Women’s History Month - March 2022
When I moved to the Central Pacific, I was told jokingly that ministers looking for positions in the CPC might find it advantageous to be named Jen, Jennifer, or Jennie. In seminary, the two professors who had the most impact on my spiritual formation were the Rev. Dr. Nancy Bowen and the Rev. Dr. Dena Pence. My Great-Great Grandma Brown was a renowned revival preacher, and her daughter, my Great Grandma Howell, was the gathering pastor of the Wesleyan Church in Elizabeth Town, Kentucky.
It's Women’s History Month, and I hope it goes without saying that women are capable theologians, religious thinkers, and ethical decision-makers. That’s why I’m so troubled by laws, like the one proposed in Idaho, that limit women’s ability to make the complicated ethical decision of whether or not to have an abortion.
If you fall on either end of the political spectrum, you may not think abortion is a complicated ethical matter. However, begin to listen to people considering the topic, and it becomes complicated pretty quickly. Biblically, some point to God knitting us together in the womb in Psalm 139:13 and say abortion must be wrong. Others point to the ordeal of the bitter water in Numbers 5:11-31, and say abortion is sometimes commanded by God.
Then there’s the matter of when life begins. I was raised to believe it begins at conception. I have Jewish friends who were taught it begins at the first breath, when the Ruach (Breath of God) enters the body.
What about killing? Isn’t that always wrong? I have many good Christian friends who believe in carrying a gun, even if it means they might kill an innocent person accidentally. And we are very aware these days that war always results in the deaths of non-combatants, but many of us still would argue that war is sometimes justified.
When I hear about potential laws, like the one proposed in Idaho, I think about the friends I’ve known who have made complicated decisions about abortion. I think of a woman whose wisdom I sought on many occasions when I was making difficult ethical decisions, and who told me that she had had an abortion between her first and second children. She didn’t tell me much, but said, “I am certain it was the right decision at the time,” and I could not possibly tell her I knew better. I think about the mother of two who was told by doctors that her pregnancy would certainly end in her death. She said to me, “I told that baby, ‘Your brother and sister need a mother. You must sacrifice for them,” and then I scheduled an abortion.” What right did I have to question her judgment?
I want you to hear me, I am not telling you how you should answer complicated ethical questions around abortion. What I am saying is that I trust the people who are closest to the question to make the decision, and I oppose potential laws like the one in Idaho that tell women and other pregnant people that the decision is being made for them. On this Women’s History Month, it seems like one way I can honor all the female theologians and religious thinkers who have taught me so much about the nuances and complexities of life, who showed me they were fully capable ethical decision-makers who could and should be trusted.
Blessings,
Tyler
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