Stewartstown Baptist Church

All that Matters is the Baby is Healthy

God has blessed my wife and I will two awesome boys. One is three almost four and the other is two years old. We are praying for a third child soon, maybe within a year or so. Both times Sandra was pregnant I dreaded many conversations I would have with people. Many of the conversations would go like this, “Are you hoping for a girl or boy?” My response, “Whatever God gives us I will be happy.” Many people would then respond this way, “Well as long as the baby is healthy that is all that matters.” Now yes health is important and I do pray for healthy children and I know the person who I was speaking with desires the child be healthy. But this type of comment often left me very troubled.

Is all that matters if the baby is healthy, is that all that really matters? That statement has chilling effect of how we view babies with disabilities. My wife has an older sister with Down syndrome and recent news hits very close to home with us. The Science Daily reports that soon new and safer ways for the mother and the baby to be tested to see whether or not the baby will have the possibility of having Down syndrome. The journal reports, “New tests expected to be introduced next year will offer a simple blood test that poses no risk to the fetus and delivers a definitive diagnosis of one or more of the genetic variants of Down syndrome…” What does this mean? The implication of this is a rise in abortions of babies that are believed to potentially have Downs.

The Washington Post reports that 92 percent of women who learn they are carrying a baby with Down syndrome choose to abort the pregnancy. Here is where my heart breaks, innocent lives are being lost because all we care about is having a healthy baby. What if the science continues to develop and we can tell if later in life the child will have breast cancer, a learning disability, a speech disability, or will not be able to walk? What will happen to the lives of the unborn then? Will abortions continue to rise?

As a follower of Jesus Christ, I do not know why sometimes babies are born with defects, I do not know why one family has a baby with no disabilities and the other family has a child that has disabilities. I do not know why this happens but I know that there is more to a life than just “is the baby healthy or not.” I know there is more to the pregnancy and the life of the baby then the health of the child.
A child that has Down syndrome or a child that has MS or whatever disability is a child that God formed, God made, God created. Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb. I knew you…” Should we not just rejoice in life given by a Creator, rather than focus on health. Can a baby with a disability bring joy? Yes, because that child is wonderfully and specially made by his or her creator.

Today I encourage you, no I implore you as a Christ follower to please think through your statements like this one, “Well all that matters is the baby is healthy.” Think about how even by an implication you may be teaching a lost world that all that matters is the health of the baby. Pray about how you can encourage and minister to families who have for some reason had an abortion or to others who are thinking of aborting a life. Watch your statements, make sure that you teach whatever happens with the child he or she is a gift from God, no matter if they have physical challenges or not.

With Love,

Pastor Lee

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914110953.htm