Does your wife know you're on the internet sharing her most intimate decisions with all of Philadelphia? I have to say, I'm pretty uncomfortable with proceeding at this point. That's not your story to relate to prove your pov, imo.

Dear John,

That must have been a very difficult experience. Thanks for sharing, and I'm glad the Lord blessed you with a precious daughter. My daughter had two miscarriages, but I'm hopeful of seeing those grandchildren in heaven. Maybe you'll see your other child some day in heaven, too. I hope so. In any case, perhaps you'll allow me to share an experience involving my wife, that daughter who had two miscarriages, her twin brother, and me.

It was one of the most striking examples of God’s care for me, my wife, and my twins. It happened on 12/21/1972. You may learn more about it in The Journal of Reproductive Medicine, Volume 12, Number 3 / March 1974, pp. 117-120. The article is called “Hyperstimulation and Multiple Side-Effects of Menotropin Therapy: A Case Report,” and the authors were Uchenna C. Nwosu, M.D., Stephen L. Corson, M.D. and Ronald J. Bolognese, M.D. They were all connected with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, PennsylvaniaHospital, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania19107. In fact, I have a video of the birth, and you can see Dr. Nwosu in the video. Dr. Corson let me share his locker with him the day the twins were born!

Prudence and I had been married for over six years, but we had no children. Believing that having children was God’s will for us, we sought medical assistance. Prudence, however, became deathly sick, but God’s goodness and mercy was manifested to Prudence, to our infant son, Paul, to our infant daughter, Ruth, and to me—all on that very day!

I had recently accepted a position, serving as pastor of a tiny church. My weekly income from it was $50. I also accepted substitute-teaching opportunities offered by phone to me by the AbingtonSchool District. (I had been a full-time HS teacher with Abington from ’65-’69, and they knew me, etc.)

Prior to 12/21/72, I had never turned down a substitute-teaching opportunity. Had I accepted the offer that came to me on the morning of 12/21/72, however, Prudence, my son, Paul, and my daughter, Ruth, all probably would have died that day!

I don’t think we knew it at the time, but Prudence was about one-month pregnant with twins. On that particular day, my decision not to accept the teaching position, therefore, was extremely critical. I had never previously turned-down such opportunities. How good the Lord was, for I could very well have decided to teach that day. What a huge mercy it was from God, that He enabled me to make the right decision!

In the afternoon, Prudence was walking up to the second flood and threw a huge, ovarian clot to both lungs. I heard her stop—halfway up the stairs. (Had I been teaching in school, I would not have heard her.) Somewhat concerned, I asked, “Are you alright?” She said, “I don’t know.”

Of course, that was all I needed. I went to her immediately. By the time I got to her, she had passed out. I reached my right arm under her knees and grabbed her around the arms and torso with my left and carried her about 8 steps to the living room floor. Her eyes rolled up into her head (I could only see white), and she stiffened out like a board. This was a major crisis for me, but the Lord enabled me to do three things in sequence. First, I elevated her feet. Second, I uttered perhaps my shortest prayer ever (“Lord, help!”) as I moved to the telephone. Finally, I dialed for emergency.

Wow, did the Lord ever answer that prayer! Still lying on the floor with feet elevated, stunned Prudence verbalized a question, “What happened?”, and two ambulance men were at the door in about one minute! That alone, if not a miracle, must be close to a world’s record! The published article (referred to above) reported that Prudence “was admitted in shock.” It continued: “On admission she was cyanotic with a pulse of 130 and no obtainable blood pressure.” If you do not know, cyanotic is the adjective form for cyanosis, and the dictionary describes that as “(a) morbid condition in which the surface of the body becomes blue because of insufficient aeration of the blood.”

The article continued: “An electrocardiogram showed changes compatible with an acute massive pulmonary infarction. After hydration the hemoglobin dropped to 8 gms and two units of blood were given to protect against fetal hypoxia. Lung scans showed bilateral involvement with reduced perfusion worse on the right.” If memory serves us, about 60% of one lung was knocked out-of-commission and about 40% of the other. The Lord gave wisdom to the medics on the way to the hospital, for they gave Prudence, Paul, and Ruth much needed oxygen on the way!

Some time later, Dr. Arthur Lintgen, the Abington attending physician, told my parents that something more than medical science was involved in the survival of Prudence. I believe he was referring to God’s superintending mercy and grace.

As you know, I'm Episcopalian and my views are pretty much in line with the Episcopal Church. The Church is very much in favor of birth control- believing that population control is responsible and essential. While the Church does not like abortion, its position is that it should never, never be made illegal- as this would do more harm than good.

So that's my perspective.

__________________
"I think that anything that begins to give people a sense of their own worth and dignity is God."
John Shelby Spong

Congrats Phils 2008 World Champs!

That's my perspective too.

Here's another major consideration that I don't think has been mentioned yet:

This is a reasonable and ethical position. I don't know what to make of the too-personal revelations in this thread except to say that the grey areas mentioned are evidence for why it must remain legal. If you had to prove that the mother would die in court in order to terminate she might be dead before any lawyer could prove it. It's something that the state must keep legal and that individuals must consider in spiritual terms when deciding whether to exercise that personal right to choice, which I think very few people do lightly. Working to make life easier for single mothers and adoptive parents (including single parents, who are currently blocked from adoption of healthy younger children, unless they are celebrities, even they are well equipped to provide for a child on a normal level comparable to a two-parent home) is the best place to direct energy if abortion disturbs you.

My sister is also an Episcopalian. I asked her about this, and she responded: "I'm in line with with this group: Anglicans for Life, a pro-life organization of the Episcopal Church, is internationally associated with the Anglican Communion. Anglicans for Life promotes the right to life position in debates on the issues of abortion, assisted suicide, elderly care, cloning and embryonic stem cell research."

I am completely pro choice, I don't think it's anyone elses business, I don't think it's "murder" and I'm very tired of it being used as an emotional issue to rally the troops by politicians. Keep it safe and legal and move on to another topic that may be your business to discuss.

IOW, it would have been fine with you if your mother had decided to abort you at 8.5 months.

IOW, it's fine if your mom is a crack ho and sh*ts out welfare babies every 9 months on the clock.

__________________
WHYY pays their CEO $750,000 a year. So WHYY should I renew my membership? Seems they have no problems finding money and spending it unwisely.


And this is why you should donate to PACCA, not PETA:

In September, PETA made headlines in Vermont and across the nation for asking Ben & Jerry's ice cream to use human breast milk in their ice cream, instead of cow milk

This is why God says you should get an abortion if you need one:

http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=pblhjVgkGjM

__________________
WHYY pays their CEO $750,000 a year. So WHYY should I renew my membership? Seems they have no problems finding money and spending it unwisely.


And this is why you should donate to PACCA, not PETA:

In September, PETA made headlines in Vermont and across the nation for asking Ben & Jerry's ice cream to use human breast milk in their ice cream, instead of cow milk