Tomorrow, January 22, 2013 will be the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade which legalized abortion on demand in our country. As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision in 1973, it is now estimated that the lives of 55 million children have been terminated in the United States. This is a mind-boggling number when we began to compare it to other tragic events in our national history.
More individuals have been put to death by means abortion than the total number of soldiers lost in all of our military campaigns since the beginning of our nation. Consider this, in the 236 years of our existence approximately 1.4 million people have died in service to our country, and ironically this is the number of abortions we average per year in the United States. Look at those numbers again side-by-side, 1.4 million to 55 million. Please know I’m not trying to equate the horrific act of abortion to the sacrifices made by military personnel who have given their lives for our freedom. What I do want to provide is simply a comparison of numbers in order for us to firmly grasp the atrocities carried out against the unborn.
I think we could make a case that there is a “war on the unborn” in our country. This “war” is not only carried out against the helpless child in a mother’s womb, but is also conducted upon the battlefields which are the hearts and minds of individuals within our country. Essentially this is a cultural war waged by extreme ideologies, greed, and selfishness, seeking to draw younger generations into the fold. Many of the arguments provided by pro-choice advocates I personally find to be asinine, intellectually dishonest, and certainly un-scriptural.
Let’s consider for a moment the old argument from pro-choice advocates, “that which grows within the mother’s womb is not a baby, but simply tissue in the developmental stages of becoming a baby.” We can also join with this position their arguments of when life begins, and when that life becomes a person. These champions of choice deny life begins at conception, and hold to an idea that one does not become a person until he or she is viable outside the womb.
With the advancements of new technologies such as ultrasounds and 3-D imaging we can now see the development of a child from the very early stages in utero. By the time most pregnancies are detected signs of life are already evident. Between eighteen and twenty-two days after conception a baby’s heartbeat can be heard. After six weeks brain waves can be measured, and by week twelve eyes, hands, and feet have begun to develop and the child can feel pain.
Concerning when life begins, most embryology textbooks support the position that human life begins when the egg and sperm are joined together. As for person-hood each individual is recognized as unique at conception based upon one’s DNA. From a scriptural standpoint viability outside the womb has absolutely nothing to do with when an individual becomes a person. God foreknew you by name and all the ways of your life in eternity past, note Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:4; and especially Jeremiah 1:5.
Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV) “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.”
Let’s put aside for just a moment the elements of predestination in Romans and Ephesians as they relate to the believer. Let’s also put aside the fact that Jeremiah 1:5 deal specifically with the prophet Jeremiah. What lies behind these teachings in regards to life before conception can lead us to only one conclusion. If person-hood existed for an individual in the mind of God before the foundation of the world for one person, then person-hood can be applied to all individuals. In other words, not only did God know you before the earth was ever placed in her orbit, but He also knows each aborted child by name.
What I find so hypocritical is that a great number of pro-choice activists, who are radical in their support of abortion, are just as radical in their support of laws that punish individuals who may harm an endangered species. These individuals place a greater value upon the egg of a bald eagle or sea turtle than they do upon the life of an unborn child.
Even the laws in many of our states are hypocritical. Charges of manslaughter or murder can be brought against an individual who causes the death of an unborn child by accident or some violent act. Yet, if a mother so chooses, she can end the life of her child by simply walking through the doors of an abortion provider and face no legal consequences. The whole idea that a woman has a right to choose to do with her body as she sees fit is a flawed argument. One, the mother’s body is separate from the body that grows within her; these are two entirely different individuals. Two, only one of these individuals has a choice and that being the mother, her child remains speechless and relies upon others for its defense.
Many who side with the pro-choice lobbyist often argue against pro-life Christians as being hypocritical because of their support for the death penalty. On the surface I would agree that being pro-life and pro-death penalty appears to be incongruent, but as we look more closely at Scripture we can see that the two are not at all related. One is an issue of a basic human right, the other is a legal matter based upon governing.
God established human government and enacted capital punishment in Genesis 9:5 – 6 in His covenant with Noah, as a response to the unbound wickedness of mankind before the flood. This form of punishment was designed by God as a way of protecting humanity, and demonstrating the high-value He placed on the life of all individuals.
Some will argue that states who exercise capital punishment do so inequitably and a portion of these individuals who face death have been wrongly accused. The problem then is not with God’s mandate, but with the system in which we carry out this judgment upon the convicted. The bottom line is this, God is sovereign and He has established what is right and wrong according to His standards. According to God’s Word the act of taking an infant’s life while in the mother’s womb is a vile and sinful act. Read for yourself Amos 1:13 – 15; 2 Kings 8:12; 15:16; Hosea 13:16. Also according to His Word governments have the right to carry out the act of capital punishment against those who are found guilty of shedding another’s blood. Ultimately pro-choice activists really don’t have a problem with pro-life Christians; they have a problem with God and His Word.
Time and space do not permit me to write about all the responsibilities we have as Christians to the young women who are faced with difficult decisions and the unborn children they carry. Suffice it to say, we are to love both mother and child. We should do all within our power to help those in need so that abortion might not even be considered. We are to help financially our local crisis pregnancy centers, adoption agencies, homes for unwed mothers, and other ministries that work with these women. Jesus loved the little children of the world and so should we.
In the name of Christ,
Rod
More individuals have been put to death by means abortion than the total number of soldiers lost in all of our military campaigns since the beginning of our nation. Consider this, in the 236 years of our existence approximately 1.4 million people have died in service to our country, and ironically this is the number of abortions we average per year in the United States. Look at those numbers again side-by-side, 1.4 million to 55 million. Please know I’m not trying to equate the horrific act of abortion to the sacrifices made by military personnel who have given their lives for our freedom. What I do want to provide is simply a comparison of numbers in order for us to firmly grasp the atrocities carried out against the unborn.
I think we could make a case that there is a “war on the unborn” in our country. This “war” is not only carried out against the helpless child in a mother’s womb, but is also conducted upon the battlefields which are the hearts and minds of individuals within our country. Essentially this is a cultural war waged by extreme ideologies, greed, and selfishness, seeking to draw younger generations into the fold. Many of the arguments provided by pro-choice advocates I personally find to be asinine, intellectually dishonest, and certainly un-scriptural.
Let’s consider for a moment the old argument from pro-choice advocates, “that which grows within the mother’s womb is not a baby, but simply tissue in the developmental stages of becoming a baby.” We can also join with this position their arguments of when life begins, and when that life becomes a person. These champions of choice deny life begins at conception, and hold to an idea that one does not become a person until he or she is viable outside the womb.
With the advancements of new technologies such as ultrasounds and 3-D imaging we can now see the development of a child from the very early stages in utero. By the time most pregnancies are detected signs of life are already evident. Between eighteen and twenty-two days after conception a baby’s heartbeat can be heard. After six weeks brain waves can be measured, and by week twelve eyes, hands, and feet have begun to develop and the child can feel pain.
Concerning when life begins, most embryology textbooks support the position that human life begins when the egg and sperm are joined together. As for person-hood each individual is recognized as unique at conception based upon one’s DNA. From a scriptural standpoint viability outside the womb has absolutely nothing to do with when an individual becomes a person. God foreknew you by name and all the ways of your life in eternity past, note Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:4; and especially Jeremiah 1:5.
Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV) “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.”
Let’s put aside for just a moment the elements of predestination in Romans and Ephesians as they relate to the believer. Let’s also put aside the fact that Jeremiah 1:5 deal specifically with the prophet Jeremiah. What lies behind these teachings in regards to life before conception can lead us to only one conclusion. If person-hood existed for an individual in the mind of God before the foundation of the world for one person, then person-hood can be applied to all individuals. In other words, not only did God know you before the earth was ever placed in her orbit, but He also knows each aborted child by name.
What I find so hypocritical is that a great number of pro-choice activists, who are radical in their support of abortion, are just as radical in their support of laws that punish individuals who may harm an endangered species. These individuals place a greater value upon the egg of a bald eagle or sea turtle than they do upon the life of an unborn child.
Even the laws in many of our states are hypocritical. Charges of manslaughter or murder can be brought against an individual who causes the death of an unborn child by accident or some violent act. Yet, if a mother so chooses, she can end the life of her child by simply walking through the doors of an abortion provider and face no legal consequences. The whole idea that a woman has a right to choose to do with her body as she sees fit is a flawed argument. One, the mother’s body is separate from the body that grows within her; these are two entirely different individuals. Two, only one of these individuals has a choice and that being the mother, her child remains speechless and relies upon others for its defense.
Many who side with the pro-choice lobbyist often argue against pro-life Christians as being hypocritical because of their support for the death penalty. On the surface I would agree that being pro-life and pro-death penalty appears to be incongruent, but as we look more closely at Scripture we can see that the two are not at all related. One is an issue of a basic human right, the other is a legal matter based upon governing.
God established human government and enacted capital punishment in Genesis 9:5 – 6 in His covenant with Noah, as a response to the unbound wickedness of mankind before the flood. This form of punishment was designed by God as a way of protecting humanity, and demonstrating the high-value He placed on the life of all individuals.
Some will argue that states who exercise capital punishment do so inequitably and a portion of these individuals who face death have been wrongly accused. The problem then is not with God’s mandate, but with the system in which we carry out this judgment upon the convicted. The bottom line is this, God is sovereign and He has established what is right and wrong according to His standards. According to God’s Word the act of taking an infant’s life while in the mother’s womb is a vile and sinful act. Read for yourself Amos 1:13 – 15; 2 Kings 8:12; 15:16; Hosea 13:16. Also according to His Word governments have the right to carry out the act of capital punishment against those who are found guilty of shedding another’s blood. Ultimately pro-choice activists really don’t have a problem with pro-life Christians; they have a problem with God and His Word.
Time and space do not permit me to write about all the responsibilities we have as Christians to the young women who are faced with difficult decisions and the unborn children they carry. Suffice it to say, we are to love both mother and child. We should do all within our power to help those in need so that abortion might not even be considered. We are to help financially our local crisis pregnancy centers, adoption agencies, homes for unwed mothers, and other ministries that work with these women. Jesus loved the little children of the world and so should we.
In the name of Christ,
Rod
