Summary
Rev. Wan begins by speaking directly to survivors: what
happened to you was wrong, full stop, and you deserve safety,
trauma counselling and loving people who won't judge you.
He explains that most Christian traditions have historically
held that unborn life has worth from conception, drawing on
Psalm 139:13–16 and Jeremiah 1:5, and have included cases of
rape on the grounds that the child's worth isn't diminished by
how it was conceived — the child is also a victim. That
conviction must sit alongside an equally serious biblical
commitment to the survivor's dignity: Scripture treats sexual
violence as comparable to murder (Deuteronomy 22:25–27), and
God is close to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18).
Some sincere Christians believe an exception is warranted in
cases of rape, and the church has not spoken with one voice
here. As chairman of the faith-based charity Safe Place, he
describes its work: the decision is always the mother's, and
the charity provides trauma counselling and support whatever
she decides.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
If I was raped and became pregnant, why is abortion wrong?
00:00
Now here's the final question for today, and this is a very
hard question: "If I was raped and became pregnant, why is
aborting wrong? Why should I carry the child?"
00:19
I want to pause here before saying anything else. If you're
asking this question because you are the one who has been
raped, I want to tell you that what happened to you was a violation, full stop.
And nothing I say in the next few minutes is meant to minimise that trauma.
00:50
If you're actually living this right now, please hear this
first: you deserve support. You deserve safety. You deserve
trauma counselling. You deserve to have loving people around
you who won't judge you for any decision you're wrestling
with right now.
01:14
This is one of the hardest, most personal questions a person
can ask, and it deserves to be met with tenderness and love. I
mean it. I do not wish to give you a lecture.
01:33
I want to be honest about something important. This is a
question where thoughtful, sincere Christians land in
different places, and I want to represent the range honestly
rather than pretend we have total unanimity or agreement.
Even if we don't agree with some of the answers, remember
that these are also loving people, also trying to wrestle
with an answer.
02:08
Historically, the majority of Christians have taken the
position that unborn life carries inherent worth from
conception, rooted in passages like Psalm 139:13–16 — "You
formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my
mother's womb" — and Jeremiah 1:5 — "Before I formed you in
the womb I knew you." It is from these Scriptures that the
conviction arises. Most Christian traditions have
historically opposed abortion based on this conviction, and
they include cases of rape, on the grounds that the child's
worth is not diminished by the horrific circumstances in
which the child was conceived. The child, in this view, is
not the offender and shares none of the guilt. The baby is
also a victim.
03:27
At the same time, this teaching has to be held alongside an
equally serious biblical commitment to the dignity and
protection of the survivor, the mother herself. Scripture
takes sexual violence with total seriousness.
Deuteronomy 22:25–27 treats sexual violence as comparable to
murder in its severity. And the Psalms are full of God's
tenderness toward those who have been brutalised and
traumatised in this way; Psalm 34:18 is an example. A
theology that emphasises the unborn child's worth while
neglecting the survivor's suffering and ongoing needs has
failed to represent Christ's heart.
04:29
Some sincere Christians, weighing the trauma involved,
believe an exception is warranted in the rare cases of rape.
The church has not spoken with one voice on this the way it
has on abortion more broadly, and I think honesty requires me
to identify that. We need to also focus on the needs
of the traumatised mother, not just those of the baby.
05:07
What I can see clearly is this: this is never a decision that
should be forced on someone through shame or a stranger's
judgment from a pulpit. Whatever a woman in this situation
decides, we are called as the church to walk with her, not to judge her,
not to hand her a guilty verdict and walk away.
05:43
I am currently the chairman, among other things, of a
faith-based charity called
Safe Place.
You can google it.
It is a charity that empowers women to make the decision to give
birth to the baby under various circumstances. The decision
is always the mother's to make. All we want to do is provide
trauma counselling for those who have to make such difficult
decisions, and for those who decide to keep the baby, we
provide support for them as well. We have stories of many who
are thankful that they were not pressured to make a pro-life
decision, but were grateful they were heard. And even when
they made a different decision, they were not judged, and
they also received support.
06:51
What you can do. First, lead with practical support, not
position papers. If someone you know is in this situation,
help them access trauma counselling and medical care. And if
they are weighing their options, point them to real, tangible
resources — pregnancy support such as that given by Safe
Place — that offer both practical help and respect for a
woman's autonomy and dignity, not just pressure toward one
outcome.
07:30
Second, resist the instinct to lead with doctrine in a moment
of crisis. This is the time for your presence, not for your
argument or debate. Jesus consistently met the wounded with
compassion before correcting them. John 8 tells the story of
a woman caught in adultery. The leaders of the faith insisted
on keeping to the law, that the woman should be stoned. Jesus
met the woman and gave her mercy. Whatever you believe
theologically, let compassion arrive in the room before your
conviction does. It is so important. The decision made by the
woman, either way, is not an easy one, and she needs our
love, not our judgment.
08:44
And that's it for today. I hope this conversation has given
you something to think about and helped you see some of these
difficult questions from a different perspective. If you'd
like to explore more, do check out our sermon series, It's
Not Fair, where we'll be tackling more questions about God,
faith, and the things that just don't seem fair. Thanks for
listening, and I will see you in the next episode.
