Thoughts on Abortion

Abortion has to be one of the most heinous acts known to humanity.  It is the final act in a string of acts that leaves destruction in its path.  Like a tornado – it is preceded by dark clouds, accompanied by terror and followed by debris.  Abortion is a permanent solution proposed for a problem perceived.  It is an act of desperation committed to avoid the consequences of lust, impatience, or lack of restraint.   It is an age-old problem with age-old consequences.

In today’s world, techniques have been developed that may reduce the consequences of the pregnant woman.  But it has never reduced the consequences to the infant involved – it always kills, if the process works as designed.

The arguments for abortion are these:  1) The mother’s health, mental status, economic status, social status, etc. are more important than the life of the infant.  2) The infant’s potential quality of life would not validate his or her existence.  3) The infant is not really an infant human until it is achieved (fill in the blank) age, therefore it is not murder.  4) Society is served by reducing the number of (fill in the race/ethnicity/handicap) children born.  5) The earth will be overpopulated if we don’t reduce through abortion.

The arguments against abortion are these: 1) Science says that at conception, the embryo is human – not other life form. 2) Setting a time frame cutoff for viability is a moving target.  Technology advances have changed what we once thought as the limits of viability.  3) Acts of murder are considered morally reprehensible in every society – the only degree of difference being the value of the victim to society.  4) No one knows the future.  To cut off a life because we speculate that it will hinder another’s full development is just that – speculation.  5) We do not really know what our earth is able to support.  Many population theorists have been proven wrong because their predictions were based on existing technology.

The problem of abortion goes far beyond the act of abortion itself.  What is the cause of abortion?   We have a society that no longer values the sacredness of sexuality.   We no longer see ourselves as made in the image of God with sexuality as a gift that unites man and woman in a way no other communion can duplicate.   We have made it into a pleasure vehicle, a medium for selling other stuff, a worship of ourselves.   The fact that sexuality is the means by which we fulfill God’s command – to multiply and fill the earth – becomes a hindrance to free use of the gift.  Restraint becomes a curse instead of a means of heightening the enjoyment of the gift.    We have a selfish, self-centered society that has never grown beyond an infant’s need for attention and fulfillment without thought to the sacrifices others make.   Abortion has become the cure for carelessness, the back-up plan for impulsiveness, lack of self-control, the concealer of many sins of greed and lust.

So what is the solution to this problem?  1) Recognize it for what it is: murder of an infant – not a product of conception, a zygote, embryo, or fetus.  2)Examine the root causes of abortion.  Human beings make selfish, self-centered choices and put themselves and all who come into contact with them in danger due to those choices.  3) Reach out to the ignorant with the Good News – Christ came to set us free from the consequences of bad choices – not by invalidating or covering up those choices, but by giving us grace in the midst of dealing with consequences and by giving us His mind.  Having the mind of Christ helps us make better choices.   The security of being buried with Him to sin and alive with Him unto God, gives us confidence to defeat the temptations of our human weaknesses, the lure of empty promises that the world makes, and the illusions that Satan projects to draw us away from our real life with God.   4) Bring to every situation the Word of God.  Our God is not an aloof, disconnected powerful being.  Our God suffered as a human, endured every temptation known to mankind, lived life perfectly as a human being without succumbing to the sin that drew our foreparents out of the garden, died and was raised again.  As He is seated in the Heavenly places physically, so we are seated there spiritually.  We only have to draw on that power to live life with hope and purpose.

Abortion must be fought – not just because it destroys a baby – but because it subtly tells a woman that she does not have a future with that baby – that she is not smart enough, strong enough, capable enough to find a path and purpose for herself and her child.   It is disrespectful to the baby, to the woman and to God, who gives life.  Let’s do more to make abortion a choice no one would ever make!