wfn.org | Lutheran groups criticize RU-486 approval

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Contact -- joe.isenhower@lcms.org
October 25, 2000

Two pro-life groups related to The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod (LCMS)
have issued statements criticizing the recent decision by the Food and Drug
Administration to approve use of the abortion drug RU-486 in the United
States.

Both the LCMS President's Commission on the Sanctity of Life and the pan
Lutheran organization Lutherans For Life also are urging Christians to take
action by voting for pro-life candidates in next month's federal, state and
local elections.

In its statement, released through Synod President A.L. Barry's office, the
sanctity of life commission reacted to news of the FDA approval "with
profound sorrow."

RU-486 will make it easier for women to take the lives of their own
children, the statement says, and "will both strengthen and perpetuate the
myth of our culture: that the unborn are not worthy of the right to life.
Such a view is a tragic consequence of a culture that places personal
convenience above personal responsibility. Our society devalues all life
when it is willing to deprive the most defenseless among us of life."
The FDA approval, the commission says, provides "an opportunity for
Christians to act as citizens in support of defenseless human life" as they
go to the polls to vote.

The Synod "must continue to declare that abortion is a sin, a violation of
God's commandment, `You shall not murder,'" reads the statement. "Having
made this point clearly, our church is equally committed to holding out hope
and help to women and families struggling with these issues. We extend to
all the forgiving love of Jesus Christ, whose blood cleanses us from all
sin."

In its statement, Nevada, Iowa-based Lutherans For Life (LFL) said the FDA's
approval of RU-486 was expected, but "nonetheless, another tragic event
brought about by our nation's blind and misinformed adherence to the idea
that a woman has an unlimited right to choose death for her pre-born baby."
Unlike past FDA drug approvals, LFL says, "RU-486 does not improve the
quality of human life, but brings about the death of human life. It needs
to be restated again and again that this drug causes the death of a baby.
It does not prevent a pregnancy from occurring, but prevents an already
developing human being from continuing to mature within the womb."

The Hebrew word for "womb," the statement notes, means "place of mercy."
"Women who use RU-486 risk hazardous side effects including severe
bleeding," says LFL in the statement. "It is not a simple and inexpensive
process but requires three separate visits to the abortion facility. It is
not a safe procedure, but exposes the woman to chemical hormones that
override what is naturally occurring in her body."

Used as prescribed, the drug "will most likely cause the mother to `deliver'
in the privacy of her home. Can anyone know the emotional and psychological
consequences for a woman when she experiences seeing her tiny dead baby
after he or she is expelled?"

Greater still is the "spiritual risk" to women, says LFL.
"Abortion, whether surgical or chemical, is an assault on God's gift of life
and therefore an insult to God who is the author and Lord of life. The more
we make such destruction possible, the farther we are going to move away
from life as having intrinsic, God-given value."

Rather than taking "decisions about life and death ... in our hands" in the
form of a pill, LFL urges Christians to "trust in God."

"The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ provides for Christians the
assurance that God is not going to abandon us now, no matter what our
problem and no matter what sin has led to that problem. We do not have to
take things into our own hands. We are in our Savior's nail-scarred hands."
LFL asks Christians to "vote pro-life in November. A pro-life Congress
and/or Administration would be able to put a stop to the distribution of
this deadly drug."

For more information, or to read the statements in their entirety, visit the
LFL and Office of the President web sites, linked to the Synod's
home page at http://www.lcms.org.