ABORTION-A WOMAN’S RIGHT OR A WOMAN’S SIN?

There is a global war that is raging at this very moment. The theme of this war is "the right to choose", and its battlefields are various moral issues. It is a war about right and wrong.  Everything is about choice, a person's right to choose to do whatever they want to do. The most dangerous and insidious aspect of this war is that all choices are now thought to be of equal value, or at least to merit equal consideration. I may not choose what you choose, but whatever I choose, you do not have the right to criticize it or tell me that I am wrong.

In no other area is this kind of thinking more clearly seen than it is in the area of abortion. Is there a hotter political topic? I don't think so. Is there another topic that stirs quite the same emotions as this one? If there is, I don't know what it would be. Consider the language used to describe this moral battlefield. Those who think that having an abortion is a woman's absolute right and that no one should interfere with that are called "pro-choice".  In our country, the "right" to "choose" an abortion is the law.

s the choice of having an abortion a woman's "right"? Does she have a just and lawful claim to such activity as a privilege? That is what we are going to examine in this tract. We will begin by looking at arguments that are used by those who would say that choosing an abortion is a woman's right. However, I refuse to look at these arguments without considering them from a biblical standpoint. The only choice in this day and age that is not considered to be of equal value and to merit equal consideration is the choice of God. We are going to look at that choice in this tract and what the Bible has to say about the life of the unborn child.

The questions will be, "Does a woman have the just and lawful claim to an abortion as an inalienable privilege, as a right?" and "Does she have the right to chose God?" and "Are those choices of equal value and consideration?"

1. It is often said that the choice of an abortion should be the right of the woman if in her opinion the birth would cause severe difficulties from an economic or social standpoint. It is my opinion that a statement of this type is a clear indication of where the priorities and values of our society have gone. Looking beyond economics and a social life, the Bible tells us, "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward" (Psalm 127:3). Properly viewed, it is a blessing from the Lord to be given a child. If the child cannot be properly taken care of by the birth mother-then put the child up for adoption. I personally know numerous couples who would love to have such a child. Check the adoption lists and see how many financially sound and loving couples wait and wait and wait to be blessed with an infant.

There is no doubt that finances play a very important role in our lives and in the lives of our children. However, any decision made along those lines must be made with a proper understanding of God's values and priorities. To view a child who is still in the womb as an unwanted burden that is to be eliminated by choice is to have an entirely unscriptural set of values. To someone, that child would be a tremendous blessing and that very child could turn out to be a tremendous blessing to all of mankind.

    2. It is often argued that abortion is justified when there is the likely prospect that the child will be born mentally or physically handicapped. This argument once again raises the question of values and priorities. However, there is another way to view this argument.

In Hebrews 9:27, the Bible says, "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment," All of us are going to die, but does that fact give me the "right” to decide when your time will be? I would not want anyone reading this tract to have the "right" to decide when I will die, and I know that you feel the same way.        What then gives anyone the "right" to decide to end the life of an unborn baby who is as much alive as you or me? The answer to that question is, WE DO NOT HAVE THAT RIGHT!

Throughout the Bible murder is condemned, beginning with Cain and Abel and continuing through the Ten Commandments up to and beyond the Lord's Sermon on the Mount. Consider the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 5: 21 & 22, "You have heard that the ancients were told, "You shall not commit murder' and 'Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.'  But I say unto you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever shall say to his brother, Baca, shall be guilty before the supreme court, and whoever shall say, 'You fool’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. "

I understand that the argument revolves around the humanity of that unborn child, potentially handicapped or not. We will deal specifically with that question a little later.   At this point we are simply addressing the various scenarios presented by the “pro-abortionists". A point needs to be made. I know that most would take offense at the label, "Pro-abortionist”'. Most of that persuasion would say that they are "Pro-choice", not "pro-abortion".  Many will say that they personally oppose abortion, but would never prevent anyone else from having one or impose their morality on someone else. That is the coward's position and reminds me of the words of Solomon recorded in Proverbs 24:10-12, where Solomon wrote, "If you are slack in the day of distress, your strength is limited. Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, 0 hold them back. If you say, 'See, we did not know this,' does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does he not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man, according to his work? "

We cannot be neutral in moral issues!  We cannot say, “Well, I personally wouldn't do it, but I certainly wouldn't condemn anyone else." We either choose God or we don't!

Surely being the mother of a child who is dramatically ill, either mentally or physically or both, would present hardships that I would not be so foolish as to assert that I could even begin to understand. But I do know that the Bible teaches that by trials and tribulations we can be strengthened if we put our faith and trust in God. I do know that He will not allow more to be put upon us than we can bear. And I do know that we cannot commit sin to remove a hardship from us. I am reminded of Job, one who truly suffered, again in a way that I can not begin to imagine, and the words of Job 1:21 & 22. There we are told, "And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there, The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.. "

3. We also frequently hear in battles over this issue that medical reasons would give the woman the "right" to choose an abortion, By this I mean if the mother's life was in grave danger. Actually, statistics prove that such cases are very rare and becoming more so with each passing year. Nonetheless, statistics don't matter much if it happens to you.

The real issue here is not much different from those already mentioned. Does the mother's health give her the "right", the just and lawful claim, to terminate the life of the infant living inside of her. That is the question. There is a lesson taught in Proverbs 18:14 that is helpful in consideration of this question. The passage says, "The spirit of a man can endure his sickness, but a broken spirit who can bear? "

Consider for a moment this simple biblical truth. My physical condition is important and I am required by God to take care of my body; but more important than the physical are those qualities of spirit that make me who I am. We can never violate a divine teaching in pursuit of physical comfort, even life itself. Let's look at a parallel. Suppose that I am dying and in desperate need of a heart. Suppose I know someone who has a heart that my body would readily accept. Now this potential donor is very much alive, but if I "choose" to, I can make arrangements to end his life and get that heart. Would I be justified in allowing those arrangements to proceed, resulting in the death of that person, so that I could live? My understanding of the scriptures is "NO"! Therefore, how can we possibly justify the killing of an unborn child so that the mother might live?

4.  Another argument frequently heard concerns cases of rape and incest. Surely it is the woman's right to choose to terminate the pregnancy in such cases, or so the argument goes. Isn't it interesting that our society has determined that a guilty rapist cannot be executed for his crime, but then turns right around and says that if pregnancy results from that rape the innocent child can be executed?

In situations such as this the mental and emotional anguish must be tremendous and I would not insult anyone by saying, "I know how you feel," because I do not. But I do know that God will not allow us to be tested beyond which we are able to bear. If a burden has been placed upon me, and there is no right means of removing that burden given in God's Word, than He has promised to sustain me through it. Maybe it means putting the child up for adoption if the woman could not bear the constant reminder of what had happened. But if in such cases abortion is justified because of the resultant mental anguish, we are saying that emotional stress and mental anguish justify the killing of another human being. That is not right!

Understand that the ultimate goal of those who desire the woman's "right" to abortion on demand is that abortion should be an absolute right and that no law should interfere except to regulate the standards practiced by those who perform the abortions. It is based upon the assumption that a woman has the absolute right the control her own body. A leading feminist named Margaret Sanger once said, "No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother," Sanger was speaking of abortion.    In truth, at conception the woman is already a mother.

Friends, only God has absolute rights. Mankind has no absolute rights, and even if the mother had absolute rights over her own body, that unborn baby is not part of her body. This is a simple biological fact. The child has a separate blood supply, separate circulatory system, separate heartbeat, separate brainwaves, and even its own separate will very early along. From the day of fertilization the human embryo is anti-genetically-foreign tissue to its mother. In abortion, a completely separate human is being killed.

This is the crux of the matter. This is the pivotal point in the battle. The vast majority of pro-abortion advocates deny that the developing child is a human being, in the sense that we are. But how does the Creator view the developing baby? If it can be shown that God views the developing child as a distinct, fully human person, then the question becomes, "Will we choose God or sin?"

Let us consider Job 10:9-12. "Remember now, that Thou hast made me as clay, and wouldst Thou turn me into dust again? Didst Thou not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese; clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews? Thou hast granted me life and lovingkindness; and Thy care has preserved my spirit. "

Job is speaking of the process of his own formation. In very beautiful poetic language, he describes his development. He begins by comparing his formation to the pouring out of milk into a container, suggesting the beginning of fertilization. Then God begins to "stir the milk" so to speak, turning it into cheese, or the finished product. God is directly and intimately involved with the child from start to finish. This is not some inhuman mass of tissue that God is not aware of or is unconcerned about. God is the One responsible for setting this process in motion. According to verses 11 & 12, God develops our frame and grants life and loving kindness.

Consider Jeremiah 1:4 & 5. There we find, "Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you,- I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."  Once again we see God's direct involvement with the child in the mother's womb. This passage so clearly bears that out for it declares that God "knew” Jeremiah and "consecrated" him before he was born. This shows that it is not just a mass of tissue inside of the mother; but a person, a human being. In this particular case, one who was set aside for service to the Lord prior to his birth, while yet in his mother's womb.

Psalm 139: 13-16, needs to be entered into this study. There David wrote, "For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Thy works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. 7hine eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them."

I believe that this passage gives one of scriptures most complete accounts of prenatal development. The whole psalm has as its theme the inescapable presence of God. It shows that no matter where we go we cannot flee from His presence. Why is God so concerned about mankind?  I believe we find a very good answer to that question in verses 13-16. When David begins verse 13 with the word "for", he is about to tell us that God's constant interest in man is simply the natural interest that a maker has for a very special product. God is the One responsible for the process whereby a child develops within the womb. God seeks us now because He made us then, and from our earliest moments He knew. David, through the Holy Spirit, used the first person pronouns, 1, me, my. This shows that he regarded God to be at work with him personally, not merely with some mass of tissue that would later become a person. No wonder David proclaimed, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Thy works."

There is so much more that could be said. We could write of the meeting of two unborn children when the pregnant Mary brought the child Jesus into the home of her pregnant cousin, Elizabeth. When she did, the unborn John, "leaped in her womb for joy. " (Luke 1:39-45). We could write of the fact that the same Greek word, "brephos", is used to denote an unborn child, as found in Luke 1:41. It is used to denote a newborn child, Luke 2:12. And it is used to denote a still older infant, as in 2 Tim. 3:15. This clearly indicates that God views them equally. However, let us close with the following point.

With the widespread acceptance of abortion, the concept of human worth is changing in America, indeed, it is changing across the globe. The Bible teaches that a person has worth merely because he exists, but today many feel that that is not enough. Many have imposed other definitions upon God's simple truths. We are often told that the developing embryo is not human, but let's consider a few biological facts.

At conception the genetic code that determines humanness is already present. At 6 weeks brains waves can be measured. Don't you find it interesting that at the other end of human existence, death is finally determined by lack of brain waves, but measurable brain waves at 6 weeks is not ample evidence of human life? At 3 weeks, probably before the mother knows that she is with child, that little human being is really something. Only 1/10 of an inch long, he or she possess the beginnings of eyes, a spinal cord, a nervous system, a thyroid gland, lungs, a stomach, a liver, kidneys, intestines, and a heart. That little heart which begins beating as early as the 18th day, is by 3 weeks beating regularly and sending an entirely independent blood supply through the little body. At 45 days the unborn child can make the first movements of his or her arms and legs.

The mother doesn't realize this because it will probably be another 11 to 12 weeks before she can feel it. At 60 days after conception the baby can grasp an object and make a fist.

Don't be deceived. Inside the mother's womb is a human being, very much alive and made in the image of God. (Gen. 1:26) Man has worth because of who he is, not because of what he or she might become. He or she has worth because they are made in God's image, not because they fulfill some criterion set forth by scientist.

It is true that for all intents and purposes that little unborn child is helpless and would not be viable outside of the womb. But the helpless deserve extra care, not abuse by the strong. The Bible teaches that a person has worth, dignity, and the right to life because he or she is a person, made in the image of God. That same Bible considers the unborn child to be very much a person.

NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO END SUCH A LIFE!