Teaching the Rules of Happiness
“When we speak plainly of divorce, abuse, gender identity, contraception, abortion, parental neglect, we are thought by some to be way out of touch or to be uncaring. Some ask if we know how many we hurt when we speak plainly. Do we know of marriages in trouble, of the many who remain single, of single-parent families, of couples unable to have children, of parents with wayward children, or of those confused about gender? Do we know? Do we care? Those who ask have no idea how much we care; you know little of the sleepless nights, of the endless hours of work, of prayer, of study, of travel—all for the happiness and redemption of mankind. Because we do know and because we do care, we must teach the rules of happiness without dilution, apology, or avoidance. That is our calling.”
The War Called Abortion
“With that understanding and reverence for life, we deplore the loss of life associated with warfare. The data are appalling. In World War I, more than 8 million military fatalities occurred. In World War II, more than 22 million servicemen and women died.2 Together, these two wars, covering portions of 14 years, cost the lives of at least 30 million soldiers worldwide. That figure does not include the millions of civilian casualties.
“These data, however, are dwarfed by the toll of another war that claims more casualties annually than did World War I and World War II combined. Worldwide reports indicate that more than 40 million abortions are performed per year.
“This war called abortion is a war on the defenseless and the voiceless. It is a war on the unborn. This war is being waged globally. Ironically, civilized societies that have generally placed safeguards on human life have now passed laws that sanction this practice.”
Standing Up for the Right Choice
“When the controversies about abortion are debated, “individual right of choice” is invoked as though it were the one supreme virtue. That could only be true if but one person were involved. The rights of any one individual do not allow the rights of another individual to be abused. In or out of marriage, abortion is not solely an individual matter. Terminating the life of a developing baby involves two individuals with separate bodies, brains, and hearts. A woman’s choice for her own body does not include the right to deprive her baby of life—and a lifetime of choices that her child would make. As Latter-day Saints, we should stand up for choice—the right choice—not simply for choice as a method.”
Concerns Regarding Mortality
“Clearly God’s greatest concerns regarding mortality are how one gets into this world and how one gets out of it. These two most important issues in our very personal and carefully supervised progress are the two issues that he as our Creator and Father and Guide wishes most to reserve to himself. These are the two matters that he has repeatedly told us he wants us never to take illegally, illicitly, unfaithfully, without sanction.”
Abortion is a Serious Matter
The Lord commanded, “Thou shalt not … kill, nor do anything like unto it” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:6). The Church opposes elective abortion for personal or social convenience. Members must not submit to, perform, arrange for, pay for, consent to, or encourage an abortion. The only possible exceptions are when:
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Pregnancy resulted from forcible rape or incest.
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A competent physician determines that the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy.
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A competent physician determines that the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth.
Even these exceptions do not automatically justify abortion. Abortion is a most serious matter. It should be considered only after the persons responsible have received confirmation through prayer. Members may counsel with their bishops as part of this process.
Presiding officers carefully review the circumstances if a Church member has been involved in an abortion. A membership council may be necessary if a member submits to, performs, arranges for, pays for, consents to, or encourages an abortion (see 32.6.2.5). However, a membership council should not be considered if a member was involved in an abortion before baptism. Nor should membership councils or restrictions be considered for members who were involved in an abortion for any of the three reasons outlined earlier in this section.
Bishops refer questions on specific cases to the stake president. The stake president may direct questions to the Office of the First Presidency if necessary.
As far as has been revealed, a person may repent and be forgiven for the sin of abortion.
Value of Children
“We are so numbed and intimidated by the immensity of the practice of abortion that many of us have pushed it to the back of our minds and try to keep it out of our consciousness. Clearly the adversary is attacking the value of children on many levels. We must be at the forefront of changing hearts and minds on the importance of children.”
Quentin L. Cook
Reasons of Convenience
“Infrequently, instances may occur in which the continuation of pregnancy could be life-threatening to the mother. When deemed by competent medical authorities that the life of one must be terminated in order to save the life of the other, many agree that it is better to spare the mother. But these circumstances are rare, particularly where modern medical care is available. “Another sympathetic concern applies to pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. The tragedy of this despoilment is compounded because, in such relationships, freedom of choice is denied the woman who is innocently involved.
“But less than 3 percent of all abortions are performed for these two reasons (see statement of Dr. Irving Cushner, Hearings on Abortion, Subcommittee on the Constitution of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 97th Congress, 1st Session, 1981). The other 97 percent are performed for what may be termed ‘reasons of convenience’ (“Reverence for Life,” Ensign, May 1985).
A Heavy Toll
“A heavy toll on life is included among the evils of war. Data from all nations are appalling. . . . Regrettable as is the loss of loved ones from war, these figures are dwarfed by the toll of a new war that annually claims more casualties than the total number of fatalities from all the wars of this nation. “It is a war on the defenseless—and the voiceless. It is a war on the unborn. This war, labeled ‘abortion,’ is of epidemic proportion and is waged globally. “Yet society professes reverence for human life. We weep for those who die, pray and work for those whose lives are in jeopardy. For years I have labored with other doctors here and abroad, struggling to prolong life. It is impossible to describe the grief a physician feels when the life of a patient is lost. Can anyone imagine how we feel when life is destroyed at its roots, as though it were a thing of naught? “What sense of inconsistency can allow people to grieve for their dead, yet be calloused to this baleful war being waged on life at the time of its silent development? What logic would encourage efforts to preserve the life of a critically ill twelve-week-old infant, but countenance the termination of another life twelve weeks after inception? More attention is seemingly focused on the fate of a life at some penitentiary’s death row than on the millions totally deprived of life’s opportunity through such odious carnage before birth . . .
“[One] contention raised [regarding abortion] is that a woman is free to choose what she does with her own body. To a certain extent this is true for all of us. We are free to think. We are free to plan. And then we are free to do. But once an action has been taken, we are never free from its consequences. Those considering abortion have already exercised certain choices. . . . “The woman’s choice for her own body does not validate choice for the body of another. The expression ‘terminate the pregnancy’ applies literally only to the woman. The consequence of terminating the fetus therein involves the body and very life of another. These two individuals have separate brains, separate hearts, and separate circulatory systems. To pretend that there is no child and no life there is to deny reality.”
Teachings of Russell M. Nelson
Safeguarding Spirits
Our eternal perspective not only enlarges our understanding of those who are continuing their journey beyond mortality but also opens our understanding of those who are earlier in their journey and just now entering mortality.
Each person who comes to earth is a unique son or daughter of God. Our personal journey did not begin at birth. Before we were born, we were together in a world of preparation where we “received [our] first lessons in the world of spirits.” Jehovah told Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee.”
Some may question if life begins with the formation of an embryo, or when the heart begins to beat, or when the baby can live outside of the womb, but for us, there is no question that spirit daughters and sons of God are on their own personal journeys coming to earth to receive a body and experience mortality.
As covenant children of God, we love, honor, nurture, safeguard, and welcome those spirits who are coming from the premortal world.
What is our responsibility as peaceful disciples of Jesus Christ? Let us live God’s commandments, teach them to our children, and share them with others who are willing to listen. Let us share our deep feelings about the sanctity of life with those who make decisions in society. They may not fully appreciate what we believe, but we pray that they will more fully understand why, for us, these decisions go well beyond just what a person wants for his or her own life.
If an unanticipated child is expected, let us reach out with love, encouragement, and, when needed, financial help, strengthening a mother in allowing her child to be born and continue his or her journey in mortality.
Gary E. Stevenson
Anchors of the Family
“You who are wives and mothers are the anchors of the family. You bear the children. What an enormous and sacred responsibility that is. … What is happening to our appreciation of the sanctity of human life? Abortion is an evil, stark and real and repugnant, which is sweeping over the earth. I plead with the women of this Church to shun it, to stand above it, to stay away from those compromising situations which make it appear desirable. There may be some few circumstances under which it can occur, but they are extremely limited.10 … You are the mothers of the sons and daughters of God, whose lives are sacred. Safeguarding them is a divinely given responsibility which cannot be lightly brushed aside.”
Gordon B. Hinckley
I used to look at this issue as so cut and dried, and I rejoiced at the overturning of Roe vs Wade, but then I saw some of the unexpected (for me) repercussions, for instance some states taking it so far as to not allow abortions in the case of rape, incest or physical well-being of the mother, and the effect that this ruling has had on in-vitro fertilization. I’m afraid the pendulum can swing too far.
Also, I don’t see a lot of what Elder Gary E. Stevenson said (“If an unanticipated child is expected, let us reach out with love, encouragement, and, when needed, financial help, strengthening a mother in allowing her child to be born and continue his or her journey in mortality.”) when it comes to taking care of the nearly 14 million children in the US that are facing food insecurity everyday. Many unanticipated children are born into impoverished households. Are we reaching out to these struggling families, many of whom are single-parent households?
@Rich,
Me either!!!
Thank you!
Amen.
I have thought a lot lately about the many consequences of women leaving the home to take over jobs during WW2 and not returning to it…women make all the difference in the world for society.
With most not being stay-at-home mothers anymore and the skills of homemaking not being passed along competently, the economy is worse and the cost of living is much higher; people don’t eat as healthy as they otherwise would and there are physical and mental consequences; kids get raised by many sources other than loving parents and have less emotional resilience and focus and discipline; tens of millions of babies are killed in utero for “reasons of convenience” because people don’t want the burden of raising them, since there is so much they would have to sacrifice to do so.
Women are desperately needed in the home. Women desperately need each other around to support each other in the work of the home (it takes a village). It’s hard to be a woman in an era when so many women are out of the home and don’t feel the divine call to be there for the child-rearing years.
These are my personal thoughts and experiences.
En France, le droit à l’avortement est entré dans la Constitution. Quand un peuple autrefois chrétien est devenu païen la connaissance de la naissance (ils ou fille de Dieu) est perdue et le bébé est considéré comme un bien quelconque.
I’m still not voting for Trump!