# 329 The “Life of the Mother” Exception.

The Book of Genesis

Day 329

Ge 35:16 Then they journeyed from Bethel. And when there was but a little distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel labored in childbirth, and she had hard labor.  17 Now it came to pass, when she was in hard labor, that the midwife said to her, "Do not fear; you will have this son also."  18 And so it was, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-Oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

Jacob’s beloved Rachel dies while giving birth to Benjamin. An interesting thing is said to her before she dies. The midwife says, “Do not fear, you will have this son also.” You get the idea that Rachel wasn’t so afraid of dying as she was of losing the child. This would be consistent with her attitude about having children as we have read so far in Genesis.

I think it would be interesting to hear Rachel’s voice in the abortion debate taking place today, especially as it relates to  the idea of making exceptions for abortion in the case of “danger to the life of the mother.” This exception is almost always included in any legislative act regarding abortion and is used as a catch all to approve of all abortions. It sounds so noble. Who could possibly oppose this exception?

Well, the Association of Pro-Life Physicians has something to say about it. They have said, “When the life of the mother is truly threatened by her pregnancy, if both lives cannot simultaneously be saved, then saving the life of the mother is the primary aim.  If through our careful treatment of the mother’s illness the pre-born patient inadvertently dies or is injured, this is tragic and, if unintentional, is not unethical and is consistent with the pro-life ethics.  But the intentional killing of an unborn baby by abortion is never necessary.” *

Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop also supported this position when he stated (1980) “In my thirty-six years in pediatric surgery, I have never known one instance where the child had to be aborted to save the mother’s life. *

Even  Dr. Alan Guttmacher who was Planned Parenthood’s president for over a decade until his death in 1974 chimed in on this issue in his book, “The Case for Legalized Abortion Now” published in 1967. He said, “Today it is possible for almost any patient to be brought through the pregnancy alive, unless she suffers from a fatal illness such as cancer or leukemia, and if so, abortion would be unlikely to prolong, much less save life.” *

This exception for abortion that sounds so humane is in reality a tool for abortion any time and any place” and is born out by the Doe v Bolton decision (1973) which followed Roe v Wade.  The court ruled that abortion for the “health of the mother ” could not be restricted, while adopting a very broad definition of what may relate to health.  This effectively made abortion legal through all nine months of pregnancy for almost any reason.  *

The sad thing is, in this day and age of sound bite politics, and uniformed voters, anyone running for office on a “no exception” pro life platform, would be villainized as an extremist. But in reality, the real extremist is the one who would support the unnecessary killing of an innocent unborn child.

Before we sentence the unborn child to death, could we not at least ask this question. “What crime has the unborn child committed?”

*Taken from an article written by Elizabeth Dean, D.O. “Is Abortion Needed To Save the Life of the Mother”