Roundup Record Tribune & Winnett Times -

Decision Based on Facts

It shouldn’t have shocked me, but for some reason it did. A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from the Montana Family Foundation concerning a proposed Montana ballot initiative. This initiative will make abortion a Montana Constitutional right. I started to write this column then, but I was so emotional that I couldn't focus enough to write, so I decided to wait until now. The Montana Supreme Court set the stage by ruling that ballot issue #14, which now has become "Constitutional Initiative 128," would make abortion a constitutional right, and it can now proceed to the signature process. It will take over 60,000 signatures throughout the state to put CI-128 on the ballot for this November. Signature gathering has already begun throughout the state. I know this is controversial, but I ask you not to sign this petition!

I would generally give you a Biblical reason, and there are several. Still, today, I will provide you with an argument from the natural, logical realm. I first heard of this through a ministry in Billings called LaVie, which ministers to women who do not feel they can, for various reasons, bring a baby into this world. The reality is that there are other, and I would say better, options in this situation. This argument was presented several years ago by a guest speaker at their banquet, Scott Kluesendorf. Mr. Kluesendorf presented through his acrostic, S.L.E.D. principle. You might help think through this topic in a way you may never have before. We don’t always think things through, and sometimes we don’t ask the right questions. Often, our thinking can, by our situations, be obscured and emotional. Most people believe that it is wrong to kill an innocent human being. So the question would be, “Is the unborn a member of the human family?” Think through this with me.

S – Size: Size does not equal value. Men are generally larger than women, but that doesn’t mean they have more rights. An NBA center, which in most cases is very big, is no more human than someone of average height. We could go on, but the point is that an unborn baby, generally smaller than a born baby, has no bearing on their personhood.

L - Level of Development: Think of a young child or an 80-year-old suffering from dementia. Are they less of a human being than you or me? Is a high school student less of a human being than a college student even though they are less developed?

E. – Environment: Did you stop being yourself when you went to work today? How about when you walk from your bedroom to the kitchen? Where you are has no bearing on who you are. Then how can a journey of about eight inches down the birth canal suddenly change the essential nature of the unborn from non-human to human?

D. – Degree of Dependency: An unborn baby is undeniably dependent upon their mother, but does that make them less human? People depend on other people to live all the time. A born baby must have someone to take care of them, or they will die. Not too long ago, we had a formula crisis, and in some places, mothers had to nurse their babies when they weren't planning on it. The baby's nourishment came directly from the mother as it did in the womb. Many people depend on medicine and doctors to live, but are they less human?

There was a time when I wasn't very sure what I thought about abortion. Some things made sense to me so that it might be okay. Then, one day, I saw a picture of an ultrasound of a baby in its mother's womb. That is all it took for me. Immediately, I said, "That is a baby, a real human being.” We do not have the right to take that baby’s life.

If you are in a situation where you are considering an abortion, please call LaVie at 406-652-4868 to find better alternatives. I pray that you have come to the same conclusion that I have come to. Again, I ask you, “Do not sign the petition to put this on the ballot.”

Pastor Lynn Rettig

Musselshell Community Bible Church