ABORTION
Many women are leaving clinics believing their “problem” has been solved. One of the things that is not being told to these mothers is that they will remember that day. Women often have anniversaries of that date, and when they see a baby or child the age that their aborted child would have been, they wonder if their child would have been a boy or girl. There is no going back and changing this once it is done.
We are told, “I wish you people who are against abortion could be here when these unwed mothers come in sobbing and have to be consoled.” Yes, I wish we could be there also, but these clinics will not let us. Instead, these mothers are receiving a one-sided counseling session. But they need to be told about grief, guilt, and regret that can often come from this. Thankfully, there is Someone who can give “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” (Isaiah 61:3), and repair our conscience. Abortions often cause emotional and, in some cases, physical problems. In short, abortions do not solve problems.
These mothers have been taken advantage of by their boyfriends (or husbands) and by a system that makes money from the mothers having abortions. To be sure, some have a bad situation, but why make it worse? Adoption is a viable option. And mothers without husbands, as difficult as it is, are raising families. I am thankful for life, and I am thankful to my mother, who gave me an opportunity for life.
Exceptions?
(Rape, incest, and life of the mother.)
It is easier for us to talk about the right and wrong of such situations if we are not the ones affected by them. I have three daughters, and if someone hurt one of them, I probably would feel like “aborting” the rapist. (Capital punishment for rape, Deuteronomy 22:25–27.)
There was a time when I received phone calls from a crisis’s pregnancy center—our purpose was to counsel mothers to seek viable alternatives. On one particular call, a young lady said she had been raped. Looking back now, I think she may have only been trying to see how I would respond to her questions. She wanted to know why she could not have an abortion, and she asked, “Have I done something wrong?” I said “No, you haven’t, but then neither has your baby.” Two wrongs (rape and abortion) still do not make a right. As to the life of the mother, it is now argued that such a situation no longer exists, with modern medicine, but the truth is, I do not know. Nor could I justify a law that would require a mother to die in place of her baby and then leave her other children without a mother. As rare as these exceptions are (less than 1 percent of all abortions), they do unfortunately, exist. Consider if it was your mother, your daughter, your girlfriend, your wife, that had been raped. We don’t want to be callous, there are women who are going through real sorrow.
At present it is unlikely that most state legislature would outlaw all abortions, including the three “exceptions” named above, or even some of them. But in several states, it would be possible to stop the other 99 percent of abortions. And we are responsible for what we can do, not for what we cannot do. If one has an all or nothing mentality, he will end up with nothing. One concern has been that “exceptions” would be used as a means around any law outlawing abortions, such as a mother pretending to have been raped, and situations as this would need to be thought through.
To those who use these exceptions to justify all abortions, the questions needs to be asked if they would be willing to stop the other 99 percent of abortions, but they are not, and they want abortion on demand. I have been troubled by politicians who say that “I am personally against abortions” but then load the courts with pro-abortion judges. Many politicians during election time will say to pro-life groups, “I am against abortion,” but they do nothing when they get to Congress, and we do not hear from them again till the next election.
The Bible does not call the unborn a fetus or embryo but a “babe” (Luke 1:41) or “child” (Matthew 1:18). Three weeks after conception, the baby’s heart beats. Six weeks after conception, the baby has brain waves, and three months after conception, the baby can suck his thumb. If he can suck his thumb, he can feel pain. The child is growing in his mother's womb, and nothing can grow unless it is alive. More babies die every day in the US than died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We have a 9/11 every day of the week: 9/12, 9/13, 9/14… What do you think that God thinks about that? “Thou shalt not kill,” the sixth commandment (see also Exodus 21:22–23). “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?” (Proverbs 24:11–12). We should speak up for those in the womb and pray for those who are being encouraged to have abortions. But people who shoot doctors that perform abortions or blowup abortion clinics are part of the problem, not the solution. The ends do not justify the means (see Romans 3:8).
ABSTINENCE. See FORNICATION.
Many women are leaving clinics believing their “problem” has been solved. One of the things that is not being told to these mothers is that they will remember that day. Women often have anniversaries of that date, and when they see a baby or child the age that their aborted child would have been, they wonder if their child would have been a boy or girl. There is no going back and changing this once it is done.
We are told, “I wish you people who are against abortion could be here when these unwed mothers come in sobbing and have to be consoled.” Yes, I wish we could be there also, but these clinics will not let us. Instead, these mothers are receiving a one-sided counseling session. But they need to be told about grief, guilt, and regret that can often come from this. Thankfully, there is Someone who can give “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” (Isaiah 61:3), and repair our conscience. Abortions often cause emotional and, in some cases, physical problems. In short, abortions do not solve problems.
These mothers have been taken advantage of by their boyfriends (or husbands) and by a system that makes money from the mothers having abortions. To be sure, some have a bad situation, but why make it worse? Adoption is a viable option. And mothers without husbands, as difficult as it is, are raising families. I am thankful for life, and I am thankful to my mother, who gave me an opportunity for life.
Exceptions?
(Rape, incest, and life of the mother.)
It is easier for us to talk about the right and wrong of such situations if we are not the ones affected by them. I have three daughters, and if someone hurt one of them, I probably would feel like “aborting” the rapist. (Capital punishment for rape, Deuteronomy 22:25–27.)
There was a time when I received phone calls from a crisis’s pregnancy center—our purpose was to counsel mothers to seek viable alternatives. On one particular call, a young lady said she had been raped. Looking back now, I think she may have only been trying to see how I would respond to her questions. She wanted to know why she could not have an abortion, and she asked, “Have I done something wrong?” I said “No, you haven’t, but then neither has your baby.” Two wrongs (rape and abortion) still do not make a right. As to the life of the mother, it is now argued that such a situation no longer exists, with modern medicine, but the truth is, I do not know. Nor could I justify a law that would require a mother to die in place of her baby and then leave her other children without a mother. As rare as these exceptions are (less than 1 percent of all abortions), they do unfortunately, exist. Consider if it was your mother, your daughter, your girlfriend, your wife, that had been raped. We don’t want to be callous, there are women who are going through real sorrow.
At present it is unlikely that most state legislature would outlaw all abortions, including the three “exceptions” named above, or even some of them. But in several states, it would be possible to stop the other 99 percent of abortions. And we are responsible for what we can do, not for what we cannot do. If one has an all or nothing mentality, he will end up with nothing. One concern has been that “exceptions” would be used as a means around any law outlawing abortions, such as a mother pretending to have been raped, and situations as this would need to be thought through.
To those who use these exceptions to justify all abortions, the questions needs to be asked if they would be willing to stop the other 99 percent of abortions, but they are not, and they want abortion on demand. I have been troubled by politicians who say that “I am personally against abortions” but then load the courts with pro-abortion judges. Many politicians during election time will say to pro-life groups, “I am against abortion,” but they do nothing when they get to Congress, and we do not hear from them again till the next election.
The Bible does not call the unborn a fetus or embryo but a “babe” (Luke 1:41) or “child” (Matthew 1:18). Three weeks after conception, the baby’s heart beats. Six weeks after conception, the baby has brain waves, and three months after conception, the baby can suck his thumb. If he can suck his thumb, he can feel pain. The child is growing in his mother's womb, and nothing can grow unless it is alive. More babies die every day in the US than died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We have a 9/11 every day of the week: 9/12, 9/13, 9/14… What do you think that God thinks about that? “Thou shalt not kill,” the sixth commandment (see also Exodus 21:22–23). “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?” (Proverbs 24:11–12). We should speak up for those in the womb and pray for those who are being encouraged to have abortions. But people who shoot doctors that perform abortions or blowup abortion clinics are part of the problem, not the solution. The ends do not justify the means (see Romans 3:8).
ABSTINENCE. See FORNICATION.
