My birthday month should have been a happy one. But frightening news came of an assault on those least able to defend themselves: the newly born.
First a little background. Back in 2005, doctors in the Netherlands openly admitted killing spina bifida babies (a neurological impairment at the spine) and other babies with defects – under the guise of bioethical decisions and protocol.
Now flash forward three years. Whereas this report back in 2005 brought shock and horror from different governments around the world, now an article in a leading bioethics journal actually defends the practice! So I ask: How far are societies in the world falling – and so fast – that they only value those with perfectly-formed bodies?
What some view as deformities – therefore they argue the “necessity” of infanticide – God views in a different light. He, after all, allowed the disability in the first place. An early apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) stated:
“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude, and humility. All that we suffer … builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable,…” (Kenneth H. Beesley, “What Is the Purpose of Suffering,” New Era, April 1975, 36).
Who are we to argue the lack of worth of an individual? Who are we to set a level set on which baby deserves to live and which needs to die? If the infanticide were contained only to the Netherlands, it would still be horrifying. But even more shocking is that the attitude that these infanticide actions are defensible, is now spreading. All in the name of preventing “suffering.”
Just why does the Lord allow suffering? For even Jesus Christ was not immune from suffering. We read in Hebrew 5:8:
“Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” (Heb 5:8).
What is so instructive about suffering that God, who loves us, allows suffering? What jewels of insight or experiences are to be gained? The apostle Paul spoke to this 2000 years ago. He said:
“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor 12:10).
In this confusing world we live in, where people are willing to kill a baby because of some physical anomaly, how comforting it is to hear the word of God through His prophets. There is a wisdom and a purpose to our existence here, even when a baby is born with spina bifida. Just as a two-year old does not understand the wisdom of his parents when they parent him, we do not yet always understand the purposes of God. But this much we know: Families are important. They are central to His plan. As such, each child matters! No-one deserves to be murdered at the hands of a physician, simply because the spinal cord did not fully form.
May we be vocal in support of the family. May we seek God’s will by studying His words, whether through the scriptures or through the words of modern day prophets. Regardless of how we do it, may we be defenders of the family and bring joy to the family as many ways as possible!
