Abortion- The Devaluing of Life
David, the shepherd King, declared in Psalms 139...”thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb...thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect.” We agree with King David that life begins at the time of conception, and that God is watchful even over the embryo in the womb.
One of the most joyful anticipations is hidden in the womb of the mother. Since the invention of sonograms, it is possible to see and marvel at the human embryo. Abortion, therefore, is one of the most traumatic experiences that a person could encounter.
According to the Scripture text, Psalms 139, God designed man, and the complications are beyond us; we can only wonder and adore. Every embryo is a bundle of possibilities. God alone can know the small child in the mother’s womb. He knows the child from the beginning. For this reason we in our Judeo-Christian heritage are firmly convinced that life begins at the time of conception in the motherly womb.
When is human life expendable? And the answer to the question is: NEVER. Yet on January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court ruled in the landmark, Roe versus Wade, decision that unborn human beings are not legal persons according to the U.S. Constitution. An unborn baby is the property of the owner, and she can have the child killed at her request. Ours is a peculiar society. We have laws protecting wildlife and dogs but not defenseless human embryos. The real question today is not when human life begins but what is the value of human life?
I. Abortion is Evil.
Time Magazine states, “even in the earliest stages of pregnancy, the embryo is amazingly babylike. By the ninth week the fetus is kicking and moving, and even today its sex can be recognized at nine weeks.” Dr. Everett Koop, author of the book, “The Right to Live, The Right to Die” states “once there is the union of the sperm and egg, and the 23 chromosomes of each are brought together, that one cell with its 46 chromosomes has all the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the whole genetic code that will, if not interrupted, make a human being just like you with the potential for God-consciousness.” He asks a crucial question, “At what point can one consider this life to be worthless and the next minute consider the same life to be precious?” Ecclesiastes 11:5 states, “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.”
Since 1973, more than 54,000,000 unborn children have been aborted. Every day an average of 4,257 babies are aborted in the U.S. or 1 every 10 seconds. It is a horrible, painful death considering that the babies heart is beating at three weeks and the embryos nervous system is sensitive to pain.
II. Abortion Is An Error.
First, there is a wrong attitude toward human life. Every human being reflects to some degree the likeness of Almighty God. When man dares to take another human life, he lifts his hand in rebellion against the image of Almighty God. - Genesis 4:10. Abortion on demand laws give one person (the mother) the legal right to kill another (the baby) in order to solve the first person’s social problem. It’s hard to believe that this is happening in our civilized society. A second wrong value is the emphasis on self. That is, that the mother has the right to decide what happens to her own body. The question is raised, is not the rights of the unborn child to be recognized? President Ronald Reagan quoted by the L.A. Times stated, “When they put it simply and say I believe in the right of someone to have a free choice. What I came back with was, that’s what a murderer is insisting on, that he’s got free choice to decide that he thinks somebody else should be dead.” Scriptures to ponder are Job 31:14-15 and Isaiah 49:1.
The main question R.J. Gardner asks is, “what will we do with a human life that has been given to our keeping?” ... Medical Society Journal
III. Abortion and It’s Effect.
The effects of willful death is far greater than we can comprehend. Proverbs 24:11-12 instructs us: “If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works?
Moody Monthly Magazine asked - “have we been sitting-Lot-like, quiet at home, unruffled, even critical of those who are easily alarmed about babies? If the blood of Abel, one innocent adult, cried out to God from the ground, how much more 54,000,000 babies blood since 1973?”
The problem of “throw-away” life will not lessen. It should press upon the conscience of Americans and Christians with agony and sorrow.
Highlighted Churches that support the MAC:
Bethel, Fulton, MS
Calvary, Fayetteville, AR
Hattieville, Morrilton, AR
Franklin Street, Farmerville, LA
Landmark, England, AR