Pastor’s Blog: July 2008 “Lost in Transit”

I should have noticed her before, but I didn’t. Perhaps it was because of the unfamiliar surroundings – Abu Dhabi airport. Perhaps it was because there were hundreds of other people of colourful nationalities milling around waiting for flights. A few Europeans, several groups of Muslim pilgrims and a lot of what appeared to be migrant workers on their way to work or home. Perhaps it was because I was tired. It was gone midnight and I had already spent three hours waiting for my second leg flight to Jakarta. The computer enhanced female voice of the flight announcer speaking every few minutes ensured no one fell asleep.

But there she was. Standing right next to me as I sat down to watch the BBC World Service news on one of the giant screens. She could only have been 10 years old. She had a far eastern complexion and dark hair. My parental instinct kicked in when I realised she was standing alone and not responding to the airport staff who periodically came up to speak with her.

The men in uniform clearly felt awkward and didn’t want to touch her, so they gently coerced female passengers nearby to speak to her. They urged her to go with them but she would not comply. They spoke in Arabic but she could not or would not reply. They offered her drinks and food. She refused. I spoke to her in English but she would not respond to me either. I felt utterly helpless.

They searched her plastic bag. It contained some clothes and papers but no ID, no passport, no ticket. How could she have become stranded on the secure air side of the airport terminal? Then it dawned on me. Had she been abandoned? Who could do that to a child? What would drive a parent to leave a child in an airport terminal? Then she was gone, although her meagre belongings remained left on the seat.

How could anyone abandon their child? Before we judge, let us remember the decision taken in late May in Parliament to keep the current 24 week limit on abortion, despite the majority of people polled who are calling for a lowering of the upper limit. A survey by MORI shows that 47 per cent of women believe the legal limit for an abortion should be cut from its present 24 weeks, and another 10 per cent want the practice outlawed altogether. Since the 1967 Abortion Act was passed there have been 6.7 million abortions in England and Wales. Of these only 0.4% were performed because of a risk to the mother’s life and only 1.3% were on the grounds of foetal handicap. 98% were for so called “social reasons”. Government statistics tell us that 1 in 5 pregnancies in Britain now ends in abortion.

Among the arguments in favour of reducing the upper time limit is convincing evidence that foetuses feel pain much earlier than the current 24 week limit and that specialist neo-natal care allows babies born before 24 weeks to survive. National figures for 2005 showed that 52 babies born earlier than 24 weeks survived. In one specialist neo-natal unit at University College London Hospital between 1996 and 2000, 5 of the 7 infants born at 22 weeks survived to be discharged, as did 47% of babies born at 23 weeks.

But there is a more fundamental argument. The Bible. The biblical argument against abortion is based on the simple application of the Sixth Commandment, “You shall not murder.” In the Bible, God repeatedly forbids the taking of innocent human life because we are created in his image. The Bible leaves us in no doubt as to when life begins.

 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16)

The Bible clearly teaches the sanctity of each human life from conception. Abortion at any stage of gestation is the taking of human life. This is why I will continue to lobby for a reduction in the legal limit as well as a tightening of the grounds for abortion.

Compassion for the unborn must, however, extend to care for mothers contemplating abortion. That is why I commend the work of LIFE who not only offer free, confidential information, counselling and support for women contemplating abortion, suffering after pregnancy loss or struggling to cope after abortion, but also provide financial and practical help and support before and after birth, including housing where needed. See www.lifecharity.org.uk for more information.

Yes, I should have noticed the young girl in Abu Dhabi airport before. Next time I will, but I also can’t help thinking of the 548 that will be ‘terminated’ today and every single day in English hospitals until there is a change in the law. If you wish to meet to discuss the issue of abortion, in confidence, please call 01344 844946.

May the Lord bless you and those you love,

Stephen

Data taken from Abortion Briefing, The Christian Institute, May 2008. www.christian.org.uk a copy of which is available from Christ Church.