Even though I have lived a committed Christian life since the age of 20 years old, my teenage years were another story all together. Due to the lack of good role models and the abundance of bad ones, I dived headfirst into all the world offers from a very young age. Drinking, smoking pot and being sexually active was my lifestyle until coming to Christ. I thought I knew it all and was the wisest master of my life choices. Sometime during my 17th year, my girlfriend and I had a big scare when we thought she might be pregnant. Thankfully she wasn’t but I came close to having to suffer the consequences of my bad decisions.
There is a strong possibility that we would have chosen to bring that pregnancy to an unnatural ending at that time. It was 1981 and we honestly hadn’t given much consideration to the implications of abortion. Abortion had only been legalized by the Supreme Court decision of Roe vs. Wade in 1973, merely 8 years prior. It became a legal and convenient way to deal with the consequences of negligence, rebellion and dysfunctional life choices. Just a few years later, I became very aware of the barbaric procedures and realities of abortion in almost all of its forms. I am so glad now that I never chose to abort a child, but I also have compassion towards those that may have, knowing that I most likely would have at one time in my life.
All over the world, every day there are women who are faced with the dreadful decision about whether to continue with what may be a seemingly inconvenient pregnancy or to bring it to end. It’s a painful, heartbreaking decision which is almost never easy! In a great number of instances however, it could have been easily avoided by making the right choices beforehand. In our current, highly sexualized culture, this is an all too common situation facing our society.
Scientific advances now allow us to see the formation of the human being in its mother’s womb through all the stages of development. Ultrasounds in 2D/3D/4D are now readily available for mothers to see their children in great detail before birth. Medical advancements now allow a baby born extremely premature to survive much earlier than anyone ever imagined possible. Recently a friend’s daughter had the premature birth of his granddaughter at 22 weeks and only weighed 1lb 2oz. Although the survival of this baby was touch and go, ultimately the baby made it through and now is a healthy baby weighing 10+ lbs. Unfortunately, in some states, abortion is still allowed up until the full 9 months or 40 weeks of gestation. In these states, where the abortion takes place so late in the pregnancy, this baby could easily survive outside the womb, therefore, must be killed prior to removal from the womb or even quickly afterwards. In other cases, the baby must be ripped into pieces so that it can be removed from the mother’s womb. See this video for more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=126&v=jgw4X7Dw_3k&feature=emb_logo
In recent months racial strife and injustice has emerged as a hot topic in our country. The idea that one human could own another now seems to be grossly inhumane and even barbaric in the context of today’s society. What many people today don’t know, due to an ignorance of historical context, is that slavery was not seen that way by most while it was legal in history. Slavery had existed since the beginning of time and unfortunately it even exists today in many parts of the world, but it was so commonplace back then there was a tolerance and acceptance we now find unthinkable today. Never to excuse slavery in any form then or now, it would be wise to place the judgement of people and their actions in the past in the context of the influences and tolerances of their day. Most likely many of us would have made similar decisions due to the proven fact we are all easily influenced by the accepted norms of the culture in which we live. That’s why so many Germans and people in Communist countries participated in the abominations committed in their countries in the past and even today.
I understand fully the many complications and arguments about abortion and there is not enough space in the article to go into each one of them; however, there is much more information about abortion, its procedures and implications than ever before. There is also clear evidence that when people are well informed, they overwhelmingly agree that abortion is a terrible conclusion for a human being.
Morality, justice and righteousness are not established by man’s laws but by God, the Supreme Creator and Heavenly Father who establishes the absolute standard of righteousness and justice. The unborn child is the most innocent and vulnerable of all human beings and God makes it clear what He thinks concerning the shedding of innocent blood. There are numerous Bible verses that speak against the spilling of innocent blood and the value of all human life. Proverbs 6:16-19 speaks of the seven things that God hates and one of them is “hands that shed innocent blood”. It is almost unthinkable and certainly barbaric that there were many nations in Biblical times who even offered their own children in human sacrifices. The Psalmist points this out in Psalm 106:37-38 when speaking of these people who: “They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with the blood.”
In the not too distant future, abortion will be seen as even more barbaric than the way we see the issue of slavery today. Those who continue to support abortion on demand will be seen in a worse light than those who are being judged so harshly today having participated in the ownership and business of slavery in times past. Many support abortion today out of ignorance and for convenience, but ignorance cannot remain acceptable when we have access to more information than ever before. Anyone can get all the information they could possibly want by a simple internet search.
There is forgiveness and mercy for those who have agreed with and participated in the shedding of innocent life in the past. I have some close family members and friends who have painfully walked out those decisions and their consequences. I have watched them humbly approach God and have seen His mercy and healing poured out on them. The prick of their past decisions; however, may remain ever present as a gentle reminder.