On June 24, 2022, child advocates wept for joy while the abortion industry snarled in rage. The United States Supreme Court had overturned Roe vs. Wade. Abortion is no longer a federal right in the United States; however, individual states can mandate whether abortion is permitted and under what circumstances.
Most people have no clue what actually happens in an abortion. Many Christians are unclear about what the Bible has to say on the matter. Most people don’t know what the true agenda of organizations like Planned Parenthood is. As Christians, we need to be fully informed and take action to protect the vulnerable and defenseless. Let’s check out the facts!
What is abortion?
An abortion is the ending of a pregnancy. If a mother has a miscarriage, the medical term is a “spontaneous abortion.” If a mother has a surgical procedure or takes a medication to purposefully kill her unborn child, this is called an “induced abortion.” This article focuses on induced abortion – the intentional killing of a living human in the womb.
Over half of abortions in the United States before the 10th week of pregnancy use medication to kill the tiny living person. The mother either picks up the pills at an abortion clinic, or they are mailed to her. The first pill kills the baby by cutting off his or her blood supply and nutrition. The second pill induces early labor that expels the child from the mother’s womb. In most situations, the dead fetus passes from the mother’s body when she is at home.
A medical abortion carries life-threatening risks, especially since the mother is usually at home without medical care. She may have heavy bleeding and a high temperature, indicating the possibility of an incomplete abortion, where the baby dies but stays inside her body. This can lead to sepsis, which can kill the mother.
The surgical procedures that kill and remove a human child from the mother’s womb include suction or vacuum aspiration in the first trimester. The fetus is literally ripped into pieces and sucked out of the womb. Dilation and evacuation (D&E) is used for women after the first trimester. The doctor inserts forceps through the dilated cervix and into the womb, tearing off the child’s arms and legs and crushing the head. Each body part is extracted and placed into a small pan, so that the doctor can verify that the baby’s entire body has been removed. Third-trimester abortions are sometimes performed by inducing labor and delivering the whole fetus intact after the doctor injects a lethal substance into the child’s heart to kill it.
The abortion industry frequently touts abortion as “safe.” But every year, about 20,000 women in the U.S. suffer abortion complications such as incomplete abortion, septic infection, heavy bleeding, torn cervix, blood clots, punctured bowels or uterus, or a bad reaction to anesthesia. Abortion can cause infertility or miscarriages in future pregnancies. Every year, women die in the U.S. during or after an abortion, with black women most at risk.
Is the Bible against abortion?
It most certainly is! Abortion is a type of child sacrifice, where a baby is killed for the abortion center’s profit, and supposedly for the mother’s benefit. The Bible makes it clear that child sacrifice is among the worst of sins – an abomination.
- “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter” (Deuteronomy 18:9)
- “They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters.” (Psalm 106:37-38)
God also condemns murder and prescribes the death penalty for it. Killing innocent preborn children by abortion is definitely premeditated murder.
- “You shall not murder.” (Exodus 20:13)
- “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.” (Genesis 9:6)
The abortion industry and its deluded followers sometimes try to argue that an unborn child isn’t alive because he or she hasn’t begun breathing yet. They might tell the expectant mother, “It’s just a blob of cells.” This is a huge deception that thousands of naïve folks have fallen for.
Of course, the abortionists know better. By ultrasound, which they use for surgical abortions, they can see the baby actively moving around in the womb with arms and legs and a beating heart. They have to examine the baby’s body parts after they rip it apart, to make sure they got everything. They know it’s a little human. But they lie to cover up their horrific practice.
Trying to define a fetus as a “non-life form” is enormously unscientific. Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines “life” as: “the state of existence characterized by such functions as metabolism, growth, reproduction, adaptation, and response to stimuli.”
- The unborn child clearly has a metabolism; his or her body converts the nutrition received from mother and converts it into energy.
- The unborn child is obviously growing and reproducing cells. By the time a mother realizes she is pregnant, her baby has a beating heart and brain function, is beginning to grow arms and legs, and has developing eyes.
- By the 2nd trimester, and perhaps earlier, baby is responding to stimuli, like light, sound, and pain. A fetus can feel pain by at least 15 weeks gestation, so that child is feeling the excruciating pain of the abortionist ripping his or her arms and legs off. [i]
Abortion as justified homicide
The unborn child is clearly alive, and the medical world and abortion industry know this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Since the unborn child is clearly a person, some pro-abortion people claim abortion is “justified homicide.”
What is justifiable homicide? It is killing another person, but with a justifiable reason. Examples include killing someone when you (or your loved ones) are in imminent danger of being killed by that person. For instance, if an intruder breaks into your home and points a gun at your child, you can shoot that person and most likely not be prosecuted for murder.
Some abortionists and their supporters argue that abortion is justifiable homicide. For instance, an article published in Solon magazine was titled, “So What If Abortion Ends Life?”[ii] Its author admitted that a fetus is a human life, but then goes on to say, “All life is not equal.” She argues that a fetus does not have the same rights as his or her mother. The mother’s “rights” trump her unborn child. What this author and others are proposing is that some lives are simply worth sacrificing. Well, from a Biblical perspective, we’ve already pointed out what God has to say about child sacrifice.
Of course, there are medical situations where a mother cannot continue a pregnancy without the possibility of severe harm or even her own death. An example would be an ectopic pregnancy, where the fertilized egg implants somewhere other than in the womb – most often in the fallopian tube. If this happens, the mother’s life is at grave risk. But no embryo can develop in the fallopian tube anyway – this embryo will die. Thus, giving the mother medication or surgery to remove the embryo is not ending a viable life. It’s not even considered an abortion, medically speaking.
But the abortion industry and women seeking abortion argue that other reasons “justify” killing a child growing in the womb. “Having a baby will interfere with my education or career.” “My boyfriend doesn’t want a baby.” “I’m embarrassed for people to know I had sex outside of marriage.” “I can’t afford a baby.”
Did you know that in surveys of women having abortions, only 4% said it was because of physical problems (which transient conditions like morning sickness)? Did you know that less than 1% of abortions are due to rape or incest? Did you know that only 0.2% of abortions are for girls under age 15 and only 0.4% for women over age 45? Women are most likely to have an abortion around age 20, which is a safe age for pregnancy.[iii] Most women have abortions because their sexual partner or parents coerce them or because it’s inconvenient for the mother. Inconvenience is not justifiable homicide!
How should a Christian view Planned Parenthood?
Abortion is Planned Parenthood’s cash cow. Each year, this organization kills over 300,000 preborn children and makes a huge profit off of these abortions. It makes more than 1.6 billion in income and has over 2 billion in net assets; this organization is enriching itself by killing children. Each year, this organization provides fewer and fewer services like birth control or pap smears but has been steadily increasing its number of abortions.
Planned Parenthood only makes $50 or less from selling birth control items or around $150 from a pap smear. But it charges around $600 for the abortion pills or surgical first trimester abortion, up to $2000 for second trimester abortion, and higher for late-term abortions. That’s well over 2 billion dollars a year for abortions alone!! And that doesn’t even include the enormous profit Planned Parenthood makes from selling baby organs. Planned Parenthood is obviously more interested in making a hefty profit than actually helping women.
Furthermore, Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger, was racist and a proponent of eugenics. In her speech, “My Way to Peace,” Sanger proposed separating up to 20 million people who could not read, were extremely poor, or unemployed. She said these impoverished people should be rounded up along with prostitutes and drug addicts and placed on farms separate from society. They could only rejoin society if they were sterilized and exhibited good behavior.
Sanger was involved with the Ku Klux Klan leadership and focused on the African American population as the “undesirables” who were having too many babies (in her opinion). She used black ministers to clandestinely promote her plan. “We don’t want the word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”
Sanger promoted sterilization or birth control, not abortion. However, after she died, Planned Parenthood’s new leadership began radically promoting abortion. Planned Parenthood now even strongly advocates for third-trimester abortion – children who could survive outside the womb. They call abortion “healthcare for women.” Like their founder, Planned Parenthood zeroes in on abortion for minority women. In New York City, more Black women have abortions than live births. Planned Parenthood is still practicing racist eugenics.
Planned Parenthood also enables child sexual abuse by not reporting incidents of underage pregnant girls.[iv] They do the same with sex-traffickers, providing abortions to a string of young women brought in by the same man with no questions asked.[v] In addition to reaping a huge profit from providing abortions, Planned Parenthood has additionally grown wealthy from illegally selling the murdered babies’ organs, sometimes without the mothers’ consent.[vi] Planned Parenthood is a despicable organization enriching itself from exploiting vulnerable women, killing unborn children, and selling their body parts for profit.
Christians need to take action to stymie the horrific violence Planned Parenthood commits against innocent children. “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.” (Proverbs 24:11)
God’s love for the unborn
God lovingly watches over children as they are developing in the womb. God is intimately involved in the unborn child’s development, and He has plans for that child.
“For You created my innermost parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, and skillfully formed in the depths of the earth. Your eyes have seen my formless substance, and in Your book were written all the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God!” (Psalm 139:13-17)
Scriptures advocating for the unborn
God clearly considers the unborn as people – people with a destiny. God even called several prophets into the ministry before they were born.
- Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)
- Isaiah: “The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.” (Isaiah 49:1)
- Paul: “But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace. . . (Galatians 1:15)
Furthermore, as the Angel Gabriel prophesied about John the Baptist: “he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb” (Luke 1:15).
Mary, the mother of Jesus, visited her cousin Elizabeth when Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John and when Mary had just conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit. As Mary walked in and greeted Elizabeth, the fetus inside Elizabeth instantly realized that God had just come through the door – in Mary’s womb. John the fetus jumped in joy! (Luke 1:35-45)
Elizabeth spoke of her unborn son using the Greek word brephos or baby. In Koine Greek, this word means a fetus or a baby. The language did not differentiate. The abortion industry tries to dehumanize preborn children by only calling them by the medical term “fetus;” however, God does not differentiate between the preborn or newborn baby: passing through the birth canal doesn’t suddenly make something human.
Our God wants us to advocate for the vulnerable and the oppressed. He wants us to save preborn children from murder.
- “Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:3-4).”
Pro-life vs Pro-choice Christians
As unbelievable as it seems, some people who identify as Christians say they are “pro-choice.” They feel women should have the right to get an abortion. CNN News recently posted a story about Christians on the opposite side of the abortion debate. The article quoted the Christian advocate of abortion as saying, “Often these activists fail to support other political causes that preserve the life of the child after being born.” She said that lack of abortion disproportionately affects minority and impoverished women who may not have a support system.
Let’s consider her points. Do pro-life advocates fail to support legislation that care for children after they’re born? Pro-life advocates do support political causes to support mothers and children after birth. In June 2022, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced the Providing for Life Act,[ix] which provides comprehensive support for women in their pregnancies and post-birth, and for their children. The bill includes doubling tax credits for children, enables paid parental leave after childbirth, provides support and mentoring for low-income mothers, and provides job training for parents. It provides additional funding and reform for the WIC program, extending the time children can receive benefits and adjusting for inflation.
Do pro-lifers really ignore mothers and their babies once they give birth? Did you know that the overwhelming majority of foster parents are pro-life Christians? Did you know that most people adopting children in the foster care system are pro-life? Did you know that over 3000 non-profit pro-life crisis pregnancy centers around the U.S. provide free care for Moms throughout their pregnancies, with ultrasounds, maternity clothing, prenatal vitamins, prenatal counseling, and parenting classes? After birth, these centers provide free car seats, strollers, baby clothes, diapers and other necessities for the babies, job training for the Moms, and connections to public health resources.
Ask yourself, what is the “pro-choice” crowd doing for Moms in crisis who choose to keep their babies? Are they really pro-choice? Or are they pro-death?
Having the abortion conversation
When we’re discussing the issue of abortion, we need to remember that the conversation needs to focus on love and not winning an argument. We give valid reasons for why we support life for the unborn, but we do it with respect, acknowledging the pain and desperation many mothers in crisis pregnancies experience.
- Carefully and respectfully listen to their ideas. Concentrate on building trust and mutual respect.
- Gently ask questions and request clarification and evidence for their viewpoint.
- Politely explain why you believe what you do. If they say a pre-born child has no right to life because he or she is completely dependent on the mother, point to an infant or toddler. Ask whether that child has a right to live. After all, it’s still dependent on the mother.
- Find places where you both agree – for instance, caring for women and children after birth. Point out how pro-lifers are active in supporting mothers in crisis pregnancies during and after birth. Point out legislation supported by pro-life politicians that support life after birth.
Check out more tips for having the abortion conversation here.[x]
Conclusion
Above all else, we must share the compassion of Christ with women in crisis. We must offer them love and hope along with tangible support. We must support organizations and legislation that care for women and children. We need to do whatever is in our power to eliminate the perceived need for abortion.
[i] Derbyshire SWG and Bockmann JC, Reconsidering fetal pain, J Med Ethics 46, 3-6, 2020
[ii] https://www.salon.com/2013/01/23/so_what_if_abortion_ends_life/
[iii]https://www.132healthwise.com/abortion-and-age-when-do-women-have-abortions.php
[iv] https://hartzler.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/hartzler-55-members-ask-hhs-investigate-planned-parenthood-cover-child
[v] https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/19/19-1392/185254/20210729125335060_19-1392%20Dobbs%20v.%20JWHO%20Amicus%20Brief%20of%20American%20Center%20for%20Law%20and%20Justice%20and%20Bioethics%20Defense%20Fund.pdf
[vi] Chuck Grassley, “Grassley Refers Planned Parenthood, Fetal Tissue Procurement Organizations to FBI, Justice Dept. for Investigation,” press release, December 13, 2016, https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-refers-planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue-procurement-organizations-fbi; Energy and Commerce Committee, “Select Panel Refers Numerous Entities for Further Investigation into Possible Violations of Law,” press release, December
[ix] https://www.rubio.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/95037198-13e3-42de-b9c8-0f59a01aa94e/2CAAEB90BAEB7268A18ABB58A091A717.pfl-act-graphic-7.pdf
[x] https://www.prolifeunion.org/copy-of-having-the-abortion-convers
