies and music all enhance this self-indulged society. As science advances we now are looking at taking a woman's eggs and freezing them. The purpose of this is so she can beat the biological clock, thus delaying the child bearing years till later so it does not interfere with her career plans. So we will be having women bearing children at a much later phase in life. Again, all to convenience a material world.

What's next? The good news is that in the Fargo-Moorhead area there has been a remarkable turn out for 40 Days for Life at the Abortion mill. In spite of a world self indulged you see the beauty of the human spirit surface and prevail. God's love offers help for all. As we look towards a political year filled with liberal philosophies there are those who would continue to fight for life no matter what the political outcome. Now more than ever you will have to be a soldier of Christ. That's what I have seen in the fellowship and dedication to 40 Days for Life by those who continue to share their time and talent for what is morally right.

Yours for LIFE,

Nancy Marsden, Executive Director

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Pro-life essays slated for 35th
anniversary of Roe v. Wade

On Sunday, January 20, 2008, churches and organizations throughout the country will be observing the 35th Anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court Ruling to legalize abortion in the United States. In honor of life, the Fargo-Moorhead LIFE Coalition will be sponsoring their annual Sanctity of Human Life gathering on Sunday, January 20th from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. at the Civic Memorial Auditorium at 207 N 4th St. in Fargo.

This year, students from various schools within the community will read their essays that answer the question, "How does allowing abortion affect a nation's moral principles?" We encourage you and your church members and friends to join us for this commemorative event.

Please contact Nancy Marsden, LIFE Coalition executive director, at 701-237-5062 or lifecoalition@qwest.net if you have any questions.