One can’t help but wonder if Pastor Darcy Baxter has made her own version of a Jefferson Bible.
Baxter, a Unitarian Universalist pastor in Modesto, California, recently wrote an op-ed for The Modesto Bee that defends the abortion business Planned Parenthood using scriptural references that she picked and chose from the Bible.
She begins her column by describing the abortion giant’s work as “sacred” and likening it to Christians who face persecution. Planned Parenthood currently is at the center of multiple investigations after undercover videos exposed it selling aborted babies’ body parts while receiving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.
Baxter came to the abortion business’s defense, writing:
Whenever I hear of a Planned Parenthood facility getting vandalized or attacked, as our Modesto Planned Parenthood health center was recently, I immediately think of the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew, particularly this line: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
I see the often-violent opposition to Planned Parenthood as a sign of the righteousness of their work. Did not many of our religious prophets suffer such persecution?
Never mind that the violence of abortion destroys millions of unborn babies’ lives every year – more than 300,000 at Planned Parenthood facilities alone. Or that the pro-life movement condemns violence against abortion facilities, patients and staff just as it condemns the violence of abortion. To Baxter, abortion businesses like Planned Parenthood are the ones doing God’s work by “car[ing] for the poorest among us.”
The minister said she used to work for a national hotline that counseled women facing unplanned pregnancies. She did not mention the name of the hotline, which very well could be a pro-abortion group that pushes women toward abortion. Baxter said she heard from hundreds of struggling women while she worked there, and their stories convinced her that abortion is a “compassionate” solution for women facing hardships.
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She ended her defense with a second scriptural reference:
For we people of faith, whose traditions call us to radical compassion even in the face of persecution, let us work together to create quality health care, child care, and education for all – not on attacking one of the few health care providers caring for the poorest among us.
Again, from the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Matthew: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. … Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
The Bible also condemns murder and the shedding of innocent blood, but Baxter preferred to leave out that part of scripture in her article. She also ignored both the scriptural and scientific evidence that point to the innate value of babies in the womb.
Compassion is important, and women and their families deserve our support; but abortion is never a compassionate answer to a problem. Abortion only destroys an innocent baby’s life and often hurts his or her mother’s. Pro-lifers, Christian and non-Christian alike, recognize that women and their babies both deserve compassionate care. That is why there are thousands of pregnancy resource organizations across the country that offer material and emotional support to women and their babies.
The mercy and compassion that Baxter referenced are mentioned throughout the Bible, and often refer to the most vulnerable members of society. Today, few are as vulnerable and needing of compassion as babies in their mothers’ wombs.
