Needed

Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep. The sound of the heart monitor filled the silence of the open living room as the nurse led me to my student’s bedside—let’s call her Jane.1 I was there to complete an evaluation to help determine options for her to participate in learning. Currently, the fifth grader was being educated at home by a tutor due to her medical conditions. She was lying in an adjustable hospital bed in front of a bay window overlooking her front lawn.

As I approached the bed, I made my initial observations, and the nurse filled me in on Jane’s medical progress. Machines were helping her breathe, monitoring her vital organs, and providing her nourishment. She was still working to maintain consistent movement of her arms and legs. Most importantly, those working with Jane were searching for a way for her to communicate, given that she was unable to speak or produce consistent movements to activate a communication device. My evaluation would help determine if we could leverage her consistent eye movements to allow her to communicate by fixing her gaze on an object or picture.

Before I dove into my usual routine of evaluation, I paused. Looking at Jane buried under wires and tubes, surrounded by an audience of machines, I was overwhelmed by a sense of who she was—a blessing, created in the image of God, worthy of dignity, respect, and honor. In that moment, the data I was about to collect and analyze about her didn’t matter. Jane’s worth wasn’t found in what she could or could not do, but in the image of the one who had created her—the compassionate, loving, and eternal Creator.

I’ve thought of Jane many times over the almost 15 years since our encounter, and I thought of her again on June 24, 2022, when the United States Supreme Court issued its decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The court’s decision spurred much conversation around the value of unborn life. But as I’ve thought about the other individuals whom I have taught or ministered to over the years, both in public education and through special needs ministry, I realize the need to adopt a truly pro-life worldview toward all life—including individuals with special needs.

Competing Worldviews

In the world of special education, we rely a lot on data. We are taught to use it as a starting point to make educational decisions, such as to determine whether an instructional approach is proving effective or to identify the causes of a student’s behavior. We also use a variety of data to determine whether a student is eligible to receive special education services. After examining things like test scores, written observations, and developmental scales, we consider the findings when discussing the criteria for different disability categories as determined by federal law. If a student meets the criteria under one or more categories, they receive special education services.

Data can serve useful purposes when determining an individual’s strengths and identifying areas where support is needed. Similarly, the context of the abortion debate uses the metrics of two competing worldviews—both with radically different criteria for whose life has value and dignity.

When we begin with God’s Word, the metrics for man’s value and worth are established in the very first chapter of Genesis. On the sixth day of creation, God created “mankind in his own image . . . male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Man is the only creature made in God’s image, set apart from all other living things. This designation as image-bearer is extended to all people, regardless of age, ability, gender, or location—including in the womb. Additionally, God tells us that we do not have the authority to take the life of another image-bearer through murder (Exodus 20:13). Only God is Creator and capable of giving life, so we have no right to decide which children live or die by abortion.

Those who advocate for abortion rely on the metrics of man’s ideas instead of God’s Word to define a person’s value. Abortion is often presented as an alternative when healthcare professionals predict that a child will not have a certain quality or length of life. Many mothers are encouraged to undergo prenatal testing to reveal medical conditions that may impact their child, such as Down Syndrome, trisomy 18, and spina bifida. While this information can be used by parents and care teams to prepare for the birth of a child needing extra support, some medical professionals and governing authorities use it to offer abortion as a way to end the child’s or family’s perceived hardships or burdens.

Personal Experience

Even before becoming a born-again believer, I was a secular pro-life advocate. I first learned what it meant to be pro-life when I visited a booth at a county fair as a teenager. I was given a pamphlet and a bumper sticker that read “Abortion stops a beating heart,” which I still have to this day. After reading the information in the pamphlet and doing my own research, I concluded it was only logical that babies in the womb are people and that it was morally wrong to kill them. Not until I was a young adult did I begin to understand the biblical foundation for pro-life beliefs when I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior and began to study God’s Word. Since then, my experiences working with individuals with special needs have both magnified and deepened my understanding of the value of every individual, each one created in God’s image.

The concept of being made in God’s image is often associated with observable characteristics such as having the ability to learn, communicate, or show empathy to others. I have often watched my students, both in school classrooms and in church ministries, display these very characteristics. I’ve exchanged high-fives as students mastered skills like learning how to count money and make change. I’ve watched students like Anne, who has an intellectual disability, give hugs, tell jokes, and say words of encouragement to her peers if they are upset or sad. And I know that no matter what question I ask during Bible study, Tracy will always shout out “Jesus” as the answer. Even though it may not be the answer I’m looking for, I love that she sees our Savior as the answer to everything.

I was constantly reminded that God looks at the heart while man looks at the outward appearance.

Many times, however, God has given me opportunities to understand more completely that being made in God’s image isn’t a visible characteristic or ability—it’s inherent in every person because God knows, loves, and has a purpose for them. For example, I often watched David, who has multiple disabilities, rock back and forth in his wheelchair during worship and vocalize his praise in high-pitched, intermittent squeals. This may have been jarring or unusual for some people, but to me, I just saw another image bearer reacting to worship in his authentic way. Sometimes I sat with students like Sam, who has a traumatic brain injury, and talked with and read to them or just kept them company even though they were unable to engage with me either verbally or physically. In these moments, I was constantly reminded that God looks at the heart while man looks at the outward appearance. Even if Sam couldn’t talk or move like I do, he is still created and loved by God. The same Savior who died on the cross so that I could have the free gift of salvation did so for Sam, too.

Christ’s love for us serves as the ultimate example of how we should love others—something that is sometimes challenging to do. Over the years, I’ve encountered difficult situations, such as protecting students from harming themselves and others during a behavior crisis; quickly clearing people and objects from the immediate area where a student is having a seizure; or hearing a parent lament about a new medical diagnosis. In these situations, I’ve been stretched to understand what it means to show love in different ways. Sometimes that love looked like removing sharp objects from my classroom so a student wouldn’t hurt himself. Other times it looked like helping a student clean herself after a bathroom accident, or praying with parents as they cried out to God for help with their son or daughter.

Regardless of the situation, whether my students’ lives are short, long, difficult, full of joy, costly—regardless of what they do or don’t do—they are image-bearers of our eternal Creator. My students’ worth isn’t tied to their abilities or circumstances. Their lives have value without condition. Their lives matter to God, and so they matter to me.

Valuable and Indispensable to God

The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. 1 Corinthians 12:22

I’ve been blessed by the children and adults I have worked with, and I can’t imagine my life without them. My experiences have only strengthened my belief and understanding in the inexpressible qualities of God that we reflect because we are made in his image. The Apostle Paul wrote, “The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable” (1 Corinthians 12:22). As the body of Christ, it is our job to share the truth of God’s Word with others and let our words and actions reinforce that from the moment of fertilization to natural death. Regardless of perceived ability or other characteristics, every person is important to God.

Supporting individuals with special needs and their families is one way we can put action to our words and beliefs, and hopefully help change people’s hearts in the process. But how do we do this? I like to break this down into three areas.

1. Interact

   First, we can recognize that individuals may interact or express themselves in many ways. We can show respect and patience if someone’s behavior or communication is different from our own and teach our children to do the same.

2. Engage

   Sometimes having a disability or supporting an individual with special needs can be isolating. Think about tangible ways you can engage people who have special needs and their families, such as inviting them over for dinner, setting up a play date between their children and yours, or asking a caregiver how you can best support them through prayer or other means.

3. Assess and Support

   We can also look for ways to better include and welcome these individuals and families, especially in our churches. When we identify and address potential barriers to things like physical access, communication, behavioral support, and sensory sensitivity, we show that we recognize the value of every person in the body of Christ—even if their needs are different from our own. For some churches, this might mean making buildings more accessible for people using wheelchairs or providing an alternative viewing area for people who may be overwhelmed by loud worship music. It might mean training pastors and teachers how to respond to children or adults in behavioral crises, or enlisting volunteers for church activities to support people who have special needs.

After all these years, I still remember leaving my evaluation with Jane. Usually, I pondered different instructional supports and strategies I could use to help a student meet their goals, but that seemed so insignificant at the time. I realize now that God used my experience with Jane to help me evaluate my own heart and understanding. Even though I haven’t seen Jane in many years, I am grateful for how God allowed her to point me to the truth of his Word and the value and dignity he bestows on every human life.