Over two years at least 15,500 aborted and miscarried babies were treated as clinical waste.
At least 15,500 aborted and miscarried babies were treated as clinical waste and incinerated in British hospitals over the past two years, an investigation has found. Two of the hospitals even used the remains to heat buildings in “waste to energy” programs. Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge admitted to incinerating 797 babies younger than 13 weeks gestation in their “waste to energy” program, and Ipswich Hospital did the same with 1,101 fetal remains, although the remains may have come from another hospital.
Parents who lost their pre-born children were often not treated with compassion, according to the study, and they were not consulted on how to handle the remains. The Department of Health has now banned the practice of incinerating aborted and miscarried babies along with rubbish. Health minister Dr. Dan Poulter called it “totally unacceptable.” “While the vast majority of hospitals are acting in the appropriate way,” he said, “that must be the case for all hospitals and the Human Tissue Authority has now been asked to ensure that it acts on this issue without delay.”
One in seven pregnancies ends in a miscarriage. There are around 4,000 stillbirths each year in the United Kingdom or 11 each day.
Some people may say that in the end it doesn’t make much difference how the nonliving bodies of unborn babies are handled, whether buried, cremated or incinerated as clinical waste. In every situation, it‘s “from dust to dust and ashes to ashes” (Genesis 3:19) (Genesis 18:27). Yet, the practice of treating fetal remains as rubbish, or even as kindling which can be used for heating purposes, sends a powerful and unwelcome message. It is good that the British authorities appear eager to end such unpleasant practices in their country. American health authorities or newspapers should undertake a similar investigation to see what may be going on in US hospitals.
There may be several reasons why unborn humans can be treated with such disrespect, but a part of the problem can be laid at the feet of evolution theorists. Back in the 19th century, Ernst Haeckel proposed a theory called “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” which proposed that as an embryo develops (ontogeny), it recaptures the various stages of evolution in which life on earth is said to have evolved from simple organisms into more complex ones (phylogeny). So, in other words, the early human embryo can be thought of as being at the same stage as our alleged early animal ancestors. Thus, according to this theory, killing a human embryo at an early stage of gestation is no more a moral problem than killing a fish or an amphibian. We now know Haeckel’s theory is clearly false, and a series of drawings that supported it were faked.
The human embryo is 100% human from the moment of conception. It already has all the genetic information it will need to develop into an adult human being. Because we cannot create life and are commanded not to commit murder, we do not have the right to take a life, except for a few circumstances including some self-defense situations. Along with the misinformation concerning embryos which may have clouded our thoughts, terminating a life due to selfish reasons is also unacceptable. On the other hand, God has created life and thus has the right, as He sees fit, to take a life, such as in the case of a naturally occurring miscarriage. The Creator of life doesn’t have to give us a reason for His actions.
Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” And the fullest life is the eternal life Jesus won for us by His holy life and His suffering and death on a cross.
References: Sarah Knapton, “Aborted babies incinerated to heat UK hospitals,” The Telegraph.
Elizabeth Mitchell, “Recapitulation Repackaged and Re-Applied,” Answers in Genesis
Photo of Addenbrooke’s Hospital from Wikipedia, by D. Dinneen
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QUESTION OF THE DAY
Are deaths from stroke in the US rising or falling?
Stroke is now the fourth-leading cause of death in the US, but it used to be the third. Reasons for the drop in the death rate may be the success in reducing blood pressure, declines in smoking, improved cholesterol levels, and better treatment of stroke patients.
Source: American Heart and American Stroke Associations, reported in Bottom Line Personal (March 15, 2014)
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