Abortion Is Wrong - Elder Andersen

The "Defining Circle" When you define something and state what it is, to protect that definition, you must also state what it is not.

In his General Conference talk, Elder Andersen held nothing back in declaring that Abortion, except in extreme cases, is wrong. That as a church, we support the sanctity of life. And that as the world loses its love for the unborn, we should stay firm.

 Raw Transcript

nurturing and protecting life that is
yet unborn is not a political position
it is a moral law confirmed by the Lord
through his prophets
[Music]
okay so Elder Anderson gives a talk on
abortion this is a rare thing that we
get in the church today um which is
calling something out and uh saying "Hey
we shouldn't be doing this or we
shouldn't be doing that." The church has
taken a position apparently over the
last couple of decades really that
they're not really going to call this
out or at least the last 15 years call
things out as much i want to talk about
that a little bit in this video but uh
abortion especially a lightning rod
issue is brought up here at general
conference because I think the brethren
feel that there is a real issue here
where a lot of people are starting to
move toward this idea that abortion is
an option and it is a moral option um
based a lot on politics and the cultural
shift that we've had with abortion over
the last you know 50 60 years so anyway
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Elder Anderson's talk um I'm just going
to break this down pull in a few clips
and uh um go over a few issues that I
typically talk about and and put this
thing into a little bit of context of of
well some of the phrases that I use some
of the the filters that I use in looking
at a number of these things so first of
all one thing I I'm going to say about
general conference is I thought that
this more than many others a little bit
more maybe last October was a much more
direct approach in in talking to the
members and I think they're going to
have to get more and more this way maybe
I'm wrong what do I know but I don't see
how it's not going to happen that way i
think that you as these issues of
abortion and and and other issues of of
social malaise are are are brought
forward and and and more and more
members fall prey to it and the church
culture becomes starts to adopt these
things I don't see how the brethren
can't address them headon i just don't
think you can stay away from this and
and I think you're going to have to
address it more and more that doesn't
mean you have to be contentious but I
think that you're going to have to talk
a little bit more about this and call
some of these things out
um in in that that that are have changed
in our culture and are starting to
change within the church right and so I
think it and they want to be you've got
to offer clarity from a position of
authority i I believe you know I've
talked about what what we might call the
defining circle and that is that you
know when you define something a
commandment a moral issue right you you
kind of put a circle around what it
is and the problem is is that when you
when when you do this you put that
circle around what something is that
definition of what it is you then also
whatever is outside of that circle you
are defining what it is
Not right and so the truth is found okay
this is the truth within the circle here
is what is not the truth outside of the
circle when you the pressure of this
circle there's a pressure within it to
expand it and start including other
things within the definition of say that
commandment and and so as you do this
and you offer more inclusion and
tolerance to things that are outside of
the circle but then you start bringing
them inside of the circle two things
begin to happen number one that circle
starts to
expand and it muddies the waters of
truth within that
definition and if there's no calling out
of what this isn't right what isn't
truth what isn't
right to have pressure back on the
outside of the circle to push it back in
to keep the definition where it is
supposed to be then that that pressure
will will continue to to expand and that
is what we see with with uh you know
apostasy that's what we see with the
changing of culture is that's those
circles begin to expand and inclusion of
other non-truths are included in the
name of empathy in the name of
compassion these non-truths begin to
enter into that circle and that's what
is happening I think in our culture that
defining circle in so many different
places is expanding and accepting new
bad ideas advers serial ideas into that
circle um that doesn't mean to be
exclusionary from individuals but is
exclusionary against
anti-truth and anti-Christian
values and I think that that becomes a
an issue for those that want to push
tolerance for
people they begin to push tolerance for
bad ideas along with that and that is a
very different thing the gospel is an
invitation to all individuals all
individuals but it is not an invitation
to change doctrine it's not an
invitation to expand the circles of
truth that that is not how it works
so the defining circle needs to
be you need to have you need to say what
something is not when something is not
right so that that pressure on the
outside continues to push back inward
another one of those is the order of
family and abortion fits right in this
there is an order of the family and it
is a Christian order it is an a
Christlike order the the family goes
right along with the doctrine of Christ
you cannot separate
them and there is an order of family and
abortion is one of the elements that
pushes against the order of family right
it's outside of that circle of the order
of family and as you expand the circle
and say abortion is okay as part of this
and and and is should be
common and to decisions of
convenience can be included in this then
you're you're breaking the order of God
you're breaking the order of the family
and and I believe at some point that
needs to be called out and and that is
what Elder Anderson has done here now
this is how Elder Anderson opens this up
talks about the commandment uh or or the
phrase from Jesus by this shall all men
know that ye are my
disciples if you have love to one
another our savior Jesus Christ taught
us by this shall all men know that ye
are my disciples if you have love one to
another now he's going to go over this
but he's going to talk about this in two
different ways which I think is the
right way to do this number one he's
talking about the
unborn right he's talking about the
unborn do you have love for the child
the unborn child or are he simply
looking at the rights of an individual
we we have we have moved in our culture
so much to a position of rights right
what's in it for me and rights need to
be held up don't get me wrong but our
mindset has moved toward rights instead
of responsibility and duty and and you
don't need to diminish responsibilities
and duty you have to weigh these two
things
together it's not just what's in it for
me it's not just women's
rights or civil rights or human rights
right it it is
also women's responsibility civil
responsibility human
responsibility you can't forget that
other side of the coin you've got to
have those things together here so he's
focusing on one the unborn child and
having love for the unborn child but
also love for those that may have made a
mistake
or that are in a
position where where maybe a young woman
for example as he brings this up a
couple times a young woman a teenage
girl has gotten pregnant are we going to
judge that girl and and and and and heap
darkness upon her in a place where she's
already probably in a very difficult
position do do we judge her for that
directly for that or do we look forward
with her to how we can move forward with
with her situation obviously it's a
mistake and you don't condone the
mistake but what do you do to move
forward with her and he brings up a few
of these examples you know a a a a
family that loves her friends that love
her a ward that would love that that
woman that young woman and and and help
her out i think that's important to
understand having a hardline on abortion
does not in should not
include going out and and and throwing
shame on someone who's made a
mistake especially if they regret it now
Elder Anderson is going to go through a
few reasons why someone may have an
abortion when a single woman discovers
that she is expecting an unanticipated
child health concerns spiritual turmoil
embarrassment financial worries
educational questions marriage
uncertainty and the sadness of shattered
dreams can in a moment of pain and
bewilderment lead a thoughtful woman to
take steps that will bring deep pain and
regret so again you know that we're
talking about moving forward through a
repentance process helping that
individual out and there are reasons why
these things come up and I think they
need to be
addressed right now now that doesn't
mean we we we excuse
abortion but there are fears and there
are issues that women go through and we
should try to lean into that a little
bit and understand that while we still
hold on to truth i mean we should be
able to do that can we be compassionate
can we have tethered
empathy can we have tethered empathy for
someone tethered to the truth that's the
way I believe we need to work with these
things and then he's going to go to the
family proclamation and and here 30
years ago the family proclamation was
given 30 years ago and it is in so many
ways it is a litmus for the order of the
family and the doctrine of Christ and I
know I'm going to get a lot of push back
on that but I you again you cannot take
these apart you just can't pull them
apart the order of the family is
essential and whether you're talking
about gender whether you're talking
about roles or or at least ideally uh
whether you're talking about marriage
whether you're talking about children
right that family proclamation gives a
very good guide to an ideal situation
that we should be striving for not
everybody can accomplish that it's just
not always a something that can be
accomplished but it is the ideal and we
should strive for it whether we're in
that deal or not and we should help
others strive for it whether we're in
that position or not here's what he has
to say on it 30 years ago the Lord's
prophets issued a proclamation to the
world it includes these words we declare
that God has commanded that the sacred
powers of procreation are to be employed
only between man and woman lawfully
wedded as husband and wife we declare
the means by which mortal life is
created to be divinely appointed we
affirm the sanctity of life and its
importance in God's eternal plan okay i
mean it's an order right marriage is
between a man and a woman the two that
procreate the purpose there primarily is
to have children and rear those children
that's the
ideal and that's what we should should
strive for but there's an order that is
put in place abortion falls outside of
that order it falls outside of that
defining circle except in extreme cases
the confusion comes when we step outside
of that
order of God by using gospel principles
so if we come in and we use empathy and
we use you know a a a an a compassion of
action but it's malevolent a malevolent
compassion and we're using these gospel
principles of empathy and compassion in
a way that tries to expand the circle
and we untether ourselves with that
empathy and we we we begin to operate
with malevolent compassion which
is you know not the etal
internal view uh for the well-being of
that
individual then the confusion comes in
and and we start expanding that defining
circle that using gospel principles in
the wrong way is the way that Satan
works that's the way he confuses us he
wants us to feel that we are being moral
and we want to feel like we're being
moral and if we can push women's rights
or choice above everything
else right as a moral
objective then we can kind of trick
ourselves into believing that the unborn
don't matter it's always done through
these types of moral issues and that's
why there becomes an argument i think
that the war in heaven was exactly the
same thing it's not just a bunch of evil
people and spirits that decided to fight
against the the plan of the father
because they were evil i mean you you
could say their choice is evil but
there's some type of a moral
presentation a corrupted moral
presentation that is offered to those
individuals that they begin to believe
in their weakness in their justification
whatever it is it's still given as a as
a moral carrot a corrupted
uh a
decomposing moral carrot so that they
can make a choice to feel that they're
right and that they are justified now I
want to say to those that may have
already gone through this that may have
had an abortion or been involved with
loved ones that have had an abortion
there is a repent repentance process and
you can move forward that's always there
a lot of times people don't want to
bring these topics up for that very
reason because it's going to hurt people
when they hear it i get
it of course that's the case with all
sin and and you certainly don't want to
put something in someone's face that
that is not the way to be but you cannot
let go of
truth you need you need to hold on to
the truth and then offer love and offer
charity
to those individuals in helping them to
move forward and then Elder Anderson is
going to go into a very important point
here a very very important point in
talking about this not being a political
issue right or or if it is a political
issue that is not the reason for your
choice it's a moral issue which is above
politics listen to what he says here
nurturing and protecting life that is
yet unborn is not a political position
it is a moral law confirmed by the Lord
through his
prophets okay so okay it is a political
position it can be a political position
but what he's pointing out here is that
that is a a a lower a much much
lower value right i mean politics is a
much lower value the truth is is that
abortion is anti-f family it is antirist
in a sense it is it is anti- the order
of
God it is
anti-life and and honestly I I have
followed this online for a long time i
don't talk a lot about abortion but I
have followed this a lot and I have seen
individuals in the church
online morph in this position over the
last 15 years especially the last 5 to
10 and and and where they have because
they have a political party that they're
associated with that puts this up as a
platform they start associating more
with those individuals they start
bringing in that those other positions
in that platform one of them being
abortion and so you see them change over
time and they start adopting it and this
has been in the last five years
especially i mean it's it's crazy to see
how people have changed with their with
their position on this and especially
the the youth on
this and so it's I think I think the
brethren see this they know this and
they know that
politics has changed many people's many
members position on abortion from being
against abortion to supporting it maybe
even advocating for it and that's a very
dangerous place to be right that's a
dangerous place to be because you are
you are fighting against the sanctity of
life and you're fighting against a
natural process of f and your frame of
mind and your world view on things I
think are more in jeopardy in this i'm
not saying that you are an evil person i
am saying that you
are making a mistake in thinking about
supporting this practice and know I I I
know that this is an agenda also that is
put out by people that are not good
right throughout the world they push
this throughout the world and whether
it's a
zeropulation agenda or it is a women's
rights agenda there are people and
organizations international
organizations that push this as best as
they can to fight against family and
ultimately to fight against marriage
i've seen the documentation i've seen
the success that they've had now in
speaking about the youth and others he's
going to talk about how the youth want
it straight and I I'm going to say
something extra here
people want it straight or they need it
straight and we don't always get it
straight and this is very
straightforward and and they if you
don't have it straight you just have
fluff you have you know a a a gospel in
the clouds that uh that that is not give
you the strength and the foundation to
be anchored to truth to tethered to
truth so let's see what he has to say
here and then I'm going to I'm going to
comment again on it a statement by
President J ruben Clark Jr who served in
the first presidency beautifully
describes our youth today
the youth of the church are hungry for
things of the spirit they are eager to
learn the gospel and they want it
straight undiluted yes they want to know
about our beliefs they want to gain
testimonies of the truth they are
inquirers seekers after truth end of
quote
okay we all need that
we cannot just be built off of stories
we cannot just be built off of fluff
that is not a real testimony we need
anchor we need it
straight and we need what the def
definition of something is and and what
it's not and that circle needs to be
strong and firm and in place on these
things and I think that he says that
they want it straight they want they
want to know what our beliefs are we
need to lean into those things more not
step back and whether it's talking about
appeasing other Christian denominations
or the world in any other
way why do that why worry so much about
see we we're like you we're like you we
don't need to do that right when you
have interfaith relationships for
example stick to your guns stick to what
we believe lean into
it lean into the plan of salvation lean
into the Book of Mormon lean into Joseph
Smith no matter what the critics say
lean into it double down why would you
backtrack on these things stand firm on
them we have peculiarities we are a
peculiar people lean into that
peculiarity i I I I I think we've got to
do that don't try to please
everybody stick to the truth
now he's going to finish up with a what
has been somewhat of a controversial
uh example here of a woman whose husband
had an
affair and the woman he had an affair
with gets
pregnant and she's going to abort the
child so this is a is is oftenimes
called a love child and and this
wife to stop the
abortion offers to adopt the child
of her husband's uh uh
mistress which is wow you know that's
that's
like unbelievable right it's
unbelievable that that that that that
she would do this but here's the thing
right It's I I think that maybe there's
a qualifier that could be put on this
which is that's not necessarily always
the right thing to do i wonder if some
women I've seen some women that have
said you know okay so is this what we're
supposed to do in this situation if
we're find ourselves in that situation
is this what we're supposed to
do i I I don't know that that is the
right answer i don't know if that is the
right answer for everyone i think that
every situation is different it's a
case-bycase
basis where is the the husband on these
things you know where are you on these
things what else has happened in your
marriage what what uh you know there
there's a lot of of moving parts in in
this type of a scenario that I think we
need to look at i don't think though
that the message of Elder Anderson is
hey this is you you need to do this to
be Christlike the message
is look what this woman was willing to
sacrifice and to do to save an unborn
child because that is the message that
he has given throughout the talk right
the extremes that some people that she
went through to save the unborn child
and and to adopt it right so I think
that's the message that he's pushing
forward here he wants to
show the
sanctity of life of those unborn
children and then he makes this
observation of
fact about our society and and I think
within the church as well the
diminishing love for unborn children
worldwide is a great grave concern god
cherishes life it is his work and his
glory to bring immortality and eternal
life to his children
as disciples of Jesus Christ we cherish
life
okay so the observation is is that this
is something that is getting worse and
worse worldwide and again regardless of
what the agenda is because you know we
receive these messages and these world
views from from very few people and very
few organizations this is something I've
realized over the last 15 years or so
it's incredible the influence that these
individuals and and these organizations
have and and and and as they push their
agenda out and they find distribution
channels like academia and government
and and etc and and now
corporations media of course um policy
and law
um etc now you know and then it finally
gets down into our f our friends
um who begin to point the fingers of
shame if
necessary there is a diminishing love
for the unborn and it's not it should
not be an option except in the most
extreme
cases for those that are trying to
uphold the family and of course those
that care about the sanctity of life
there is an order of the family abortion
is not only going against the sanctity
of life it is also anti-f family it's
not just a political position it is a
moral position and if you side with a
party that has abortion as and women's
rights as their platform it doesn't mean
that you have to go along with it you
don't have to support that part of the
agenda the defining circle on the family
all the way around
marriage right
gender children abortion right is is is
growing right that defining circle is is
expanding out and tolerating more and
more and more and we need the ability we
need to use our ability to be able to
bring that back to where truth
stands and that's what Elder Anderson is
doing here i appreciate him him calling
this out it's not like you have to do
this all the time but you have to do it
every once in a while on all issues I
believe that are really affecting the
culture of the church
especially define not only what
something is but what it is not thanks
for listening