ABORTION: A
BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

For better or worse, the abortion question is proving to be one of our nation's most divisive, long-standing, and impassioned debates. It shows no signs of lessening. Of the two opposing camps, both are equally certain of the "rightness" and morality of their position. As one surveys the various groups which make up our society it is clear that America is close to being split down the middle on this controversial issue. We see pro-choicers and pro-lifers among the aged and the youthful, among men and women, and throughout the lower, middle, and upper classes of society. There is one group, however, in which we see no such dichotomy. They began pro-life and have consistently maintained that position ever since abortion was made legal in 1973, with very few exceptions.

I am referring, of course, to that group of Americans so despised by the liberal news media and mocked by Hollywood; namely the Evangelical Christians. While it is not hard to find abortion supporters among liberal, non-evangelical churches, go to a healthy, Bible believing assembly of evangelicals and you will be hard put to come up with any who will come out in favor of a woman's "right" to have an abortion. Why is this? Are these just religious, intolerant fanatics, or does the Bible indeed support what we refer to as the pro-life view?

GOD'S OPINION

The truth is, there are quite a number of verses in the Bible which relate to abortion, and anyone who truly wants to see the Biblical view of abortion can do so without much trouble. Although the term "abortion" is not used, when we see God's view of the unborn infant, it becomes a simple matter to figure out what He thinks of abortion. Here are a few of the outstanding passages:

1. "For You have formed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made ... My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth" (Psalm 139:13-15).

David is praising God in this Psalm for His wonderful handiwork in creating him while in his mother's womb. He is attributing to God the creative work that goes on while an unborn infant ("fetus" as the abortionists would prefer to say) is growing and developing inside the uterus. If God is actively at work inside every pregnant woman forming each child according to His own special plan, who are we to interfere with His process? If you think this is no big deal, try going to the studio of an artist who has spent nine months working on a beautiful painting, rip it to shreds in front of his eyes, and see what kind of reaction you get!

2. If I have despised the cause of my manservant or my maidservant when they complained against me, what then shall I do when God rises up? ... Did not He who made me in the womb make them?" (Job 31:13-15).

Here we have a second witness that it is God Himself who is at work creating unborn babies while in their mother's wombs. No mention is made about sperms, eggs, division and multiplication of cells, or DNA. It is not that God doesn't know about these things, but He is the One behind it all, determining which sperm shall fertilize which egg and when, and which of the father's attributes shall combine with which of the mother's to produce an individual totally unique on the earth.

3. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit" (Luke 1:41).

Nearly everyone remembers the story of how Mary, the mother of Jesus went to see her cousin Elizabeth when they were both pregnant and how when Mary first greeted her, Elizabeth's baby (John the Baptist) leaped in her womb for joy that Jesus was near. What many don't realize, however, are the awesome and incontrovertible implications this story has concerning the issue of abortion. The fact that John rejoiced at the presence of Jesus while still a six month old "fetus" demonstrates conclusively that the unborn infant already has a spirit, and is a real person capable of emotion.

The only way to deny this is to deny the Biblical account, which is to reject the Bible, the Holy Spirit who wrote the Scriptures, and the Savior Jesus Christ of which they testify. Woe to that man or woman who is ready, in one fell swoop, to reject Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Scriptures for the sake of being able to maintain a pro-choice stance!

4. " ... Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:22,23).

This verse may seem to have little to do with the abortion issue, yet I believe that this verse alone would bring abortion to a screeching halt if it were heeded. The Scriptures here tell us that not only are we to avoid doing that which we know to be wrong; we must also refuse to do those activities which are doubtful in our eyes. Any act we commit while harboring a doubt in our hearts as to its rightness is a sin to us.

What woman is so callous and hard-hearted as to consent to have her unborn baby sliced to pieces or scalded in a saline solution and not even have a doubt as to whether this is something pleasing to God? Don't misunderstand me. I am not suggesting that abortion is merely a doubtful matter. I firmly believe it is a terrible abomination in the eyes of the One who creates all babies. Yet for those who will not admit that it is murder, they surely must grant that it is, at best, a very questionable procedure.

ARGUMENTS OF STRAW

Of course the preceding verses mean little to most pro-abortion advocates. The majority of them give little credence to the Bible anyway. However they do find it necessary to attempt to justify their position and to prove that theirs is the morally correct stance. Since they have thrown out the Bible, their only defense is a random and illogical assortment of arguments which can easily be seen for the rationalizations they are by any who take some time to think them through. Here are some of their primary arguments:

FREEDOM TO CHOOSE -- "Who is the government to tell women what they should or should not do about abortion?" Implied in the name "pro-choice" is the idea that their position gives women the right to choose for themselves the size of their family, and whether or not they want to be saddled with the burden of a baby. How dictatorial of the government, they say, to tell us that the choice has already been made by law, and we are forced to deliver every baby we conceive!

Should the government give us unlimited freedom to choose any and every act that we desire? If so, all laws must be done away with. Of course our freedom to choose cannot be absolute. If it were, your neighbor might "choose" to burn your house down if he doesn't like the way you mow your lawn. Your creditors might "choose" to take your children away and sell them when you don't pay your bills. Once we make a god out of choice and give it absolute reign, the result is anarchy. All law is done away with and anything goes. Someone has well said, "Your freedom ends where mine begins." Who gave mothers the right to choose death for their unborn children? God never did, and woe to that nation which is so enamored with "freedom" that it gives women a "right" which God never intended them to have.

PRIVATE AND PERSONAL -- Another argument advanced by abortion advocates is the notion that abortion is a "private and personal" decision, far too personal for any government to meddle with. That may sound good to those who don't have any idea what abortion actually is, but to those who have seen its grisly work it is meaningless. Since when did the taking of human life gain the dignity to be called private and personal? Take a look at the pictures of the aborted baby's severed body parts hastily thrown into a bag and dumped in the trash and then tell us all about how private and personal abortion is.

Perhaps you remember the terrible tragedy that happened in Killeen Texas when George Hennard randomly shot and killed 17 people at a Luby's restaurant. Mr. Hennard turned his gun on himself at the end, but suppose he hadn't. Suppose instead he had lived to be arrested, and while standing trial for his crimes he said in his defense, "I hope you don't plan to put me in jail for this. This decision I made to murder these people was a very private and personal matter and is certainly nothing for the government to get involved with." Who would be impressed with such an argument? Is it much different when every year a million and a half babies are murdered while the feminists tell the government it has no business interfering with their "private and personal decisions?"

RAPE AND INCEST -- While rape and incest are responsible for a minuscule proportion of the unwanted pregnancies which end in abortion, the rape and incest argument is used constantly by the pro-death people. "How could you make a woman who is an innocent victim of a rape or incest go ahead and deliver that baby that she never asked for?" they indignantly argue.

No one can dispute that rape and incest are a terrible tragedy, and that any woman who has experienced these traumas deserves much sympathy and compassion. But does this give her the right to compound the tragedy by the taking of human life? If the mother can't bring herself to accept this child there are many thousands of couples that would be thrilled to have the chance to raise that baby.

Here is a woman with a thirteen month old baby girl. The baby is dressed in a beautiful pink dress with ribbons and is making little baby sounds in her playpen. In a fit of rage the mother pulls a butcher knife out of the kitchen drawer and drives it savagely through the baby's stomach. The baby dies, the police are notified, and come to take her to jail. As they are leading her to the car she pleads, "You don't understand. This baby was the result of a rape. I have a right to kill my baby because I never wanted her in the first place." Is there one judge in this entire country that would be persuaded by such an argument? Are children that are the result of rape or incest something less than other children? Shall we take a census of the entire population and find all the individuals who were conceived in rape and put them all to death? Are babies to be punished with a death sentence for the crimes of their fathers? Such is the folly of those who use rape as a justification for abortion.

THE INIQUITY
OF THE AMORITES

In the book of Genesis God told Abraham a peculiar thing. He promised him a special land for his descendants, but told him that they would have to wait four generations to receive it, for, "The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete" (Genesis 15:16). The heathen Amorite nation that presently occupied this land were guilty of many evil sins and practices, but God said that it would take four generations before their sin had so accumulated that He would be ready to give Israel the command to go in and destroy them. What we see by this is that sin has an accumulative effect; it "piles up" in God's sight until at last He brings judgment and destruction. I believe that is exactly what is happening in our nation with regard to abortion.

Though until now it does not seem we are being punished for it, and there is still a relative prosperity in our land, the day is coming when the cup shall be full and God will unleash a fury that has been building up for years as He has watched women join with ungodly doctors in the slaughter of the most innocent of all people—the unborn. And while it took four generations for the Amorites to receive their due, let us remember that they had no Bible, no churches, and no gospel. In America we have all of these and the time required for the filling of the cup of God's wrath shall be considerably shorter.

THE WAY OUT OF GUILT

To those women reading this who have had abortions, let me say that there is forgiveness to be found at the cross of our lord Jesus Christ. You don't have to go through life carrying that guilt. "If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

This article was not written to condemn women who are genuinely sorry for their sin. Most women who have abortions have no idea of what is actually taking place. The far greater guilt goes toward the doctors who are profiting by this carnage. They know what is going on; they know that there is more than merely a "glob of tissue" in that woman's womb. To those doctors who will not repent and call on Christ for forgiveness, I can only say, "You'd better hope the Bible is a lie; you'd better hope there is no God, because according to the Scriptures, one day you will stand before Him and give an account of each life you have slaughtered. For such a man Jesus' words surely apply: "It would have been better for that man if he had never been born" (Mat 26:24).