Abortion is almost universally recognized among all mainstream religions — including Islam, Christianity, traditional Buddhism, Hinduism and much of Judaism — as the deliberate murder of an innocent human life and, as such, a grave evil. For this reason, it is helpful to Planned Parenthood to have at their disposal religious persons willing to make the argument that abortion is sometimes allowed by the Creator of all life.
Former Planned Parenthood advisor Rev. Tom Davis now takes us to a level beyond that as he claims in an article at Huffington Post that abortion is not only “allowed” but is a “blessing“. Further, he believes that Planned Parenthood should be considered under the “protection of God“:
During this past spring more than half of America’s fifty state legislatures have ignored people’s economic problems and instead become obsessed with passing legislation to defund, harass, and block the work of Planned Parenthood. In Biblical terms, what is being done to this 96 year old organization is “cursing.” In scripture to curse a person or a group is to bring condemnation upon them, to put them outside the protection of God and/or the community.
Planned Parenthood Virgina Beach
This is quite a unique religious belief, that simply defunding an organization is tantamount to placing it “outside the protection of God”. We can only wonder where this novel idea has its origins since we can find no religious references supporting Davis’ assertion. “Curse” and “defund” are not equivalent terms except, perhaps, to a spoiled ten-year-old whose allowance has just been taken away. There is certainly no basis in any dogma for it.
To the contrary, in Christianity, which Rev. Davis is ostensibly representing to Huffington Post readers, it is “children” who are “blessings“, which would make abortion the opposite of “blessing” — a “curse”.
Psalm 127:3-5
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Given that more than one out of every four US abortions are performed at a Planned Parenthood facility, we could describe Planned Parenthood as being engaged in the destruction of the “fruit of the womb”.
Davis’ claim that “people’s economic problems” are “ignored” by virtue of legislation passed to defund Planned Parenthood, coupled with his praise for Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger, are a very troubling reminder that even in the religious community there remain some who believe destruction of the poor is the solution to poverty.
Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger, was a strong believer in eugenics. Following is just a sampling of her documented beliefs. “In this matter, the example of the inferior classes, the fertility of the feeble-minded, the mentally defective, the poverty-stricken classes, should not be held up for emulation…”[xvi] Referring to immigrants and Catholics, she wrote: “[They’re] an unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all.”[xvii] She also wrote, “The most merciful thing that a large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.”[xviii] Planned Parenthood is carrying on her legacy today, centering itself on population control efforts. In a recently filed tax return, Planned Parenthood stated as part of their mission statement that they are committed to “a U.S. population of stable size in an optimum environment.”[xix]
Defunding Planned Parenthood not only saves the lives of children who are characterized as “blessings“, not “curses”, by the Scriptures Davis is ostensibly garnering his beliefs from, but also uplifts the poor by freeing up resources and moving us away from Sanger’s barbaric, racist beliefs.
Let’s love everyone: rich, poor, brown, white, woman, child. A good place for us to begin in our desire to build a society where all are loved would be to defund Planned Parenthood.
