Prolife Kitchen Table
Join us as we share information and answer your questions about life issues from fertilization to natural death.
All of the materials used in this podcast are the product of four decades of work and research by Presbyterians Protecting Life – www.ppl.org. This isn’t just a podcast for Presbyterians – all of our materials are useful for anyone with an interest in protecting human life at every stage from fertilization to natural death.
We’ll use both scientific and philosophical sources, and for our Christian listener, there will be plenty of grounding in Scripture and a Biblical worldview. The show notes in each episode contain links to articles and scripture references. With the average 15 minute podcast length, and the addition of the list of scriptures and articles, each episode can be used for older student and adult Sunday Schools, group studies and personal study.
Most of the weekly topics will be available in hard copy from the PPL.ORG website and will cover a variety of subjects. We’ll talk about what it means to be human and how everyone is human from the moment of fertilization, and that our time in the womb is only a stage of development like being an infant, a toddler, a child, an adolescent, a mature adult and, if we are blessed with a long life, becoming elderly and how all those categories are categories of personhood and deserving of life and human rights.
Prolife Kitchen Table
Episode 25 - Early Bird - Baby Chris Week 24
By week 24 of development in the womb, there is a greatly reduced risk of miscarriage - but the risk is not zero. Families who suffer these pregnancy losses are too often left to grieve unsupported by family, friends and church. This week's guest author on the topic of miscarriage, is Sue Cyre, past board member of the Institute for Religion and Democracy and past director of Presbyterians for Faith, Family and Ministry. She is the author of a book titled, From Genesis to Revelation God Takes a Bride: the divine marriage of which human marriage is an image, and also served as an editor of Theology Matters.
Ministry When There is a Miscarriage
Scripture references in this episode include:
Matthew 6:25 I Kings 17:17-24 2 Kings 4:18-37
Acts 20:7-12 Luke 8:49-56 Mark 10:14-16
Joshua 1:9
Amelia Sonja Taylor, born at 21 weeks
Miracle Baby Sabie, born at 23 weeks (less than 9 ounces!)
Nash Keen, born at 21 weeks (10 ounces)
https://www.ppl.org/baby-chris
Abortion is never medically necessary
Abortion Pill Reversal https://abortionpillreversal.com 24/7 Helpline at 877.558.0333 Email: help@apr.life or Chat at the weblink above
Post abortion recovery for both women and men at https://www.rachelsvineyard.org
Life Training Institute https://www.prolifetraining.com
Charlotte Lozier Institute https://lozierinstitute.org
Guttmacher Institute https://guttmacher.org
Compelled by the gospel, PPL equips Presbyterians to champion human life at every stage. PPL.org
Welcome back to the ProLife Kitchen Table, the weekly podcast of Presbyterians Protecting Life. And again, I'm your host, Deborah Holyfield. Many things about pregnancy are mysterious, but one of the most mysterious and tragic aspects of pregnancy is miscarriage, when for any number of reasons the pregnancy is unable to continue to develop, resulting in a fetal death, and the mother's body responds by expelling the placenta with the fetus. One point I want to make before going on is that while the medical coding for a miscarriage is sometimes referred to as a spontaneous abortion, it's important to note that a miscarriage is not an intentional abortion and no medical professional considers it to be the same. Also, following a miscarriage, sometimes the mother is treated at the hospital with a procedure known as a DNC to make certain that all the tissue was expelled from her body in order to protect her from developing sepsis. Pro abortion advocates will sometimes try to promote this DNC procedure as being the same procedure as an abortion. This tactic on the part of the pro abortion advocates is particularly cruel and exploitative of suffering women, and when you hear it, you should call it out and put a stop to it. By week twenty four, the risk of miscarriage is greatly reduced, but not zero. When this happens, the mother and father are often overwhelmed with emotions of shock and grief. Yet many times family, friends, and church do not know how to respond if they respond at all. And too many parents are left to suffer such a loss alone. Today's article is written by Sue Sire, past board member of the Institute on Religion and Democracy and author of the book God Takes a Bride. Today's article, Ministry When There is a Miscarriage, was originally published online by GC Ecumenism. I'll link to the article in the show notes. Recently, several high profile couples have publicly spoken of the deep emotional pain they experienced at the death of their preborn child. When Chrissy Teagan and John Legends suffered a miscarriage, she shared on Instagram, We are shocked and in the kind of deep pain you only hear about, the kind of pain we've never felt before. We for some reason had started to call this little guy in my belly Jack. Jack worked so hard to be part of our little family, and he will be forever. We will always love you. Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have also suffered a miscarriage. Although she is pro choice, Markle expressed her deep grief in losing her child, writing in a New York Times op ed piece, losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief, experienced by many but talked about by few. In the pain of our loss, my husband and I discovered that in a room of 100, ten to twenty of them will have suffered from miscarriage. Yet despite the staggering commonality of the pain, the conversation remains taboo, riddled with unwarranted shame and perpetuating a cycle of solitary mourning. Josie Bates Balka from the reality show Bringing Up Bates also shared that she and her husband had lost a child. Our hearts have been completely broken. I've never experienced the type of pain and loss I've had these past weeks. There is an empty spot in our hearts and in our home. And Megan McCain, the co-host of The View, wrote that after she and her husband Ben suffered a miscarriage in 2019, miscarriage is a pain too often unacknowledged. Yet it is real, and what women who have miscarried have lost is real. We feel sorrow and we weep because our babies were real. The deep pain these parents feel at the death of their preborn child may extend to siblings and grandparents. Recognizing this pain, Florida, Nebraska, and Tennessee, upon request will issue a commemorative certificate of nonviable birth. Receiving a certificate from the state is more than receiving a piece of paper. It is a public recognition of their birth and death of their child. To a small degree, it rejects the solitary mourning to which Markle referred. The state certificate makes the birth and death a public event. It's not unlike a marriage certificate issued by the state that publicly recognizes the union. In Nebraska, the certificate includes the baby's name, the date the non viable birth occurred, and the parents' names. The Nebraska statute stipulates that the certificate is not proof of a live birth and the state does not register the birth. The Department of Health and Human Services reports that 50 to 80 people request the certificate each year. The Tennessee certificate is similar to Nebraska's. In Florida, a certificate of birth resulting in stillbirth is issued if the baby is 20 weeks gestation or more. For a child under 20 weeks gestation, a certificate of nonviable birth is issued. In both cases, the baby's name, date of nonviable birth or stillbirth, and name of parents appear on the certificate. The parents must request the certificate. The Wyoming legislature's attempt to pass a similar legislation in 2018 was defeated when pro-choice activists, fearful that nonviable birth certificates would be an acknowledgement of the child's existence and affect abortion laws in the future, rallied support against the bill. So mothers, fathers, siblings, grandparents are denied their right to choose to have a certificate recognizing the birth of their child. Yet even when the state representing the public recognizes the birth and death of this child, the miscarriage still remains largely personal and private. Often friends and some family may not even be aware of the death. There is no outpouring of concern and care. So how can the church minister to these grieving families? What if the church offered quarterly worship services to celebrate the lives of children that died before natural birth? Parents could name the child, friends and family could gather and participate in worship, remembering Scripture's promise of eternal life and celebrating the gift of that child's life, however brief. Some years ago, a professor from Belgium speaking at a marriage conference observed that while the churches in Europe are largely empty, young people nevertheless return to the church for their wedding service, thus showing that the church's ministry at the time of their wedding is important to them. Perhaps if the church today reached out to couples who have experienced the death of a preborn child in their time of great sorrow, young people would once again hear the hope of the gospel and see how Christ's love meets them in their grief. Well, surely there's much ministry to be done among the families in your church congregation who've experienced miscarriage. If your church doesn't have one, I'd recommend getting with your pastor and asking about putting together a private memorial service for after a miscarriage, and then making the congregation aware that such pastoral care is available. Also, many communities have memorial gardens where families can place a marker for their lost child. Perhaps you could help design a pamphlet for these grieving parents that offers scriptural encouragement and lets them know that memorial services and pastoral care are available from the church staff and offering referrals to local support groups in any memorial gardens. Whether or not a family makes use of any of those services or offers of help, just knowing that their church family understands and cares about what they're going through is important. So now let's take a stretch break and come back afterwards to find out what is happening to baby Chris in his 24th week of development in the womb.
SPEAKER_00:All of the materials and information presented in this podcast are sourced from the four decades of information and resources created by Presbyterians Protecting Life and accessible to you at its website. PPL is compelled by the gospel to equip reformed Christians of all denominations to champion human life from fertilization to natural death. Train yourself and others to become a lifeline for women and children and join us as a life support prayer partner at PPL.org.
SPEAKER_01:We are now at week 24 of Baby Chris's Development in the Womb, and this week's devotional is called Early Bird. Hear the word of the Lord. Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Matthew chapter 6, verse 25. Thanks be to God. Twenty-four-week-old baby Chris is now growing at about the same rate he will grow in the first weeks after birth. His body and face have lots of hair that will be absorbed before term birth. His inner ear is fully developed, helping his sense of balance so he can stay right side up in the womb. This is an important milestone because 23 to 24 weeks has been considered the age of viability for premature babies, the age at which babies will survive if born. Today, over half the babies born at 23 weeks survive and many at 22 weeks. While babies born at 24 weeks or later will need specialist care, the long-term health effects of premature birth have been greatly reduced. Premature babies born at 23 to 24 weeks are called micropremes. They usually weigh just over a pound and measure about eight inches from head to bottom. At this age, their body systems are complete but underdeveloped. The airways we read about last week will need respiratory support. Their hearing, though, is fully developed, so they can hear and recognize their parents' voices, although loud noises might be overstimulating to their underdeveloped nervous systems. According to the premature baby charity Bliss, about 80,000 babies are born prematurely in this country, of whom approximately 17,000 require incubator care. Around 5,000 are born before 31 weeks, fewer than 300 are born between 22 and 23 weeks. The youngest premi to survive was Amelia Taylor, born in 2007 at only 21 weeks and six days gestation. She is now a happy and healthy 12-year-old. The world's smallest premi, born during an emergency C-section when her mother experienced severe preeclampsia, is Sabi, born at 23 weeks, weighing less than 9 ounces. Born in December 2018, following heroic neonatal hospital care, she is now at a normal weight and is at home with her parents. The U.S. is one of only seven countries out of 198 in the world that allows elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and nine U.S. states permit abortion up to birth. Both Amelia and Sebi might have been aborted if their mothers had simply asked. The witness of Scripture is that God cares for the smallest, the weakest, and the innocent. The prophets railed against the ways Israel and Judah oppressed the marginalized in their midst. In a time and culture where children were viewed as property, creatures without souls, Elijah and Elisha raised young boys from their deathbeds. Paul raised young Eutychus after a fatal fall. Jesus raised Jairus' daughter from her deathbed and welcomed little children to his side when the disciples would have sent them away. More than 500 times Scripture reminds us to fear not, be not afraid, or addresses the anxieties and fears of weak humanity. When we follow God's example in our treatment of human life, we see value in each human being, no matter how small, weak, or infirm, pre-born and born, underdeveloped microprimis or frail elders, both Paralympic athletes and the bedridden. All our heroes deserving of our own heroic efforts on their behalf, because they are all one with us. Hear the word of the Lord. Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua chapter 1, verse 9. Thanks be to God.
SPEAKER_00:We hope you enjoyed this week's reflection. We encourage you to share it and join us next time on Pro Life Kitchen Table. May God bless you.
