What The Bible Says About Abortion
(Text: Proverbs 24:11-12; Genesis 4:10)
By: Barry L. Cameron
Our Nation Has Faced Some Great Tragedies:
1. Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (November 22, 1963)
2. Assassination of Martin Luther King (April 4, 1968)
3. Assassination of Robert Kennedy (June 6, 1968)
4. The Viet Nam War (1955-1975)
5. The Hostage Crisis in Iran (November 1979 - January 1980)
6. The Bombing in Beirut that killed our servicemen (October 23, 1983)
7. The Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster (January 28, 1986)
8. The PanAm Crash in Lockerbie Scotland (December 21, 1988)
9. The Elementary School Massacre in Stockton, California (Tuesday, January 17, 1989)
10. The Bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City (April 19, 1995)
11. The TWA Flight 800 crash off Long Island (July 17, 1996)
12. The Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado (April 20, 1999)
13. The Columbia Space Shuttle Disaster (February 1, 2003)
* But, the GREATEST TRAGEDY we’ve ever faced as a nation came on January 22, 1973, when the Supreme Court voted 7-2 in the ROE vs. WADE decision to legalize ABORTION.
* Who would’ve dreamed that this same great country that has fought 2 bloody world wars to protect and defend the virtues of freedom, human dignity, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, would in 1973, by a 7-2 majority vote of the Supreme Court, take away all the privileges and rights of what has amounted to over 40 million human beings?
JUSTICE BLACKMUN: (who wrote the majority opinion) - Wrote, one year later, “This case will be regarded as one of the worst mistakes in the court’s history or one of its greatest decisions…a turning point.”
- Without question, it was the single worst mistake in the history of the Supreme Court.
* Since that day in January, 1973, 40 million lives have been snuffed out of existence. - Every 20 seconds (on average) an abortion is performed in the USA. (4,400 times a day) - Over 1.5 million times per year. (Between 90 and 100 thousand times a year here in Texas)
The Second Most Common Surgical Procedure In America: Non-Therapeutic Abortion. - Circumcision is #1. - Non-therapeutic means that the abortion is not performed to ensure the life or health of the mother. Rather, it’s because of her desire for convenience, absence of distress and her so-called mental happiness.
* For every 2 babies allowed to live in America, we allow one to be murdered by abortion.
Abortion is not the same as birth control. (Birth control prevents a life from beginning.) - Abortion destroys that new life once it has already begun.
ILL. Erwin Lutzer (“Exploding The Myths That Could Destroy America”) “A father threw his newborn son against the floor of the delivery room, killing the infant. In what has to be one of the greatest moral contradictions of all time, this man was charged with murder, even though that baby could have been put to death legally, the day before, by abortion.”
* Admittedly, throwing a baby against the floor is BARBARIC! But how much different is it from killing an infant with the abortionist’s saline injection, which burns the infant’s skin while it struggles for life. - Or even more gruesome, the spectacle of using a high-powered, suction device that tears the body of the developing baby apart, one piece at a time.
SOME SHOCKING REVELATIONS…
1. In 1983, some 16,000 aborted babies were found in a storage container in California. The ACLU protested some pro-lifer’s plans to bury the babies, insisting that the court had ruled that the unborn aren’t human and therefore, should not be buried like humans. The ACLU doesn’t protest the burial of dogs and cats in pet cemetaries.
2. On May 14, 1984, the Milwaukee Sentinel reported that police arrested four children ages 4-11, who were throwing a fetus off a bridge. The youngsters had retrieved 22 aborted babies from a nearby dumpster. When asked what they were doing, the children replied that they were playing with “little people.” One has to wonder why the big people didn’t know these babies were little people. And no wonder the children were treating these babies like garbage. That’s what the grown-ups were doing.
3. According to the American Life League in Stafford, Virginia: “In Texas, sworn affidavits have been received that testify that little babies who miraculously survive abortions have been drowned in buckets and even used for medical experiments.
4. In Washington, D.C., one hospital used the proceeds from selling the bodies of aborted children to buy a television set and provide refreshments for a doctor’s lounge.
* If we were talking about Bosnia or some uncivilized tribe back in the bush country somewhere, perhaps we could understand this. But this is the USA! - There are certain humane laws here in America protecting even animals from unusually cruel experiments in laboratories. - Animal rights activist groups (Stop the bludgeoning of seals in Alaska, Save the Whales, etc.) - Organizations that won’t allow you to mistreat a horse or a monkey. - We have laws protecting the snail darter and the crawfish. - You touch an eagle’s nest ($5,000.00 fine). Destroy an eagle egg and you go to prison.
* It’s tragic that there are no laws to protect unborn babies. - So, we treat animals like humans and humans like animals.
An Even More Frightening Development… * Nobel laureate, Dr. James D. Watson, advocates “that personhood be postponed (legally) until 3 days following the baby’s birth. During which time the parents can decide whether to keep the baby or kill it.”
What’s So Good About Abortion? (What are the benefits?)
* An organization called WOMEN EXPLOITED BY ABORTION did a national survey that involved women from 42 different states.
- The average age of the women who had abortions was 21.2 yrs.
- The lowest age of the women at the time of their abortion was 12 yrs.
- The highest age of the women at the time of their abortion was 40 yrs.
- 65% of the women were single at the time of their abortion.
- The average length of the pregnancy was 10.2 weeks.
Questions were asked these women:
1. Are you satisfied with your choice today. 1% very much, 95% not at all.
2. If abortion had not been legally available would you have sought an illegal abortion? 72% No.
3. Do you feel your decision was well thought out? 6% very much. 74% not at all.
4. Do you feel you had all the necessary information to make the decision? 88% not at all.
5. Have you had more than one abortion? 24% yes. 76% no.
6. Would you ever have another abortion? 0% very much. 95% no.
7. Were there any negative psychological effects you attribute to your abortion? 94% yes.
8. Did these negative effects continue? 1-6 months? 8% 1-2 yrs? 10% Over 3 years? 82%
9. Knowing where your life is today, would you still have chosen abortion? 1% yes. 94% no.
10. What is your opinion of the nature of the fetus? No answer-3%. Human - 97%
11. If counseling a friend who was in a situation such as yours, would you encourage her to choose an abortion? 98% not at all.
12. What are your feelings about abortion today? 98% negative.
ILL. David C. Reardon, Phd., Eliot Institute, released these findings concerning the psychological reactions reported after abortion.
“After my abortion I experienced feelings of:
Guilt - 93% Despair - 88% Flashbacks - 63%
Depression - 88.2% Shame - 91% Uncontrollable weeping - 70%
Anger - 81% Unworthiness - 86% Suicidal feelings - 56%
Sorrow - 92% Loneliness - 84% A loss of self-confidence - 76%
Grief - 85% Hopelessness - 73% A loss of self-esteem - 82%
Bitterness - 75% Self-condemnation - 91% A loss of dignity - 80%
Regret - 85% Confusion - 81% Emptiness - 83%
Remorse - 86% Anxiety - 81% Greater closeness to my lover - 82% NO!
* Fear of punishment from God - 70%. Fear of others learning about my abortion - 77%
(1) What Is Human Life? (Psalm 127:3-5)
- The Bible says we are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27)
- Psalm 139:13-16
(2) When Does Human Life Begin? (We don’t play this game with anything else…)
1. Conception - the fertilization of the egg by the sperm.
2. Implantation of the ovum on the uterus wall. (Usually happens 1 week or so after conception)
3. The stage when the embryo becomes a fetus (45-50 days after conception.)
4. When all the organ systems are initiated (4 weeks)
5. The animation stage (when the baby begins to move)
6. The moment of quickening (18-20 wks. into pregnancy. Everyone acknowledges a baby.)
7. Viability (baby is capable of living outside the womb (28 weeks on.)
8. At birth. (very few people actually believe this.)
(3) Is That A Baby Or Just A Blob Of Flesh Called A Fetus?
- 18-25 days - the heart begins to beat.
- 43 days - the brain begins to develop. (It’s complete in 8 weeks)
- 8th week - the stomach begins to secrete gastric juices.
- 9th week - fingerprints are fully developed.
- 10th week - thyroid and adrenal glands begin functioning.
- 12th week - breathing process takes place.
- 13th week - baby can squint, swallow, make a fist, and totally respond to stimuli.
ILL. Star Telegram Article, Wednesday, February 2, 2000
* Planned Parenthood calls it a fetus. Some doctors call it a protoplasmic mass growing in the uterus. - God calls it a BABY.
(4) Here Are Some Bible Names For The Developing Human Being.
- Genesis 25:22 (Jacob & Esau) “And the children struggled within her…”
- Jeremiah 1:4-5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, you were set apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
- Psalm 139:13-16. David - Luke 1:41. John the Baptist. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb.”
(5) Why Should We Be Concerned About Abortion?
1. Because human life is sacred to God. (Proverbs 24:11-12; Genesis 4:10)
2. Because of the lives that are at stake. (Both baby and mother)
3. Because of what abortion is doing to the moral fabric of our world.
Quote: Chuck Colson, “How Now Shall We Live?”
“Abortion has always been about more than abortion. It is the wedge used to split open the historic Western commitment to the dignity of human life.” - Colson says that abortion has ushered in a culture of death into America.
“Many well-meaning Americans, including Christians, have bought into the ‘choice’ argument. They don’t see that abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia are all part of the same package. The logic that supports abortion as ‘useful policy’ to prevent the birth of ‘defectives’ or to reduce welfare and crime, applies with equal force at all stages of life. If the body is merely an instrument of the self, if it has no inherent dignity, then we are free to dispose of it at will--or others are free to dispose of it for us.”
* The culture of violence and death, and utter disregard for human life, can be directly attributed to the decision to legalize abortion in 1973. - Euthanasia, assisted suicide, gun violence, gangs, school shootings, cloning and genetic engineering. (Now it will be possible to produce a race free of defects of any kind.) * These have all been brought to us by the proponents of abortion. * You and I are seriously affected by abortion whether we’ve had one or not.
(6) If You’ve Had An Abortion, Can You Be Forgiven? - Yes! I John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
* We need to do everything in our power to stop abortion in America and in our world. - Our very future and the future of our children depends upon it.
Genesis 4:10, “The Lord said, ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.”
* The blood of 40 million little babies is crying out to God. And He has heard their cry.
Quote: Julie Parton, Focus On The Family’s Crisis Pregnancy Ministry. “In God’s eyes, we are priceless…all of us. That includes the child with Down syndrome, the senior suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, the unwed mother and the baby growing inside of her. Increasingly, our society calculates human worth by determining whether people are assets or liabilities…a pillar of the community or a drain on the system. That’s not for us to decide. Isaiah 55:9 states, ‘My thoughts are higher than your thoughts and My ways are not your ways’
