So Help Me God

by Larry D. Thompson

  "Oh, one last preliminary question, Doctor, if you're a nun, why aren't you wearing one of those black nun's habits?"

  Dr. Bennett smiled at the thought. "I'm afraid that would be impossible for me. It's no longer required of nuns and I don't even own one. Conservative business suits like this one do me quite well."

  "Dr. Bennett, we heard from a Dr. Thorpe…"

  "I know him. He's quite well known and respected," Dr. Bennett interrupted.

  "Well, ma'am, he's testified for these folks on the jury. He says that there's no doubt that God infuses the human soul at the moment of conception. Is that a viewpoint that you agree with?"

  "No, sir. May I explain?"

  "Please do."

  "I'm sure that you will all find it more than unusual that a nun would be in this chair, offering the opinions that you are about to hear. Please let me explain. Before I was a nun, I was a woman. As a very young woman, even a little younger than Lucy here, I was raped and became pregnant. Having been raised by a very devout Catholic family, I followed in their tradition. I prayed about what to do about the pregnancy. Some days I think that I must have prayed every waking hour. If God gave me an answer, I didn't understand it. Finally, I had an abortion for all the reasons that young girls make that choice. I was lucky that I didn't have any physical complications from my abortion, but I was overwhelmed with guilt. Two years later I entered the convent. After I became a nun, I asked for and received permission to study philosophy. Then, I obtained a medical degree. During all of those years, I studied everything that I could find that dealt with the beginning of human life and what we Catholics call 'ensoulment.' Deep down, I knew that I was looking for the answer to the question I had carried with me from the day I ended my pregnancy. Had I killed my baby?"

  Tod was studying the jurors who were listening to every word his witness was saying. He interrupted, "Dr. Bennett, did you find the answer to your question?"

  "If I may, for a moment, answer like a lawyer, yes and no. I concluded, like most scientists, that there is certainly a life form at the moment of conception. Is that life form a baby? I must respectfully disagree with my church's current doctrine."

  "Can you explain?"

  "I hope so, Mr. Duncan. The Supreme Court probably said it best when they said it was a medical, philosophical and religious debate. The truth of the matter is that no one can really say with certainty. Only God knows for sure. Like so many other mysteries, I think that He has chosen to keep that answer to himself. I know that there are others who say that they speak for God. I cannot accept that."

  As she made the statement, she looked directly at T. J. "I have spent my life searching for just such an answer and I can tell you what I have concluded. Others may disagree, but my research confirms that far less than half of fertilized eggs develop into human beings. A large number never attach to the uterine wall. Others detach in the first several weeks or just don't develop and are washed away. To suggest that God has a pregnancy mechanism that is going to naturally eliminate over half of fertilized eggs and embryos, yet say that same God has given them a soul, only to have that human person die an early natural death just does not make sense.

  Glenn Ford, the Rice University Professor, looked on with agreement.

  "Obviously, as a fetus approaches term it has all the characteristics of a newborn baby. While some might say that it is not alive until it breathes its first breath, I would disagree and say that in those last several weeks in the womb, the fetus is a human person. At the other extreme, the zygote and embryo during the first several weeks really have virtually no characteristics that we would ascribe to a human person. The embryo has no capacity for reasoning. The embryo has no self-awareness. The embryo cannot communicate. It really has none of the characteristics of personhood. Is there a life form at conception that is a member of the biological species, Homo sapiens? From a scientific standpoint, the answer must be yes.

  "The idea that a distinct person emerges at conception is not a scientific claim but a moral one. Just as a baby is not an adult, neither can we say that an embryo is a baby. Just as a baby must evolve through a multitude of changes to become an adult, so must that first cell evolve through a series of changes to become a human being. I am convinced that a fetus is not a human person in the first trimester. I am convinced that it is a human person in the last few weeks in the womb. In my opinion, the debate centers between eighteen weeks and twenty-four weeks. At this stage of the development of our knowledge, I cannot be more precise. Have I answered your question, Mr. Duncan?"

  "I have a question, Dr. Bennett. How can you be right and all of the priests be wrong?" The voice was not that of Tod, but of Alberto Marino.

  Judge O'Reilly immediately stood at her bench. "I'm sorry, Mr. Marino. Our procedures do not permit jurors to ask questions. You'll have to refrain from doing so anymore. I apologize for not making that clear earlier."

  Pleased with how this brilliant woman was doing Tod asked the juror's question. "Dr. Bennett, since I can ask questions, I'll ask the one posed by Mr. Marino. How come you're so sure you're right and priests, popes and bishops for two thousand years are wrong?"

  "Mr. Duncan, and Mr. Marino, ladies and gentlemen," Dr. Bennett looked first at the jury, then at the audience and last at the TV camera, "I do not speak for my church or for my medical school. I'm giving you only the benefit of my years of study. I disagree with my church on many issues. Remember that my church has not had a consistent position on this issue. Further, the Vatican requires compulsory pregnancy for women. Men made this choice. It is the men in my church who do not permit me or any other woman to become a priest. My church says that regardless of pregnancy by rape, incest, or accident, a woman must remain pregnant. My church encourages freedom of choice, but if the men in my religion had their way, those choices for a woman would be limited to the woman's role as a wife and mother. God selected women to bear the responsibility of childbearing. It seems clear that God has also placed His confidence in women as moral beings. It should be woman, not man, who makes the final decision about whether to bear children. God gave humans free will, the Bible's term for right to choose. It was not 'I give you such a right but you must always choose My way.' God trusted women. Otherwise, he would not have given us the right to choose." She turned to face the jury box and confronted Mr. Marino.

  "I might also add Mr. Marino that our church, yours and mine, has always waited until a child is born alive before it is christened. Even today there is no movement to christen fetuses in the womb or embryos that are in a test tube. Sometimes, in religion as elsewhere, actions speak louder than words."

  Very quietly, Tod asked, "Did you kill a baby when you had an abortion, Dr. Bennett?"

  "Mr. Duncan, I had an abortion at about fifteen weeks. After twenty years of thinking about it, praying about it and studying it, I did not. I am at peace with myself."

  "Pass the witness, Your Honor."

  "Fine, Mr. Duncan. Let's take a break and then we'll hear cross-examination from Mr. Tisdale."

  Jan turned, shook Tod's hand and whispered, "Nice job!"

  "Thanks. She's a strong woman. Let's reserve judgment until we see what Johnny Bob does with her."

  After the break Johnny Bob attacked. "Ma'am, do I call you Dr. Bennett or Sister Mary Ruth or what? See, I'm not a Catholic and I'm a little confused about what hat you're wearing?"

  "In this secular setting, Mr. Tisdale, probably Dr. Bennett is correct."

  Tod smiled.

  "Well, Dr. Bennett, I assume from what you have said that you are in favor of abortion."

  Johnny Bob got an answer he didn't anticipate. "No, Mr. Tisdale. I'm not in favor of abortion. No one that I know of has anything good to say about abortion, including me."

  "Well, then…"

  "If I may continue, Mr. Tisdale, I was not through with my answer. The only ones who favor abortion are those who have decided for whatever reason that they really have no choice. A woman may need it to s
ave her own life. She may choose it because it's the best thing for her emotional well-being or the financial and social well being of herself and her family. Would any woman rather not be in a position of having to make that choice? Of course, she would. Does that mean that she favors it? Absolutely not."

  Rarely at a loss for words in front of a jury, Johnny Bob was surprised at her answer. He looked down as he fumbled with his notes.

  "Now, you're a religious woman, aren't you, ma'am?"

  "That should be rather clear, Mr. Tisdale."

  "Wouldn't you agree that you Catholics have had some pretty good thinkers who have been discussing and debating this and other similar topics for a couple of thousand years now?"

  "True, sir."

  "Yet, you want this jury to throw out two thousand years of debate and carefully thought-out decisions and just accept what you have concluded in about twenty years."

  "It's their choice, sir," Dr. Bennett replied. "I thought that I had made it clear that these were only my opinions and not that of my church or my university. I am not permitted to speak for either."

  "Even science has advanced in the past several decades so that we now know that first tiny cell has all the DNA from its mother and father to become a complete human being. When your church decided over a hundred years ago that human life began at conception, they didn't even have the benefit of that science. Isn't that true?"

  "If that's a question, Mr. Tisdale, I'd agree."

  "As I understand it, Dr. Bennett, you're a member of a number of pro-choice groups, aren't you?"

  "I am, sir."

  "Another word for those groups would be pro-abortion?"

  "Not in every case, Mr. Tisdale." The witness suddenly broke out in a coughing spell. Johnny Bob, ever the gentleman, quickly poured water from the pitcher on his table and took the cup to the witness, who thanked him and continued as several jurors smiled their appreciation at the big man. The witness continued. "What I was saying is that most of those groups do support a woman's right to choose."

  "Isn't it true that every time a bill comes before Congress or any state legislature that would limit abortion, you're called on to testify against it?"

  "I'm often asked to testify and do so when my schedule permits."

  As she answered, Johnny Bob put on his reading glasses and looked down at notes Claudia handed to him. "As a matter of fact, just this year you've testified before fourteen legislative bodies and in every case, I mean every case, you've testified in favor of abortion. Isn't that right, Dr. Bennett?"

  "I don't keep up with the numbers, Mr. Tisdale."

  Tod saw that Johnny Bob was on a roll now. He was doing a good job of showing the witness's bias. Tod was beginning to think that Johnny Bob would call her a religious maverick or abortion zealot by the time he got to closing argument. Thank God it had turned out that she was not the last witness. He tuned back into Johnny Bob as he was asking, "Dr. Bennett, you're familiar with the current debate in our country about research on fetuses and stem cells from fetuses that have been aborted, aren't you?"

  "Mr. Tisdale, it's not only on cells that have been aborted. The research is also on cells from miscarriages and frozen embryos that have been abandoned."

  "In fact, Dr. Bennett, you just recently testified before a congressional committee, advocating the use of cells from aborted fetuses for scientific research?"

  "My testimony was more broad than that. That research, by the way, is very important to many people in this country with otherwise incurable diseases."

  "Objection, Your Honor. Non-responsive."

  "Overruled, Mr. Tisdale. Please continue."

  "And again, Dr. Bennett, your position on that subject is contrary to that of the Vatican and the entire Catholic Church which condemns such research because it is likely to encourage abortions?"

  She spoke softly now. "My position on stem cell research is contrary to most of those in my church."

  "Yes, ma'am. One more area, Dr. Bennett, or for this line of questions, maybe it should be Sister Mary Ruth. Now if my Baptist Bible is the same as your Catholic Bible, God has spoken about life in the womb, hasn't He?"

  "Some people have interpreted various verses in that way, Mr. Tisdale."

  "For example, God spoke to old Jeremiah, not Reverend Thomas Jeremiah Luther here, ma'am, but the original one, and told him, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations'."

  "That's in the Bible, sir."

  "Now, you don't think God would be so dumb as to consecrate Jeremiah as a prophet even before he was born if he didn't think that there was a human life in there, do you?"

  "Sir, that verse doesn't say when in the pregnancy that occurred. I can only assume that it must have been late in the pregnancy."

  "You don't know, do you? Could have been right after conception, right?"

  "Could have been, yes, Mr. Tisdale."

  "And if we go to the New Testament, Sister Mary Ruth, Luke told us about John the Baptist and said that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. Now if God had filled him with the Holy Spirit while he was still in his mama's womb, don't you imagine that he must have gotten around to infusing him with a soul before that time?"

  Sister Mary Ruth looked down at her hands, now clasped in front of her on the witness stand rail before looking up and replying, "Probably so, Mr. Tisdale."

  "Last, Sister Mary Ruth, you know the Ten Commandments, don't you?"

  "Yes, sir. I do my best to live by them and the Golden Rule."

  "You know, don't you, Sister Mary Ruth, that God commands us not to kill."

  Johnny Bob had done a remarkable job of stripping away her scientific and philosophical garb, leaving her before the jury in a nun's habit.

  "Yes sir. That is God's commandment."

  Johnny Bob looked at the jury with satisfaction on his face and turned to the judge. "No further questions, Your Honor."

  "Call your next witness, Mr. Duncan."

  "If it please the court, I can advise you and the jury that I have only one more witness. Since it's close to the end of the day, I would prefer to put that witness on in the morning.

  The judge turned to the jury, "Don't get your hopes up, but we might get lucky and get this to you tomorrow afternoon. Please remember my instructions. I'll see you in the morning."

  As soon as they got back to the fire station, Tod threw his briefcase down on the war room table. "Marilyn, go up to my office and get that bottle of scotch out of the bottom drawer of my credenza. I need something more than a beer after today. Make me a tall scotch and water and fix one for Wayne and Jan.

  "Wayne's not back yet, Tod. And, Marilyn, make mine a Chardonnay," Jan said.

  As it turned out, Wayne had returned to his office. When Marilyn told him the team was assembled downstairs, Wayne managed to come down the fire pole, holding the pole in one hand and a glass of scotch in the other. His landing spilled only a few drops. "Well, Tod, I understand from Marilyn that you got an education on the Bible this afternoon. About time you got some religion."

  "Yeah, thanks. With friends like you, why do I even need the Johnny Bobs of the world? And how come you've got scotch and I don't?"

  Before Wayne could answer, Marilyn entered with a tray of drinks. Tod grabbed the glass of scotch and water, downing about a third before coming up for air. "Thanks, Marilyn, I needed that."

  "Yeah, boss, but watch it," Marilyn cautioned. "You obviously haven't slept much in two days and I would hate for you to have to ice this cake tomorrow with a hangover."

  "Don't worry. Only one. Okay, Wayne, are we set with Dr. Olstein for tomorrow?"

  "As set as we can be, Tod. I've subpoenaed him and gave him an advance of two thousand dollars for his time. Short of hog-tying him and throwing him in the trunk of my car, that's the best I can do. He'll be here at ten o'clock. I'll meet him at the metal detector and get him to the fourth floo
r. Whether I'm with him or not, just have Jan be on the lookout for a giant Santa Claus at the top of the courtroom. You'll be busy with our favorite witness. With a little luck, you may not even have to put Dr. Olstein on the stand."

  CHAPTER 77

  The last day of any trial, civil or criminal, is filled with anticipation and trepidation, usually in about equal parts. The anticipation comes from the hope of victory. The trepidation stems from the possibility that no matter how well things have gone or how hard the parties and lawyers have worked, their fate rests in the hands of twelve strangers.

  On this Thursday morning, Tod rose early, dressed and poured a cup of coffee to drink on the way to work. Leaving a note for his boys, he left the house at five-thirty to beat the Houston traffic.

  Up at five o'clock, Johnny Bob sipped coffee and reviewed his notes as he prepared for closing argument. He would wear his red tie, red suspenders, put the red handkerchief in his coat pocket and wear his red topped boots. Let's have a lot of winners today.

  A few doors down the hall T. J. smiled in anticipation that Tod would call him back on the stand. As he shaved, he studied the road maps that he had for eyes and wondered where his road would lead after today. Next, he dressed and read the morning Chronicle while he flipped channels, looking for news about the trial.

  He didn't have to look far. The Chronicle headline announced that the trial was likely to go to the jury today. The network morning shows had reporters in Houston, set up outside the law school, reporting on the events of the previous day, especially the testimony of a nun who was on the pro-choice side. T. J. listened as CNN announced that Governor Vandenberg, the Republican presidential candidate, had arrived in Houston the night before and would be behind the barricades with the other pro-life forces. The polls were showing a statistical dead heat. Obviously, the candidate wanted to be where the action and the TV cameras would be. T. J. would make sure that they had a photo opportunity before he entered the building. T. J. placed his white Stetson on his head, careful not to mess his hair. As he walked out the door, he picked up his gold Bible and sunglasses.