Blog Template Theology of the Body: Chains: Unborn Children

Friday, March 10, 2006

Chains: Unborn Children


We believe that unborn babies are human persons, to whom God calls and whom He thus invests with unspeakable value and dignity, no matter how small their little bodies may be; and yet so many of them suffer unremembered, unprotested abandonment when "excess" embryos (embryonic little children, to be precise), having been fertilized and brought to life for use in modern reproductive technologies, are discarded.

... so imagine my delight when I heard of a beautiful change in the current momentum: while Christian Right interest groups invest, and conservative think tanks think, and lobbyists lobby, and the little man on my corner holds out posters depicting aborted babies, some young couples who follow our Lord have commenced a reasonable service, the kind of quietly decisive action that can change a culture's heart more than its laws.

Janna and Matthew Weiler have "adopted" fourteen discarded embryos to be implanted in Janna's womb. Their first child from this procedure, little Sam, was born in October 2005; you can see his picture and read more about their story here.

This is the kind of thing that will make the jaws of our cultural values drop. The earliest Christians showed their love for the creatures of their Savior by providing decent burials for the poorest of the poor; these modern, true Christians are providing life and a family for the most silent, defenseless, and unknown little people in our universe.

Organizations which sponsor embryo adoption include The National Embryo Donation Center and Nightlight Christian Adoption Center. You might also be interested in Anne Barbeau Gardiner's recent essay on "The Soul of the Embryo."


Thanks be to God.