A BRIEF RANT ON ABORTION

by Jeff Hagan
(Tacoma)

Murder as a noun: “the crime of unlawfully killing a person especially with malice aforethought…”*

Murder as a verb: “to kill (a human being)…with premeditated malice…”**

Both scientifically and medically, the fact that human life begins at conception is beyond debate. From the very point that the egg and sperm join together, the teeny, tiny baby is alive, separate from its mother, and living and growing as a human being.*** The ability for one to express humanity and personhood change dramatically throughout the life cycle, “human essence and human personhood are innate to the living being.”**** Regardless of how small, weak, or dependent, human beings deserve protection and support because they are made in the image of God.

Moving along now to the Bible, there are many passages that confirm the fact that human life starts at the point of conception and that an unborn baby is an image bearer of God. Psalm 51:5 mentions this while also mentioning we are sinners from conception, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (ESV). Isaiah and Jeremiah were called by God as prophets from inside their mothers’ wombs (Isa. 49:1b; Jer. 1:5). And in Luke 1:15 we discover that John the Baptist would “be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb” (ESV).

The most expansive treatment in Scripture regarding human life in the womb is Psalm 139:13-16, and it says:

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

In addition, Scripture assumes as common knowledge that an unborn baby is a human life and even assigns the death penalty to anyone who takes the life of an unborn child because it is murder (see Ex.21:22-25).

Not providing legal protection to preborn children simply because of age, size, or the phase of development they are in is more than atrocious. It is an extremely disheartening occurrence and a “grievous discrimination and injustice…”*****

Do not be fooled. To be “pro-choice” is to be “pro-murder” or “anti-life.” Do not let their carefully selected use of words affect you. Deep down they know it’s a horrific evil and that is partially why they candy coat the terminology they use. They want to make those seeking to kill their child feel comfortable and they want to feel more comfortable themselves by using terms that attempt to distance the truth of what abortion is, what is actually taking place, so they can selfishly continue on with their life allegedly guilt free.

With all of that said, let me close by suggesting to you reading this that you pray for these people. Pray for them to have a change of heart, mind and conscience. In particular, pray for those who have had an abortion and have come to realize the seriousness of the sin they committed. Although we need to diligently take action against abortion, we must, as followers of Christ, forgive those who confess of this as sin and repent. Those women need a tremendous amount of support, guidance, love, and godly affection.



*MerriamWebster.com
**Ibid.
***See Considine, Douglas, ed., Van Nostrand’s Scientific Encyclopedia, 5th ed. (New York:Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1976), p.943; Moore, Keith L. & T.V.N. Persaud, Before We Are Born: Essentials of Embryology and Birth Defects, 6th ed., (Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 2001), p.2; Carlson, Bruce M., Patten’s Foundations of Embryology, 6th ed., (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996), p.3; Langman, Jan, Medical Embryology, 3rd ed., (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1975), p.3; O’Rahilly, Ronan & Fabiola Muller, Human Embryology and Teratology, 2nd ed., (New York: Wiley-Liss, 1996), pp.8, 29.
****Driscoll, Mark & Gerry Breshears, Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe, (Wheaton: Crossway, 2010), p.134.
*****Ibid., p.137.