Choose life
There is much talk today about things being binary or non-binary, mostly referring to how people see themselves sexually. There are many aspects of the Bible and life that are strictly binary, and to assert otherwise is confusion and illogical. For example, some people say there are binary and non-binary people when it comes to gender. Yet those options are still binary. When it comes to worldviews, there is also a binary aspect. You either believe in God or you don’t. You believe the Bible is the word of God or you don’t. You believe Jesus is the only Savior or you don’t. You either believe in a culture or life or a culture of death. You either believe that life begins at conception or you don’t. From a Biblical perspective, phrases like “I think”, “I believe”, and “I feel” are basically irrelevant. What really matters is what God says. When it comes to abortion, there are three aspects – the moral, legal, and medical/scientific. Let’s examine each of them.
There are some excellent presentations about pro-life vs. pro-abortion. For example, there are many videos on youtube.com covering this topic. Some of the presenters are overtly Christians, and others may be but for various reasons do not address the moral questions, particularly via the Bible. Sometimes this is done because of the false interpretation of the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution which claims there is to be a separation of church and state which prohibits mentioning God and the Bible in some places such as on school campuses. However, when we avoid bringing the Bible into the discussion, we are left with only dealing with symptoms and not the root problem. A pro-abortion stance is only symptom of a deeper problem which has its origin in Genesis 3:5. The serpent told Eve, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Satan tempted Eve into believing she could decide for herself what is right and wrong and good and evil on her own without God. Accepting this premise has resulted in all the evil in the world today including death and suffering (Rom 5, Rom 8, 1Cor 15). This is the underlying problem. The question is more rudimentary than when life begins and if the fetus is a human person. It is, “Who is in charge, God or man (me)?” “Who decides what is good and evil, God or me?” When we decide that we will not follow what the Bible says, we are left with only one other option – to make it up ourselves. Take a look at the history of man, the current state of the world, and how you have done following your own value system instead of God’s. Honestly, the track record is very poor. We would be doing much better if we chose to believe and follow what the word of God says. So, let us examine what the scriptures say about life as it pertains to abortion.
The only Biblical and scientific point for the start of life is at conception. All other measurements are unbiblical, unscientific, arbitrary, and subjective. Abortion proponents don’t apply the same criteria to anything else. In the Bible, God plans for people before their conception:
1. Isaac: Gen 12:2,15:4, 17:1-21, and 18:10-11
2. Samson: Jud 13:2-7
3. Josiah: 1Ki 13:2, 2Ki 22-23 – about 250 years before
4. David: Ps 139:13-16 – vs 16 - Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect;
and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them
5. John the baptizer: Is 40:3-4 – 700 years before (Lk 3:4-6), Mal 3:1, Mal 4:5-6 – 450
years before (Mt 11:10 & 14). Also, he leapt in his mother’s womb (Lk 1:41).
6. Cyrus: Is 44:28-5:1 – 150 years before 2Chr 36:22-23, Ezra 1
7. Jeremiah: Jer 1:5 - Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou
camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the
nations.
8. Judas: Ps 41:9 w. Jn 13:8, Ps 109:8 w. Acts 1:20 – 1,000 years before
9. Jesus: Gen 3:15 – 4,000 years before (Ps 22, Is 53, Zech, Mal, etc.)
God made plans for Jacob and Esau while they were still in the womb (Gen 25:20-23, Mal 1:2-3, Rom 9:10-13). God is the creator and definer, not man (Gen 1-3, Ps 100:3, Jer 38:16, Rom 1:25).
God is the sovereign authority over man (Jer 18:1-10, Rom 9). At conception God creates a unique, specifically human DNA. Immediately after conception, that which is conceived grows. Only living things grow. Although there are different stages of development, it doesn’t develop into anything non-human. Therefore, it is alive and human.
Stages of development cannot be the determining factor of when life begins. That is subjective. Children continue to develop for over 20 years after birth. The increased
knowledge of prenatal development shows just how early babies show human traits and
traits of life such as brain activity, heartbeat, etc. They have all the main signs of life as those outside the womb. Independent viability outside the womb cannot be a determining factor because advances in medicine have made viability outside the womb possible earlier and
earlier. Also, babies are not independently viable for years after birth. This leads to euthanasia – the killing of adults that are not independently viable, a burden, or unwanted. Thus, measurements such as consciousness do not work. Studies of babies in the womb have greatly increased understanding of just how human they really are, even very early on. What about unconscious adults? Breath cannot be the determining factor because babies have lungs in the womb. They are filled with fluid. Babies process oxygen, just not yet through their lungs. Sometimes, the lungs of adults are filled with fluid as a medical treatment. Are fish alive? Do they breathe? Passing through the birth canal does not magically confer personhood or life. What about a C section where there is not a vaginal birth?
Since babies in the womb are human and alive, terminating their life is murder (Ex 20:13). The life of the flesh is in the blood (Lev 17:11 and Deut 12:23). God hates the shedding of innocent blood (Gen 4:8-12, Ex 21:12, Ex 23:7, Lev 17:11-14, Num 35:33-34, Duet 21:1-9, 2Kings 21:10-16, Prov 1:10-19, Mt 23:29-39, Rev 17:6, and Rev 18:24). Who is more innocent than a child yet to be born (Ecc 4:3)? Abortionists shed innocent blood for money (Prov 1:10-19). We are made in the image of God (Gen 1:27). What actually happens in an abortion demonstrates the bloody, grisly nature of the act. That is why pro-abortion people refuse to describe or discuss it. There is dilation and extraction where the baby who has a functioning brain and nervous system and thus can respond to stimuli and feel pain is ripped limb from limb while alive. There is the chemically induced abortion where either the baby is killed through preventing necessary processes in the womb or injecting a chemical directly into his heart to induce cardiac arrest. Then there is the hideous practice of partial-birth abortion. The baby is pulled out of the uterus and birth canal except for his head. The back of his head is ripped open and a powerful vacuum sucks out his brain. After his skull collapses, his dead body is pulled out the rest of the way. There is absolutely no Biblical, moral ground such abominations have to stand on.
There are also legal points to examine. The Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” What about the rights of the child?
The 14th amendment states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation and particularly
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” This is the part of the Constitution that was perverted to justify Roe v. Wade. What is a person?
1. Webster – human, individual, the body of a human being
2. dictionary.com - a human being, whether an adult or child: a human being as
distinguished from an animal or a thing
3. Black’s law – a human being
4. You can apply every criteria pro-abortionists give for not defining the pre-born as
persons to the born:
a. consciousness or brain function – what about some in a coma or asleep?
b. independent viability – what about born babies and some of the elderly and the
hospitalized? They need help and cannot survive on their own. Should we just embrace
euthanasia and kill of everyone that is a burden or inconvenient?
c. no pain – What about people with congenital analgesia? Also, babies in the womb have a
nervous system at 8 weeks.
d. heartbeat – What about those with a pacemaker?
e. location – Since when does location determine personhood, life, or value?
Are humanity, personhood, and value based on functions or are they intrinsic? Functionality varies in all humans, not just the pre-born. It is a subjective basis, and who decides what level of functionality grants status and therefore rights? Harry Blackmun, who wrote the majority opinion in Roe said in the opinion, “The appellee and certain amici argue that the fetus is a “person” within the language and meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. In support of this, they outline at length and in detail the well known facts of fetal development. If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant's case, of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the Amendment. The appellant conceded as much on reargument.”
The 14th amendment guarantees the right to privacy. Roe v Wade falsely interpreted this to mean that the Constitution gives a woman a right to murder her pre-born baby. Even some abortion advocates admit this was a terrible interpretation. A favorite slogan of pro-abortion people is “my body, my right”. Another way of saying this is, “It’s my body and I can do whatever I want with it”. This is neither true nor legal. Freedom is not unlimited. For example, the first amendment declares freedom of speech, but you cannot yell “fire” in a theater. You cannot say anything without legal repercussions such as defamation or other criminal and civil liablity. We can’t do whatever we want when it infringes on another person. The baby is another person. There is choice vs. obligation. Women should have choices, and they do. If they are pregnant, they already chose to have sex with its inherent risk of pregnancy. They may choose to help those to whom they have no legal obligation (strangers), but their baby is their obligation. Some try to argue theoretical situations from the perspective of extraordinary needs. The basic position of pro-life is to provide basic needs. Babies continue to have basic needs after birth for years. There is a difference between necessity and convenience. 99% of abortions are done for convenience. There is a difference between selfishness and selflessness. Motherhood is selfless. King Solomon understood this. When two women came before him debating about which of them was the mother of a specific child, he did not have modern DNA testing. He knew what the heart of a true mother should be (1Ki 3:16-28). He called for a sword to be brought and for the child to be cut in two. Each woman could have half. It was not that Solomon intended to do this. He was expecting the true mother to value the life of her child over her own personal fulfillment. The true mother cried out to give the baby to the other woman even though it was really hers. She chose for her child to live rather than to satisfy herself. She could not stand to see her child cut in half. The other woman consented to the decision. Solomon wisely said of the first woman, “Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.” There is more to sex than selfish physical pleasure. There is more to being a mother than getting pregnant.
If the value of the baby is determined by whether or not the mother wants it, then that standard is arbitrary and dangerous. Another infamous statement is, “I had no choice. It was poverty or abortion.” Does income level determine personhood or value? Is it OK to kill people for money?
People don’t claim the right to do whatever they want with other parts of their body. Nobody advocates for the right of people to use their fist to punch anyone whenever they want, or to pull the trigger of a gun whenever and wherever they want. A test of whether something is logical or not is to carry the premise out to its conclusion and see the results. It is called reductio ad absurdum which is Latin for reduction to absurdity. If 7 billion people all did whatever they wanted with no regard for others and with no repercussions, what kind of world would we be living in? It’s bad enough already. The uterus has the unique purpose of reproduction. Therefore, it is subject to the unique criteria that apply to it. The relationship of parents and their children also has unique parameters that don’t apply to any other. The philosophy of “it affects me so I get to choose” does not work here because it also affects others. Another saying on posters at protests is “keep you laws off my body”. This is also absurd on its face. All laws control your body and its behavior. Women have limited choice what to do with their bodies, but they don’t get to choose to kill the baby’s. Women choose abortion because they think it will keep them from adversity and suffering, but you don’t eliminate suffering with murder. Not only does the baby die, but the mother will suffer in many ways including mentally, emotionally, and physically. Women have choices, just not murder. They can choose abstinence, contraception which prevents conception, motherhood, or adoption. If we demand responsibility from both men and women instead of excusing it, many will be more careful. When pre-marital sex and divorce became socially acceptable, they exploded along with abortion.
People like to call Roe v. Wade the law of the land, but that is not true. Anyone who has taken a basic course in American Civics knows there are three branches of government – executive, legislative, and judicial. The only branch that makes laws is the legislative. Judges do not make laws. One of the many reasons Roe v. Wade was such a poor ruling is because since the topic of abortion is not specifically addressed in the U.S. Constitution, it does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to the states and the people. Overturning Roe does not make abortion illegal. It returns the matter to the States where it belongs. The 10th amendment says: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”. Some states will have more restrictions than others. Each state will decide as it should. Roe was not the only time the Supreme Court got it wrong in general and specifically on the issue of personhood. In the Dredd Scott case in 1857, they ruled that people with darker skin tones called blacks are property and therefore not citizens or full persons. In Plessy vs. Furgeson in 1896, they ruled these same people could be separate but equal. Fortunately, the founding fathers knew that men are fallible and they included means in the system to correct errors. This error was corrected in 1954 in Brown vs. Board of Education. Also, just because something is legal does not mean it is moral.
When rights are not based on being human and thus having intrinsic value, the criteria
become subjective and arbitrary. The above examples of racism as well as many others such as Nazism and other genocide, abortion, and euthanasia show what happens when we move off this basic measurement of value. It’s no coincidence that the Democrat party is both the party of racism (slavery) and abortion. It’s a worldview problem. Pro-abortion people are almost always evolutionists. They are often for animal “rights”. They confer personhood on animals, and if someone did to an animal what happens to a baby in abortion, they would be livid. People can be
charged with crimes of animal cruelty for it. The “Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act” seeks to mandate basic care for babies who have survived an attempted abortion. Democrats have repeatedly voted against it. They want them to be left to die.
What about the rights of the father? They have no right to information or input regarding the baby or the abortion, but they are required to pay child support after birth. How about parental notification? A girl can be young enough to be legally barred from being able to drive a car, vote, join the military, buy alcohol or cigarettes, get her ears pierced, get a tattoo, buy a lottery ticket, or see an “R” rated movie; but she can have an abortion on demand without her parents knowing anything. How trivial do some people think this decision is? Killing a pregnant woman is double murder, but killing the baby up to the moment of birth in some places is considered disposing of a clump of cells.
Let us look at some scientific/medical points. The scientific definition of life is to grow, respond to stimuli, function, and reproduce. Modern knowledge of fetal development shows us a pre-born baby possesses these things:
1. 6 weeks – heartbeat and brainwaves
2. 8 weeks – eyes, nose, ears, urine started
3. 9 weeks – arms and legs
4. 10 weeks - can bend elbows
5. 11 weeks – fingernails, blood, genitals, fingerprints
6. 12 weeks – teeth, nails, tastebuds
7. 16-20 weeks – pain
This proves the baby is a person by every meaningful definition.
Information is withheld from women on the medical and other risks involved in an abortion. There are immediate and long-term problems with the reproductive system and the inability to have children later. There is increased risk of cancer, depression, suicide, and drug abuse. Can you imagine going in for any other major surgery, and the doctor not telling you what the risks are? When fully informed, most will not go through with it. When offered an ultrasound prior
to the abortion, 90% of those taking the test opt out of the abortion. They can clearly see there is more than just a clump of cells. What about the Hippocratic oath doctors take to do no harm?
Abortion proponents use fear tactics. They say there will be back alley abortions. Another of their false slogans is “keep abortion safe and legal”. Abortion is not safe for the mother and especially for the child, and the allegedly feared explosion of back alley abortions is not happening in the states where it is most restricted. They claim that if Roe is overturned, women will lose their rights and return to being dragged by their hair by men and not allowed any freedom. They say women will be prosecuted for getting an abortion. Abortion was illegal before 1973, and there have only been 2 prosecutions in U.S. history – 1911 and 1922. There have been none since. The fearmongers say resources will be depleted by all the extra babies if they are not aborted. Overpopulation is an old leftist lie along with many others. There are more people than ever and we still have plenty of space and resources. Have you ever been to the American west or Alaska? That is not the problem. This again goes to a binary worldview problem. There are two kinds of people. There are those who believe in God, and that He provides abundantly like He promised (Mt 6, etc.); and there are those who either do not believe in God or see Him as a God of scarcity. I don’t blame people who trust in man instead of God for having a bleak outlook. Illegal abortions may “go up” because they will be illegal in some states. There were not
“illegal” abortions after 1973. So, logically that number would go up, but the number of babies being murdered would go down dramatically, so it would be a huge net win. Also, there is a problem in many places of a birth rate that is too low, not too high. Dr. Bernard Nathanson compiled statistics most abortion proponents use today. He admitted he lied about the pre-1973 statistic of 5-10,000 deaths each year. Yet he received the Margaret Sanger award from Planned Parenthood. Per the CDC, the actual number is 39.
A baby is not a parasite. Webster’s Dictionary says a parasite is an organism living in, on, or with another organism in order to obtain nutrients, grow, or multiply often in a state that directly or indirectly harms the host. Pedia.com says, “ in parasitism, the host gets harmed; parasites always show a lower organization than their host”
Supporters of abortion say, “You’re not a medical expert or a woman. You have no say.” 7 judges who were not medical experts nor women decided Roe v. Wade. Also, this is a logical fallacy called appeal to authority or Courtier’s reply. Any attack on the person instead of the argument is invalid. That is called ad hominin. Lawful use of force in self-defense, by police, or in war by the military is not under the same parameters. Those are generally for stopping violence, not starting it. Abortion is starting it.
Did you know that Jane Roe (Norma McCorvey) lied and said she was raped upon advice to make her case stronger? She later became pro-life.
Even some pro-life people say, “If we had today’s technology in 1973, Roe v. Wade would have never happened.” We did. In the 1850s Mendel did his pea experiments which were the first step in the discovery of DNA. The law of biogenesis was established in the 1850s. DNA was discovered in 1953, and the ultrasound was developed in the 1950s.
Abortion is not health care. Pregnancy is not a disease. The mother’s mental, emotional, and physical health are endangered. The baby is brutally killed.
What about rape, incest, and the endangerment of the life of the mother? These are less than 1% of abortions, so this is a straw man argument when people are actually for all abortions. Rapists should be punished. Rape is a stronger person attacking a weaker. So is abortion. Murdering the baby does not make the rape OK nor heal the mother. There are many resources for both mother and baby if she does not kill it. Women who have been raped have found their spiritual and emotional healing through having the baby. If the pregnancy is truly a threat to the life and health of the mother, then they should go to the hospital, not the abortion clinic. Rape is not the baby’s fault, so why should we kill the baby?
If you have had an abortion, you should know that you can be forgiven. You cannot go back and undo what has been done, but you can repent and ask God for forgiveness. You would not be the first or last person God has forgiven of murder. Moses killed a man (Ex 2:11-15), as did David (2Sam 11-12). Manasseh was the son of the great revivalist Hezekiah (2Chr 33). He undid all the good his father had done in leading the people of Judah to God and did like the pagan nations around him. He even sacrificed his own children to his idols (2Chr 33:6). Yet when he repented, God forgave and restored him. Paul was a persecutor of Christians and participated in their murders before he became a Christian (Acts 7-9, Acts 22:4, Acts 26:11, Gal 1:13). Yet he became an apostle, started churches throughout what is now eastern Europe, and wrote 14 of 27 books in the New Testament. A past abortion does not have to be a death sentence for you. Abby Johnson was an abortion clinic director for Planned Parenthood, but she repented, quit her job, and became a pro-life activist. There is a book and film called "Unplanned" about her story.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says there is a time for everything and lists 14 sets of comparative things. 13 of them are opposites: birth and death, planting and plucking up, breaking down and building up, weeping and laughing, mourning and dancing, casting away and gathering, embracing and refraining from embracing, getting and losing, keeping and casting away, rending and sewing, keeping silence and speaking, loving and hating, and war and peace. However, there is one set in there that is not opposites. It is killing and healing (vs 3). The opposite of killing would be bringing to life or resurrecting. A child is killed in an abortion, but God can counter that and bring healing out of that terrible event when we place it in His capable hands. This verse does not condone abortion, but we can find hope in the mercy of God when we repent and obey the gospel (Acts 2:38).
“See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them (Deut 30:15-20).”