Dr. Willie Parker reminds me of Dr. George Tiller, he had a similar story. Dr. Tiller also did not believe abortion was right when he first started practicing womens healthcare, but actually getting to know women's stories lead to a change in his perceptions of the issue.
His ethics are consistent with what Pr. Ed Knudson, in our own religious denomination, has had to say about the issue. It's not about being religiously correct or self-righteous, it's about responding to human needs that we encounter in our vocations.
That ranks up there with one of the absolute worst arguments for the morality of abortion. Absolute worst.
This man relates him performing abortions, where he literally kills an unborn child to the story of the woman caught in adultery that Jesus forgives in John 8. Analogous? Not even close.
In fact, the very first thing to point out is that he's basing his position on a picture that wasn't even accurate to the story. In his picture, the woman is surrounded by men who are already stoning her. This isn't at all the story Scripture provides:
The scribes and the Pharisees *brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they *said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. "Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?" They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more."]
So the obvious problem from the outset is that this man is providing commentary on a scene and story that isn't even Biblical. Jesus didn't walk into the midst of a scene where men were actively stoning and killing a woman. We also aren't told what Jesus was writing in the ground. But this man's picture says the word "grace", so Jesus must have been writing grace. Furthermore, this man suggests that Grace might have even been the woman's name! I'm sorry, but this doesn't fly.
Furthermore, as most people do when arguing a position, he downplays what she did. He says things like "alleged" when it comes to the adultery as if to paint a picture that we aren't even sure this woman is guilty in the first place. Yet, Scripture is abundantly clear, with reason, that this woman was literally caught in the act of adultery. It's known. It's not alleged.
This is basically like someone taking a true story, and then completely changing it, making a movie and saying "based on real life events." So the story this man is operating from may be based upon a real Biblical story, but he's changed so much of it that we can't use it for a theological discussion.
And how does this fake story touch this man? How is it that Jesus
forgiving a woman in the present for
sin she committed in the past analogous to this man actively and presently killing an unborn human being? I'll give you a hint - it's not! It's not even close to an analogy.
He says, "In that story, I am Jesus" The problem is he's not. The problem is that he's actively engaging in abortion procedures. He's actively engaged in doing something immoral. Jesus was NOT actively engaged in doing something immoral. This man basically said that Jesus, Himself, would perform abortions.
FireDragon - the fact that you find something like this a compelling story for the moral appropriateness of abortion is beyond my comprehension.