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John Stott’s pro-life legacy

Before his death this week, the much loved and widely esteemed evangelical leader John Stott was a vigorous pro-life advocate, pleading for the protection of human life “from the womb to the tomb,” reports Christian Concern for our Nation.

Rev Dr Stott was a patron of the pro-life charity LIFE, which was recently chosen to sit on a government advisory panel on sexual health.

Dr Ling, a freelance writer, speaker and consultant on bioethical issues, reproduced on his website a contribution from Rev Dr Stott to a LIFE newsletter in 1987.

In it, Rev Dr Stott warned of the steady drift back towards barbarism after the 1967 Abortion Act.

“One of the surest characteristics of a civilised society is its respect for the sanctity of human life.

“Indeed, life in all its forms demands our respect, but it is human life in particular whose sanctity we affirm, because it is the life of persons made in the image of God (Genesis 9:6).

“By this criterion our country has for twenty years steadily been slipping back into barbarism. For the abortion statistics are truly horrifying, and the framers of the 1967 Abortion Act never intended, or even anticipated that it would permit the slaughter of nearly three million unborn children.

“No, the Act has been seriously – even flagrantly – abused.

“In consequence, morally-sensitive people will not rest until it has been repealed and its provisions tightened. Nor can we come to terms with any legislation which tolerates experimentation on the living human embryo.

“Moreover, the sanctity of human life extends beyond the foetus to the well-being of the mother, of the family and of the child after birth.

“I am thankful that LIFE cherishes this holistic vision. We are anti-abortion and anti-experimentation because we are pro-life.

“We need to be consistent in the seeking to protect human life at every stage in its journey from the womb to the tomb.”

Andrea Williams commented:

“John Stott’s words are just as relevant today as they were back in 1987.

“In fact, they are even more pertinent now because of the continued rise in the number of abortions and increasingly grotesque bioethical practices in this country.

“It is a tragedy that little has changed since he wrote this.

“My prayer is that his words act as a wake-up call to the Church in this country to speak as boldly as he did on this issue and not rest until ‘the slaughter,’ as he rightly calls it, stops.”

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TAGS: John Stott pro-life LIFE charity evangelical leader "Basic Christianity" London All Souls Church

[08/01/2011]

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