Abortion Divides Christians Pro, Con Marchers Both Cite Bible To Back Stands

The crowds at two abortion rallies Sunday were separated by more than just 16 city blocks and the Spokane River.

The people attending the rallies were Christians divided by their interpretation of the Bible.

While both rallies were sponsored by religious groups and both incorporated hymns and prayers, the similarities stopped there.

Roughly 1,000 people gathered in front of the Federal Building, in the freezing rain, to protest legalized abortion.

It was Bonnie Byrn’s first such protest.

“I believe life starts at conception,” said Byrn, a Roman Catholic. “It’s sacred. Our Lord came as an infant.”

Byrn points to the Bible’s nativity story as the mandate behind her beliefs.

Up Monroe Street at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, about 100 people gathered to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe vs. Wade decision 23 years ago legalizing abortion.

St. Paul’s pastor, the Rev. Homer Todd said the Bible is conspicuously silent on the topic of abortion or when life begins.

“The New Testament is very silent on the whole issue,” he said.

And it’s not because abortions didn’t happen at the time the Scriptures were written. In fact, he said, abortions were very common in the first century.

“Since the Bible doesn’t talk about it, it’s a pretty good indication it was an option,” Todd said. “There is no theological basis for the anti-choice side of the debate. There is a philosophical argument, but it’s not necessarily religious.”

That doesn’t deter anti-abortion Christians like Steve Murphy, of Spokane. He finds instructions throughout the New and Old Testament that direct him to speak out publicly against abortion.

“The Bible says we are supposed to stand for the weaker vessel,” he said. “Who could be weaker than an unborn child?”

Murphy also points to the Ten Commandments, which includes the decree: Thou shalt not kill.

Guest speaker at the abortion rights rally, the Rev. Ignacio Castuera, said many people believe the only valid religious arguments are against abortion.

“In fact, every major Protestant denomination has a statement that, no matter how guarded, is pro-choice,” he said. “Most Americans don’t know that.”

Phil Altmeyer, director of Union Gospel Mission in Spokane, attended the rally against abortion.

“I want to make a statement for a standard in our country which we need to uphold,” he said. “People lack sensitivity for things that are near to God’s heart. Abortion is just an example.”

But Ann Wood said nearly the same beliefs as Altmeyer’s cause her to speak out in favor of keeping abortion legal.

“I have thought through this and I am very comfortable that God wants abortion to be available to women,” she said. “I don’t think it should be used as a birth control, but there are many other situations.

“And I think standing up for this is quite the Christian thing to do.”

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