The Sanctity of Life is more than just abortion

 

“Science is a gift from God. He gave it to us so we can know  more about Him.”  Dr. Joe Francis 

  A little earlier this month medical science entered a new world. David Bennett, 57, became the first person to receive a heart transplant from a genetically-modified pig. So far he is doing well after the experimental seven-hour procedure in Baltimore. The transplant was considered the last hope of saving Bennett's life, though it is not yet clear what his long-term chances of survival are. “It was either die or do this transplant,” Bennett explained a day before the surgery. 

  Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center were granted a special dispensation by the U.S. medical regulator to carry out the procedure, on the basis that Mr. Bennett - who has terminal heart disease - would otherwise have died. He’d been deemed ineligible for a human transplant, a decision often taken by doctors when the patient is in very poor health. The pig used in the transplant had been genetically modified to knock out several genes that would have led to the heart being rejected. For the medical team who carried out the transplant, it marks the culmination of years of research and could hopefully change lives around the world.

  Animal-to-human organ transplants were first attempted in the 1980s. In a famous case, Stephanie Fae Beauclair (known as Baby Fae) was born with a fatal heart condition and received a baboon heart transplant. She died within a month of the procedure due to her immune system’s rejection of the foreign heart and similar transplant attempts were abandoned. Medical researchers hope the use of pig organs will prove to be more successful. For this transplant, four genes were “knocked out” of the pig organ to make it more compatible for use in a human. Six human genes responsible for immune acceptance of the pig heart were also inserted into the pig genome.

  More than 100,000 Americans are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and 17 die each day waiting for a transplant. But is it biblically ethical? Is it ethical to transplant animal organs into humans?

  Most Christians have never had to consider the ethics of xenotransplantation, the transplantation of an organ or tissue from one species to another. With technological advances in biomedicine, that may soon change. While we need to continually be cautious about abusing our roles as stewards of Creation (Gen. 1:28), specifically the animal kingdom and avoid crossing obvious interspecies barriers, we should also give thanks to God for the lives that may be saved by such transplants.

  This is also not a huge leap. For some time pig heart valves have been used effectively in humans. Literally, thousands of Americans are walking around with functioning heart valves that came from pigs. When it comes to pigs, there has been less rejection than from other species and the size of a pig's heart is similar in size to a human one. 

  But science asks the wrong question. Science asks, “Could we?” when the more important ethical question is: “Should we?” What was once science fiction is becoming accepted “science.”

  Coma was a 1978 American mystery thriller film based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Robin Cook. Healthy patients are deemed brain dead and then their bodies stored so that their organs can be harvested. 

  Human Rights advocates have been alarmed for years by reports of organ harvesting in China targeting minorities - Uyghurs, Tibetans, Muslims, and Christians who have been imprisoned by the Communist government. While our government has sanctions against North Korea, the evils of China are ignored. There is one primary reason – it’s not profitable to American business or our government to hold China accountable.

  Yet, one does not have to travel across the world to uncover atrocities. Abortion is a lucrative business. Those who defend it the most ardently often have a financial interest in keeping it legal and common. Nearly a million children lose their lives annually in the U.S. because abortion is a billion-dollar business.

  Let’s consider the ethics of David Bennett’s case. Why him? Weren’t there more worthy candidates for this experimental surgery? In 1988 he stabbed a bar patron seven times in a brutal attack and was convicted of it. After the attack, the victim, Edward Shumaker, became an invalid. The attack ultimately resulted in a stroke and his premature death.

  Then, do we really believe that a culture that has little problem terminating life in the womb will have a moral dilemma terminating life at the end? Active euthanasia is becoming more common in Europe and not just for terminal illness. In 2015 doctors in Belgium granted an otherwise healthy 24-year-old woman suffering from depression the right to die, even though she does not have a terminal or life-threatening illness.

  Will we get to a place where euthanasia is chosen because it is less expensive to terminate the elderly, terminally or mentally ill than it is to care for them? Are we that far behind Nazi Germany or North Korea?

  Is it an accident that the same states with the most liberal abortion laws, put Covid patients in nursing homes, knowing full well that the elderly and infirm were the most vulnerable to the virus?

  Elitism is rampant in our country where the superrich and ones who make the laws fail do not live under those same laws. Is it farfetched to believe that we’re on the brink of cloning to harvest organs for some elitists?

  Today we are celebrating Sanctity of Life Sunday (some churches celebrated last Sunday). If Christians do not have a firm grip on the sacredness of life and the importance of the Imago Dei, what kind of world might we soon have? Isn’t the role of Christians as salt and light in our culture to resist pragmatism and question the scientific community with “Should we?” Trusting “science” unequivocally has the potential of opening a Pandora’s Box, that once open, will never be closed. 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.