"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable."
So said the Apostle Paul nearly two millenia ago in his letter to the Christians at Corinth, a city known for its emphasis on personal sexual freedom.
I was reminded of Paul's declaration as I read another statement, one of a British physician about the collision of two sexual freedoms for women: the freedom to act on their sexual appetites and the freedom to choose abortion if need be.
Responding in an advice column in The Times, Dr. Thomas Stuttaford declared that the loss of libido after an abortion is "so common that it can almost be said to be expected." A study conducted by the doctor 15 years earlier, along with years of seeing patients since, have convinced him that an abortion not only hurts the sex drive of women, but often emotionally threatens even solid marriage relationships.
Stuttaford said that nearly all women suffer feelings of guilt and grief following an abortion, feelings which usually last for weeks. And other research has had similar findings.
Statistical research by the Elliot Institute shows that, in many cases, the emotional effects of abortion are still discernable eight weeks after an abortion. In one study, two months after their abortions, 44 percent of women complained of nervous disorders, 36 percent had experienced sleep disturbances, 31 percent had regrets about their decision and 11 percent had been prescribed psychotropic medicine by their family doctor.
Paul's declaration to the Corinthians of his freedom came in the larger context of not giving in to fleshly appetites, and he specifically mentioned food and sex. While God created them both for our enjoyment, He also provided us a context for both. Sex was created to be enjoyed within the context of marriage, and is the means for bringing forth new life.
Unbridled freedoms have their consequences, and Stuttaford's declarations are a good reminder.
Stumble It!
