The decision for a mother to terminate the life of her unborn child must be the most painful and difficult choice imaginable.

Sadly, our society has placed this burden upon women because it has given mothers the option to abort their unborn child.

In the rare situation where a decision needed to be made between the life of a mother or her child, people have made the painful decision to terminate the child.

Yet our society has now extended abortion to allow situations where a pregnancy is simply ‘unwanted’.

In a recent development, New York legislators have chosen to permit late-term abortions, allowing medical practitioners to terminate a pregnancy in its final moments.

Even if it could be argued that a first-trimester foetus was not yet human, there is no doubt that a baby of more than thirty weeks is more than a clump of cells.

And yet we are growing less and less shocked by the thought of doctors causing the death of a human whose only fault is that they have not already traversed their mother’s birth canal.

The Bible makes it clear that God sees unborn children as humans, and view has been held by civilised people for centuries.

Yet, as we stray further and further away from God’s word, our collective heart is hardened, and we are more convinced by an atheistic view that values humans based on their benefit to others.

If we keep travelling this pathway, we will soon justify infanticide of babies with disabilities, and more euthanasia of the aged.

For the vulnerable in our world we must obey the voice of God and show love to those who are unable to love us back.

And we must defend these unborn babies from the acts and decisions of health and legal professionals whose oaths should have led them to protect the vulnerable, not lead them to their premature death.

JODIE McNEILL

As we celebrate Australia Day, it’s a great reminder of how many people give up their time and energy to serve our community.

I’ve recently got to know a bunch of wonderful locals, who spend countless hours of their time to help protect life and property.

Jamberoo Rural Fire Brigade members are always on standby for a ‘fire call’, ready to drop everything to attend a blaze or an incident in our area.

Recently, some of the brigade members were risking their lives as they extinguished the petrol tanker in West Wollongong, and only this week some of us travelled to Tumut as part of a strike team to assist in a large blaze in Southern NSW.

Plus, this weekend, brigade members will be using fire for a different purpose… cooking sausages on the BBQ for breakfast on Australia Day in Reid Park.

I joined the Jamberoo RFB last year, as I wanted to connect more with our community as we seek to serve each other, especially in times of crisis.

This is everything that is great about our village: the willingness to sacrifice time, energy, and safety, to serve others.

This kind of service gives us a glimpse of what it is like for Jesus, the Son of Man, to serve us. We read in the Bible:

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The Bible, Mark chapter 10, sentence 45.

Jesus’ rescue mission was costly, because it meant he sacrificed his own life in order to save the people who came to him for help.

And this is the most courageous act of community service we’ll ever experience.

JODIE McNEILL