13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Psalms 139:13-16 (NIV)
This passage is to me one of the most profound statements of the value of the
life of the unborn.
For many years, I had taken the stance that abortion rights, pro-choice and prolife were none of my business, because I am male. Since I could not have a baby, it was not my business to say anything about the issue. All that changed during my first year as a Youth Pastor in Eldorado, OK. I read a book by John Ankerberg called “Facts on Abortion”, simple straightforwardly titled. In this book was a description from a woman who had undergone a “saline” abortion, she described how she was told that there was nothing to worry about, nothing to be ashamed of, that the procedure would be little more than a regular “lady appointment” and that she would be able to return to life as normal very soon. The moment that the doctor injected the saline into her womb, she knew she had made a terrible mistake, and there was no turning back. The child in her womb kicked violently, fluttered and gradually faded, then the dilatation and curettage procedure followed where the remains of her child were removed from her womb. She was then led to a small room with a couch where she was left to recover from the procedure, but how could she ever recover?
I am pretty sure that I am not going to have to convince many, if any, of you that abortion is a grievous sin in our nation. Since the landmark Roe v. Wade case thirty five years ago, more than 40,000,000 abortions have taken place in the US. About 1.25 million each year, or one every 22 seconds. It is illegal to step on the egg of a sea turtle in FL, it is illegal to kill an American Eagle, but it is perfectly legal to end the life of an unborn child. And there is little consistency here.
Without getting graphic, I will only note that the recent high profile case of a pregnant Marine whose boyfriend is suspected of murdering her is wanted on under suspicion of double homicide. Yet if this same woman had gone through what we consider proper channels, then she would have been innocent of a crime. My friends, this does not make any sense.
I have seen the face of abortion, it has touched my family. It has touched my Youth Ministry, it has touched my life. I have a close friend who till this very day can hardly leave her home on two days of the year, her child’s due date and the date of her abortion. I remember the face of a fifteen year old girl whose party life was interrupted by the revelation that she was pregnant. The next time I saw her, she was in my office confessing to me that she had had an abortion. Her
grandmother insisted that she have the procedure, that it was the only way for her to have a “normal” life, she would even pay for it. That girl has never recovered either.
The psalmists, the prophets, they warn us. The value we place on life, particularly innocent life, is a litmus test of where we stand in relation to God. Being guilty of innocent blood is a great offense to God. Yet we say that it is not our business. But it really is. We are exhorted to speak out for those who have no voice, the orphan the fatherless, and the widow, and I am sure that somewhere in the fine print the unborn are taken into consideration.
In ancient Rome, there were those who practiced abortion for the right price. The early fathers spoke of them as assassins. The other option was exposure, unwanted children were simply left to die along the sea, or in the wilderness. Of the distinguishing marks of the early church was that Christians would rescue these children, Dr. D. James Kennedy notes that this practice would gradually develop into what we know today as an orphanage.
They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was desecrated by their blood.
Psalms 106:38 (NIV)
You say, now wait just a minute, no one sacrifices their children to idols nowadays. Is that really so? There are many reasons people choose to end a pregnancy in a abortion. It is important that we understand that not every woman who undergoes the procedure does so for selfish reasons, but I remember as an eight grade boy watching MTV’s The Real World, and watching a woman
decided to get an abortion because it was going to interrupt her life. So instead, she chose to interrupt the life of her child. To keep her career, her figure, her image. Is that not idolatry?
Abortions are done mostly for non-medical reasons. As the abortion industry itself admits on the website of the Alan Guttmacher Institute, "On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 2/3 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner."you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Psalms 139:13-16 (NIV)
This passage is to me one of the most profound statements of the value of the
life of the unborn.
For many years, I had taken the stance that abortion rights, pro-choice and prolife were none of my business, because I am male. Since I could not have a baby, it was not my business to say anything about the issue. All that changed during my first year as a Youth Pastor in Eldorado, OK. I read a book by John Ankerberg called “Facts on Abortion”, simple straightforwardly titled. In this book was a description from a woman who had undergone a “saline” abortion, she described how she was told that there was nothing to worry about, nothing to be ashamed of, that the procedure would be little more than a regular “lady appointment” and that she would be able to return to life as normal very soon. The moment that the doctor injected the saline into her womb, she knew she had made a terrible mistake, and there was no turning back. The child in her womb kicked violently, fluttered and gradually faded, then the dilatation and curettage procedure followed where the remains of her child were removed from her womb. She was then led to a small room with a couch where she was left to recover from the procedure, but how could she ever recover?
I am pretty sure that I am not going to have to convince many, if any, of you that abortion is a grievous sin in our nation. Since the landmark Roe v. Wade case thirty five years ago, more than 40,000,000 abortions have taken place in the US. About 1.25 million each year, or one every 22 seconds. It is illegal to step on the egg of a sea turtle in FL, it is illegal to kill an American Eagle, but it is perfectly legal to end the life of an unborn child. And there is little consistency here.
Without getting graphic, I will only note that the recent high profile case of a pregnant Marine whose boyfriend is suspected of murdering her is wanted on under suspicion of double homicide. Yet if this same woman had gone through what we consider proper channels, then she would have been innocent of a crime. My friends, this does not make any sense.
I have seen the face of abortion, it has touched my family. It has touched my Youth Ministry, it has touched my life. I have a close friend who till this very day can hardly leave her home on two days of the year, her child’s due date and the date of her abortion. I remember the face of a fifteen year old girl whose party life was interrupted by the revelation that she was pregnant. The next time I saw her, she was in my office confessing to me that she had had an abortion. Her
grandmother insisted that she have the procedure, that it was the only way for her to have a “normal” life, she would even pay for it. That girl has never recovered either.
The psalmists, the prophets, they warn us. The value we place on life, particularly innocent life, is a litmus test of where we stand in relation to God. Being guilty of innocent blood is a great offense to God. Yet we say that it is not our business. But it really is. We are exhorted to speak out for those who have no voice, the orphan the fatherless, and the widow, and I am sure that somewhere in the fine print the unborn are taken into consideration.
In ancient Rome, there were those who practiced abortion for the right price. The early fathers spoke of them as assassins. The other option was exposure, unwanted children were simply left to die along the sea, or in the wilderness. Of the distinguishing marks of the early church was that Christians would rescue these children, Dr. D. James Kennedy notes that this practice would gradually develop into what we know today as an orphanage.
They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was desecrated by their blood.
Psalms 106:38 (NIV)
You say, now wait just a minute, no one sacrifices their children to idols nowadays. Is that really so? There are many reasons people choose to end a pregnancy in a abortion. It is important that we understand that not every woman who undergoes the procedure does so for selfish reasons, but I remember as an eight grade boy watching MTV’s The Real World, and watching a woman
decided to get an abortion because it was going to interrupt her life. So instead, she chose to interrupt the life of her child. To keep her career, her figure, her image. Is that not idolatry?
Source: Priests for Life.org
I cannot pretend to understand all of the complexities of the decision that may lead a woman to have an abortion. Whether it is fear, or finances, or fame, or any other motivation, I cannot be convinced that the answer is ever to end the life of an innocent, defenseless baby. Listen to Jane Roe’s self description of the pivotal moment that turned her from being the poster child for the pro-choice movement, to what would later lead to her conversion to Christianity and later to
her being one of the most outspoken opponents of abortion in America:
"I was sitting in O.R.'s offices when I noticed a fetal development poster. The progression was so obvious, the eyes were so sweet. It hurt my heart, just looking at them. I ran outside and finally, it dawned on me. "Norma," I said to myself, "They're right." I had worked with pregnant women for years. I had been through three pregnancies and deliveries myself. I should have known. Yet something in that poster made me lose my breath. I kept seeing the picture of that tiny, 10-week-old embryo, and I said to myself, that's a baby! It's as if blinders just fell off my eyes and I suddenly understood the truth--that's a baby!
-- Norma McCorvey (Jane Roe)
That’s as simple as it can be put. “That’s a baby.”
Sometimes, issues seem so complex, and then, there is that “eureka” moment, the split second where something abstract becomes concrete, where something theoretical or philosophical becomes gritty reality. Maybe this will help.
The first is a fiber optic photo of a child in the early stage of fetal development. I’m no doctor, but I would guess that this is within the first trimester. Staggering how that even this early, the child is clearly human. From where you are you probably can’t see it, but this child has fingernails, eyebrows, and is apparently sucking their thumb.
The second is a 3D ultrasound of a 24 week old child.
Technological advances have given us indelible evidence of what should be a given, that "a person is a person no matter how small."
Finally, this photo is one you have probably seen. It has been featured on several billboards across the country the last few years. That hand belongs to a little boy named Samuel Armas. At the end of a prenatal operation to treat Spina Bifida, Samuel literally reached out and grabbed the doctor’s hand! Not bad for an abstract legal and ethical concept huh?Christians, this is not a political issue, or a bioethical issue, or a question of medicine. This is a moral and spiritual issue. We have to do something. Some ways that we as Christians can combat abortion are to:
Teach our families to value life: It interests me that you don’t have to convince a child that babies are people. However, we should beware activities, entertainment, etc. that cheapen or objectify life. A few months ago I visited a family’s home outside of town and while I was sitting on the floor with my infant son, a five year old stabbed me with a plastic knife. Maybe I’m over reacting, but maybe not…
Have a consistent ethic of human life: Being pro-life is more than being antiabortion. Life at all stages and all colors, races, creeds matter to God. We have to be consistent, but that is another sermon.
Pray: Prayerfully choose leaders that exemplify the ethics and character of the Bible. Pray for women and girls in trouble, for their families. Pray that you will know how you can be not just a voice, but also a helper.
Finally, to the woman who has had an abortion, or to the man who has been a party to one, to the young couple who was scared and didn’t know what else to do… Please hear this, I am not condemning you. I am condemning abortion, not those who have had one. If you have made this decision at some point in your life, there is light in the darkness. Forgiveness and freedom can be found in Jesus Christ, there is hope and grace for you. You have committed a sin, but it is not unpardonable. All you have to do is ask, to confess and ask for forgiveness. If you have Christ in your heart, you have already been forgiven. However, the pain still lingers. One thing that abortion clinics neglect to mention is that there is an alarming suicide rate among post-abortive mothers. The hormonal changes, coupled with the stress and feelings of guilt and remorse often associated with an abortion can be too much to bear. If you are out there, or know someone who is, consider this a helping hand stretched out to you.
God longs to hear us ask for forgiveness. He mourns with you. Let you mourning be turned to dancing today. Joy comes in the morning.
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