The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 35, Ed. 1, Friday, January 26, 1990 Page: 3 of 8
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Friday January 26 1990
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ABORTION IN AMERICA :
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Problem
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Many of the 500 or more
people who gathered in
front of the Taylor
County Courthouse tor a candle-
light vigil Monday night were pro-
testing a law. They were assembled
to mark the 17th anniversary of the
Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court
decision that legalized abortion on
demand and they wanted to see
that decision overturned.
But abortion is not a political
issue for Dr. Leonard Allen one of
the organizers of the vigil. For him
abortion is an issue of the heart.
He believes the real problem
behind abortion lies in the hearts
and minds of the American people
and he said the bottom line is that
"we've gone too far."
"My hope is that at least the
abortion freefor-all can be cut
back in some way" Allen said.
"Right now it really is a free-for-all
and abortion has become ac-
ceptable." Allen associate professor of Bi-
ble credits the problem to a
change in what he calls the ethos
of the American people. Seventeen
years ago he said Americans
would not have accepted the
.heedless killing of 1 .6 million un-
born babies a year.
' "When Roe vs. Wade was first
passed women gained the right to
have abortions yet abortion was
always considered as a last choice
and a tragic option" he said. "But
after 17 years of completely legal
abortion the idea of it being a
tragic choice has been forgotten.
We've gone too far."
One of Allen's complaints is that
people try to mask the reality of
abortion by using euphemisms for
fetus.
"People dehumanize the fetus by
referring to it in terms like P.O.C.
product of conception" he said.
"And if you can remove the
human reality of a heart beating in
that little tiny child then aborting
it becomes like the removal of a
wart or some kind of benign
tumor
"If you can remove the
human reality of a heart
beating in that little tiny
child then aborting it
becomes like the removal
of a wart or some kind of
benign tumor."
Allen believes only a profound
change in American ethics could
make abortion so generally accept-
able. He quotes a line from the
Christian writer Wiliam May that
he finds particularly arresting and
applicable to the current abortion
ethics. "This generation is
oriented to itself with a
vengeance" said May. "Abortion
protects it at one end and a
discard pile for the aged protects it
from inconvenience at the other."
Allen also believes abortion is of-
ten used to protect people from in-
convenience. "The sacrifice of ac-
cepting children into the world
with all the burdens that come
with them cannot be accepted by
some people" Allen said.
The ACU Bible professor as
president of the board of the
Pregnancy Counseling Service of
Abilene has taken on the respon-
sibility of trying to get women to
accept these burdens. The service
is a crisis pregnancy counseling
center near downtown that offers a
free pregnancy test to any woman
who wants one which is the main
draw of the clinic according to
Allen. It also offers maternity
clothes and counseling to pregnant
women.
"Our basic purpose is to educate
women about pregnancy and'abor-
tion" Allen said. "If someone
comes in seeking an abortion vc
try to change her mind and if she
will keep her baby we try to help
her find an adoption agency. If a
woman comes for a test and she is
not pregnant we urge her to
change her lifestyle and practice
what we call 'secondary virginity
or abstention.' "
The center which has been open
six years helps about 200 women a
month and most of the women
who come in are seeking pregnan-
cy tests.
Allen said the counselors fre-
quently are able to convince a
woman not to have an abortion.
"On numerous occasions we've
had a woman we counseled come
into the clinic carrying her baby
and she'll say'I want toshow you
what you've done for me' " Allen
said. "Just one of those visits of
gratitude will keep you going for a
long time."
The children who are saved from
abortion by counseling are the
reward that motivates the clinic's
volunteers to keep giving of
themselves day after day and the
children are why Allen and others
organized the candlelight vigil at
the courthouse Monday.
The stated purpose of the vigil
was to remember the 23 to 24 mil-
lion preborn babies who died dur-
ing the past 17 years and it was a
very emotional experience for
many there.
" couldn't help thinking
that of all those mlllons of
babies who died one of
them is my niece."
ACU graduate student
One graduate missions major
was particularly touched. "I guess
the fact that hit me the hardest was
the fact that Roe vs. Wade was
passed in 1973 the same year
my sister graduated from high
school" she said. "A couple of
years later she had an abortion
and if .Roe vs. Wade hadn't passed
that never would have happened. I
couldn't help thinking that of all
those millions of babies who died
one of them is my niece."
But besides serving as a memori-
al for the children the vigil also
served the purpose of raising con-
sciousness in the Big Country ac-
cording to Allen. He was pleased
more than 500 people cared
enough to gather on chilly evening
in January to translate their private
faith into public testimony.
"In too many Christians I see
kind of a soft opposition to abor-
tion" said Allen. "People think
it's not a good thing but they
wouldn't want to stand up boldly
against it. If you press them
they'll say it's not good but they
don't have strong convictions."
Allen believes if most people
were able to see graphically what
abortion is they would probably
change their views. He wishes
more people could understand
what happens to a fetus during a
DNC or saline abortion or see
how a fetus can hiccup and suck its
thumb. Once the fetus is humaniz-
ed in a person's mind that person
cannot feel apathetic about abor-
tion he said.
For many activists the abortion
debate is a scientific issue or a
conflict between pro-choice or
pro-life political groups. Allen sees
the problem on a different level.
"I view it as a much larger issue
about what kind of people we are
becoming in this life" he said.
"What kind of people must we
become to welcome a child into the
world?"
Of all groups of people Chris-
tians should be the most willing to '
welcome children into the world.
Oddly enough however young
Christian women often feel the
most pressure to get out of un
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More than 500 Abilene residents participated in a pro-lifo candlelight vigil Monday
wanted pregnancies. Women at
ACU are particularly ashamed to
carry their illegitimate babies
because of the stigma the school
places on pregnancies out of
wedlock according to Allen.
" a Christian woman
makes a mistake we
shouldn't force her into
the double mistake of
taking the life of an un-
born chjld.".
"I think it's a lot bigger problem
then most people know or will
admit' ' he said. ' 'The girls are in a
double bind because of the
pressure the school puts on them
and they arc afraid they will be ex-
pelled if they are found out."
He remarked that the daughters
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of preachers and elders in the
church often feel the most pressure '
to get rid of the evidence of their ' '
mistakes and this fact saddens
him.
"If a Christian woman makes a-
mistake we shouldn't force her in-
to the double mistake of taking the
life of an unborn child" he said.
"We need to own up to this prob- '
lem and take some of the pressure
off. A Christian woman should not
be so ashamed of her mistake that i
she would rather have an abortion I
than carry her child." ' i'WI
by Lorri Hunter
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night at the Taylor County Courthouse
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 35, Ed. 1, Friday, January 26, 1990, newspaper, January 26, 1990; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101556/m1/3/: accessed June 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.