Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Question of Rape & Incest (2): Testimony of a "Pro-Choice" Physician


In my last post, I spoke of the question posed me at Brown University in 1989 concerning rape and incest.

In 2009, I was in a social gathering, and met a woman physician whose husband is one of the top academics in the world. We had a delightful conversation, and we talked theology as well as a range of other topics.

At one point, I was about to give definition to the image of God in wide context, using the example of the POSH Ls (peace, order, stability and hope; to live, to love, to laugh and to learn). Before doing so, I mentioned the context of the abortion debate at Brown, and she said, "I am pro-choice."

I said no problem, that was not my focus. When I came to part of the story where I raised the question of whether or not abortion "unrapes" a woman, she jumped in energetically and graciously, "No!" She knew that an abortion does not remedy such an evil act.

In other words, and as the conversation continued, the common reality of the image of God between us was evident. This is the basis to address such deeply painful questions.

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