Sarah Bessey admires the early feminists for their consistent pro-life ethic.
There have been many outraged responses to the videos showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing how they provide aborted fetal organs for research. While those responses may be justified, I was particularly impressed by what Sarah Bessey wrote recently on her popular blog.
A tired trope, isn’t it? a voice for the voiceless. The problem with this is, of course, that so few people are actually voiceless. The problem isn’t their “voicelessness,” it is that we are not listening. We don’t value their voices and so we do not listen.
I have never liked the phrase. Few people need us to be a “voice for the voiceless.” Instead I believe it’s more powerful to elevate and amplify the voices from the margins, from the ones we overlook and pass over, to say that everyone is worth listening to and that – regardless of race, socio-economic status, geography, ability and so on – people get to own their own stories.
There is one notable exception though: the unborn, the babies still in the womb of their mother, they have no voice. These are truly the voiceless.
So I’ll use mine for them without apology.
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Sarah Bessey lives with her husband and four children in the Fraser Valley. Following is (part of) her self-description on her website:
I wrote a little yellow book called Jesus Feminist (Howard Books). It’s not really a book about Christian feminist theory. I see it as a book about the Kingdom of God, and what life looks like when you live into the “other side” of so many of our missing-the-point gender debates in the Church. My new book is called Out of Sorts (also with Howard Books) and it’s about making peace with an evolving faith. It will be out in November 2015.
I am one of those happy-clappy Jesus followers with stars in her eyes. I’m a Kingdom of God focused woman, postmodern, liberal to the conservative and conservative to the liberal in matters of both religion and politics (not an easy task, I assure you), a social justice wanna-be trying to do some good, and a nondenominational charismatic recovering know-it-all slowly falling back in love with the Church. . . .
I write about the intersections of a spirit-filled life: About my own faith and spirituality, about what love looks like for us, my mothering, ecclesiology, theology, women’s issues, social justice, my own struggling journey, politics and, well, pretty much everything else that you are not supposed to discuss in polite company.
As Christians we need to be more aware of our own potential to fall prey to evil. The Bible is very clear that the devil prowls about, seeing who he might devour. Planned Parenthood is selling baby parts because there is a market for them. Who is driving the need? We need to “be alert” and “of sober mind” to how the market works; thoroughly research all medical products/treatments that we use.
Being horrified over Planned Parenthood is useless unless we actively seek solutions. It would be good to know if there are any ethical biotech companies who reject the use of aborted parts.
Do you realize those children who are aborted are used in the very vaccines we inject ourselves with. Our DNA is mingled with a child who was killed? Not just one vaccine but many. How are we then as Christians to have forgotten, being created in Gods image. How then would He view his creation mingled with an aborted fetus, robbed of their life.
When the truth is know we can sit back and be complacent. If we are to stand against abortion then we are to stand against what those innocent children are being used for. This is so much bigger and its time we started addressing it!
And what are we doing with our voices? Are we giving the “voiceless” sound by writing letters to MPs and demanding ethical biotech? Do we secretly believe that it’s okay to access these spare baby parts? I think if Christians were honest they would admit that the ends justify the means: “oh well, if it saves lives”
Indeed, I have been told by more than one Christian that it is perfectly okay to make use of aborted fetal cells/parts if it saves the life of a loved one. Take an honest look at all the biotechnology you are accessing right now, be outraged, and speak up – give the voiceless a voice. Ethical options will only become available if we demand them – like it or not, currently, we are complicit.
Absolutely. The number of Christians who are ok with the aborted fetal cells which are used in vaccines floors me. They go with the “Greater Good” argument. But, the means don’t justify the ends. It’s supply and demand. If we (Christians included) didn’t continue to demand products which use aborted fetal cells (such as vaccines which contain them and other “products” that use them for testing) and pushed for versions without the use of the aborted cells then we’d create a market for products without them. It’s the least we can and should do.