Miserable Abortion Debate, Jesus & Adulteress

Letter to Ephesians: Abortion is a controversial & ugly topic. And so it was as a GOP rising star demanded an abortion advocate name her “favorite” method. The hush in Congress was akin to Christ writing in the sand when Jews demanded His judgement for an adulteress.

Put another way: The line between reality and perception has not only plagued moralists throughout history but today’s legal abortion debate. It was illustrated in The Fox news coverage of the recent judiciary hearing in the House of Reps, in which GOP Rep Brandon Gill, using graphic detail, kept pressing American University’s Jessica Waters to say “which abortion procedure she would list as her favorite.” The silence from the audience was palpable. As it was in Gospel of John 8 when Jesus wrote something in the sand after a mob hurled a woman caught in adultery demanding the religious law of death by stoning be imposed. No one knows exactly what He wrote. Some say Jesus was buying time to cool the extreme if not over the top passion of the moment. I see it as perhaps also signaling how ephemeral any “written” law, whether written in a book or in the sand, can be compared to God’s law that He always insisted must be “written on our hearts,” especially the part about “mercy.” St. Augustine suggested something similar when he summarized the scene by concluding “Two were left: The miserable woman and Mercy.”

The ugly part of the hearing was captured as Gill read off the modern abortion procedures while Waters kept insisting, she had come to the hearing to “talk about … the FACE Act,” which was enacted to protect patients & providers at abortion clinics or even places of worship. Interjected Gill at one point: “No, you’re a pro-abortion advocate – I’m asking you if you prefer the dilation and curettage method.” One has to wonder if two were again left: The miserable woman and Mercy.”

Davd Soul