I want to deal with one of the toughest, most divisive, questions in our culture today!
Why do most Christians think abortion is wrong? I taught this 5 years ago and it is worth repeating in light of the cultural battle we are in right now.
Please remember every discussion, every debate, even every argument we have must come from the point of view of love and truth. Today I hope to give you both.
January 1—On the very day of conception, all forty-six chromosomes are present, so a human life has already begun. This is a unique human being, with a unique genetic makeup, who can never be reproduced or replaced. (Day 1)
January 22—Only about three weeks after conception, the child’s heart begins to beat, pumping her own blood, which is often a different blood type from the mother’s. (Day 21 Three weeks)
February 4—In the fifth week, which is around the time many mothers confirm that they are pregnant, the child’s eyes, legs, and hands begin to develop. (Day 35 5 weeks)
February 14—By Valentine’s Day, which is merely the sixth week after conception, the child’s brain waves, which have already been active for some time, are now detectable. (Day 42 6 weeks)
Mid February—Only the seventh week from conception, the baby starts kicking and swimming. (Day 49 7 weeks)
Late February—Just under two months into the pregnancy, every organ in the child’s body is in place, the bones are taking shape, and fingerprints have already begun to form. (Day 56 8 weeks)
Mid-March—Teeth begin to form, fingernails develop, the baby can turn her head, and she can even frown. (Day 70 10 weeks)
Late March (11 – 12 weeks)—The baby can grasp objects placed in her hand. (Day 84 12 weeks)
Late April (14 – 16 weeks)—The baby can start having dreams during REM sleep. (Day 112 16 weeks)
So, tallying up some of this remarkable young child’s four-month accomplishments, she has all the human chromosomes in place from day one, is a genetically unique, one-of-a-kind human being; she has a beating heart and her own blood type; she has eyes, legs, hands, fingernails, fingerprints, all her internal organs, bones, teeth, and independent brain waves; and she can kick, swim, turn her head back and forth, make facial gestures, grasp objects, and even have dreams.
So if we are being asked why can’t you just leave me alone to make choices for my own body the problem is, as we can see that it is not your own body you are making choices for but a completely unique human being
If this is not a child then what is it…terms are used like conception material, uterine contents, birth matter, tissue mass. These are all deceptive euphemisms for a human child.
As the world-famous French geneticist Jerome Lejeune (photo)put it years ago when he testified at the United States congressional hearings,
“To accept the fact that after fertilization has taken place a new human has come into being is no longer a matter of taste or opinion. . . . The human nature of the human being from conception to old age is not a metaphysical contention, it is plain experimental evidence.”
Let me share with you a couple of people
James Gill was born at 21 weeks 5 days You may think well today’s technology has made the difference….he is now 35 and fine
Amelia Taylor was born at 21 weeks 6 days (photo)she is now 15 and fine she was 10oz and 9 ½” when she was born
In every state these people could have been aborted. While most abortion take place before 22 weeks a significant number are still done past that term.
If someone took a baby and either chemically burned them to death, cut them apart into pieces, poisoned the baby, or stuck a pair of scissors into the back of its head and removed the brain they would be sent to prison for murder but as long as that child is in the womb all of these things are permitted and promoted in our nation. These are each ways in which abortions are performed every day in the US.
3000/day
63 million since 1973 Roe v Wade
are on the decrease about 100,000 less 2016, 665000 than 2010 765,000
abortions due to either rape or incest are less than 1% as well less than 1/10 of 1% of abortions are due to endangering the mother
In 84% of the cases if a mother views an ultrasound of their baby before an abortion is performed they will not go through with the abortion.
Despite all of our parading, fist pounding, protesting and demands people intrinsically know that what is inside of them is not their own body but a distinct unique individual created by a miracle from God.
For Abby Johnson, former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic in southeast Texas, (photo)it was seeing the ultrasound image of an abortion actually in progress that led her to quit her job, leave the clinic, and become an active supporter of the pro-life movement.
“I could see the whole profile of the baby of thirteen weeks head to foot. I could see the whole side profile. I could see the probe. I could see the baby try to move away from the probe.” Johnson later explained that this experience changed her forever. “I just thought, what am I doing?” she said. “And then I thought, never again.”
Biblical Answers
The easiest place to go is Exodus 20:13 “You shall not murder.
This has to do with the killing of innocence this is not about war and protection but the killing of innocent people and who greater than the baby in the womb. God places fines and reprimands on people for the mistreatment of animals but when it comes to humans his commands are much more severe showing the value he places on each human.
God knows us in the womb
Psalm 139: 13-16
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born
There is nothing in here that would suggest that David was any less valuable to God before he was born than after…God knit his body together into and it was marvelous. It is hard for me to believe that someone could read this passage and not see the value the Lord places in the life of an unborn child.
Some would say…the Bible says nothing specific about abortion so if it is silent why should we be concerned
- abortion would have been such an abhorrent thing that it would not have even been considered in this culture
Psalm 127:3 puts it this way Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.
- There is a scripture some have used to justify that preborn children do not have the value to God that born children do. It is worth looking at Exodus 21:22-25
“Now suppose two men are fighting, and in the process, they accidentally strike a pregnant woman so she gives birth prematurely. If no further injury results, the man who struck the woman must pay the amount of compensation the woman’s husband demands and the judges approve. 23 But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life, 24 an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot, 25 a burn for a burn, a wound for a wound, a bruise for a bruise.
At first glance it looks like if an accident occurs and a woman loses her baby it is not as bad as other injury…or at least that is the way some have tried to interpret it. But listen to the words again (Reread)
If the baby is born prematurely (not miscarriage) it doesn’t say is aborted just born which would assume the child lives and is healthy there is cost added to aid in the care of the baby that might incur because of the premature birth, additional care but if there is further injury (the baby dies) then it may cost the man his life
Premature and full-term children are all children in God’s eyes and have a right to be defended
Proverbs 31:8
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.
What better people to relate than the unborn
In Matthew 25:42-46 Jesus reinforces the idea when He tells us to care for the least of these..obviously, not mentioned the unborn but the hungry, thirsty, those who depend upon others to care for them..which defines an unborn child…the least of these.
God speaks of Jeremiah as a full person before birth 1:5
I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born, I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
Paul talks of himself in the same way Galatians 1:15
But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace.
Add to that John the Baptist a baby in Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy when Mary arrived at their home
Unborn children have value in God’s eyes
From Civil standpoint let’s look at these ironies
• We are a nation increasingly concerned with social justice, equality, and civil rights for all people, as well as the protection of the weak, the disabled, and the poor—yet we as a society have readily dispensed with the rights and protection due our own unborn
• There are those among us who lobby, demonstrate, and even break laws in defense of endangered animals yet at the same time insist that the freedom to destroy unborn humans must remain a legal right up to and including full development at nine months’ gestation.
• Many who championed the noble ideals of the Civil Rights Movement— with its strong values of liberty, freedom, and justice for all and a firm commitment to nonviolence—have failed to apply these values to the weakest members of our society. Surely the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement would be to speak up for and protect those who can’t do so for themselves—the unborn.
As People of faith, we must always remember truth plus grace
Many who feel this way either have had abortions or have had friends who have had them. Once again, the idea of a mother being in danger or the case or rape or incest are so few but well over 95 – 98% of all abortions are convenience abortions these babies are just not wanted and abortion is a form of birth control
We speak the truth in love…there isn’t anything God won’t forgive, many people make this choice because our culture, their friends, or their leadership tell them it is all right and normal.
We must make sure they know God loves them and even though they made a decision against the life of their child that child is with the Lord and if they have asked for forgiveness, they have been given forgiveness.
John 3:16 is true…abortion is NOT the unpardonable sin it is just sin like my anger, fear, pride and God forgives and He sent His Son to die on a cross for them and their sin and our sin we are all in need of a Savior who loves us.
When talking about this issue with someone be slow to anger and listen, be kind and understanding.
Explain that science shows us this is not about a woman’s body but a unique individual formed inside.
Even though we believe abortion is murder that is not a term we want to use when talking to a Mom or the Father of the child in trying to bring healing to them. Don’t put up walls tear them down.
God changes opinions by first changing hearts! God’s call for us is found in Romans 12:21
Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.