Fairhaven Professor Hilary Schwandt publishes a paper on abortion access in Mongolia
Summary
On October 12, 2026, Western Washington University reported that Hilary Schwandt, a Fairhaven College public health professor specializing in reproductive health, had published the first paper in a planned series about abortion access in Mongolia. Based on research conducted in 2025, the qualitative study examines medical testing requirements and cultural attitudes that Schwandt says create clinical and structural barriers. The report quotes the study’s stated goal as avoiding abortions whenever possible, but provides few additional findings or details about the research.
Watchmen Signals
Biblical Context
The central issue is how abortion is understood and accessed, including the moral status of unborn human life and the responsibilities of medical and social institutions. Scripture does not directly address Mongolia’s clinical requirements, cultural attitudes, or modern abortion-access systems. It does, however, provide a meaningful framework for evaluating the underlying question of whether life in the womb possesses human value and whether the shedding of innocent blood is morally serious. Psalm 139:13-16 portrays God as forming and knowing a person in the womb, supporting the view that prenatal life is not morally insignificant. Jeremiah 1:5 likewise speaks of God’s knowledge and setting apart of Jeremiah before birth, though its immediate context concerns Jeremiah’s prophetic calling and should not be treated as a complete medical or legal argument about abortion. Luke 1:41-44 describes the unborn John responding in the womb to Mary’s arrival, presenting the unborn child as an active participant in the Gospel narrative. The prohibition against murder in Exodus 20:13 and the condemnation of shedding innocent blood in Proverbs 6:16-17 establish broader principles concerning the protection of human life. Applying these passages specifically to abortion involves theological and ethical interpretation; they do not discuss modern abortion procedures or access barriers directly. Together, however, these texts explain why abortion is a matter of substantial biblical and moral concern, while leaving the reported medical and cultural details to be evaluated on their own evidence.
Biblical Sources
Scripture references supporting the biblical context above.
The command against murder establishes a foundational biblical prohibition against unjustly taking human life; applying it specifically to abortion requires ethical interpretation beyond the verse’s immediate wording.
God’s knowledge and appointment of Jeremiah before birth supports the value Scripture places on a person’s life before birth, while the passage’s immediate context is Jeremiah’s prophetic calling.
The unborn John is described as responding in the womb, presenting unborn life as personally significant within the Gospel account.
The passage identifies hands that shed innocent blood among actions God hates, supporting the broader biblical concern for protecting innocent human life.
The psalm describes God’s formation and knowledge of a person in the womb, supporting the biblical significance of prenatal human life discussed in connection with abortion.
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