Aborted Thought

A. So, let’s get this straight; you say that abortions should be banned completely; no abortions, whatever the reason for the pregnancy?

B. Yes, that’s right. I’m pro-life.

A. Ok, but if the woman is raped or worse, gang-raped?

B. She can give the baby up for adoption.

A. So nine months of discomfort, a possible extremely long and painful labor and then the psychological guilt of giving up a baby that she didn’t want. Also, nine months of psychological torture by being constantly reminded of the horrific and degrading act perpetrated on her.

B. God tests us in His own way.

A. And what if tests show abnormalities with the foetus; that the baby will be born blind, severely deformed and mentally retarded? Who would adopt such a baby; you?

B. Well, I have kids already

A. What if that raped mother already has kids? And she’s a single mom, working two jobs to make ends meet. No-one will adopt it; she can’t afford the specialist care it needs, Who pays; the state?

B. No…look, aborting a child is wrong. It’s murder. You’re killing the baby. How can you support that?

A. I don’t support it but I support the woman’s right to choose.

B. But that is supporting the death of a baby.

A. Define ‘death’.

B. ‘Death’? It’s when life ends.

A. You believe in the soul, don’t you?

B. Yes, of course. I’m a Christian.

A. Well, death is when the soul leaves the body…it gives up the ghost, as Shakespeare put it. It can be for any number of reasons or causes, but the result is the same; the soul leaves the body.

B. Agreed.

A. So life, or birth is when the soul enters the body, right?

B. Yes, ok.

A. And when exactly does the soul enter the body?

B. Errm, at…at conception.

A. Hmm, so when that little sperm has rumpy-pumpy with that little egg, that’s when the soul enters the body?

B. Well, I don’t know for sure.

A. That’s the point though; just when does the soul enter the body? If it does so at the time of birth, then an abortion is not killing the baby as there is no baby to kill, just an empty foetus.

B. Ah, but the foetus moves; it kicks.

A. True, but a plant reacts to external stimuli; does a plant have a soul?

B. I don’t…no…but what if it does enter at the time of conception? That means an abortion is killing that baby…or foetus.

A. Yes, that’s true but why would a soul choose to enter the body at the time of conception?

B. To experience what it’s like, I guess.

A. Being a baby must be pretty boring so being a foetus must be like watching endless re-runs of Mexican soap operas.

B. So when does the soul enter the body, cleverclogs?

A. I think that the soul chooses when, so it could be during the pregnancy or at the time of birth.

B.Ah, but if you don’t know for sure, then an abortion is wrong?

A. Look, when a foetus is aborted, then the physical body dies, ok? But what happens to the soul?

B. The soul lives on forever.

A. Define ‘forever’.

B. With no end.

A. Ah, now that’s where most people get it wrong; there’s no ‘rest of eternity’ because that’s only half the meaning. ‘Forever’ or ‘eternity’ means no end AND no beginning. It says in the Bible that life is eternal, so the soul always has lived and always will live. You can’t kill a soul. Therefore, if a foetus is aborted, why can’t the soul that was going to inhabit that body simply wait until another one becomes available?

B. Errrm…you are talking about reincarnation…

A. I’m talking about the eternity of the soul, which you agrees is indeed eternal, yes or no?

B. Yes.

A. So your version of events is that a soul always has existed, doing whatever it does on the Other Side and then ping! One day it pops into a body where it spends anything from a few minutes to a hundred-odd years – and even 10 billion years is a mere blip compared to eternity – then it pops out of that body and spends the forever doing what? Surely something as important as an everlasting soul must have a purpose; a reason for existing.

B. We will learn that purpose when we die.

A. If you believe in Heaven then you must believe in Hell, right?

B. Yes, and you’ll be going there if you don’t repent of your sins.

A. So, a soul that does not repent its sins before leaving the body is condemned to everlasting torment by an all.loving, forgiving and merciful God? Doesn’t seem very loving, forgiving and merciful.

B. God moves in mysterious ways.

A. You mean, like a mime artist or John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever? Aren’t you just saying that God does some pretty dumb and incomprehensible things?

B. Who are you to question His Works?

A. Supposedly He created me so why shouldn’t I question the works of my creator? Let’s get back to the point here; if a foetus is aborted, does the soul that inhabits it or was going to inhabit it not have another opportunity of life in a physical body?

B. (Sigh) I…I don’t know.

A. Then you are condeming abortions out of ignorance.