January 22, 1973 was one of the saddest days in American history. It was on that day that the United States Supreme Court announced their infamous decision about abortion in Roe v. Wade, claiming a constitutional right for women to have the lives of their unborn children put to an end by abortion practitioners. In the more than 50 years since then, more than 66,000,000 children have been put to death in their mother’s womb in the United States, a staggering number, which is more than ten times larger than the number of souls killed in the Nazi holocaust of World War II in Germany and Poland. Today, the number one cause death in America by far is abortion! Though the Supreme Court reversed the Roe v. Wade decision on June 24, 2022, the practice continues across the nation. Much of that has been at Planned Parenthood facilities (which some have understandably begun to call “abortuaries”), which continue to receive millions of taxpayer dollars to subsidize their work.
While the practice of abortion is often described with such euphemisms as “Reproductive Freedom” and “Freedom of Choice,” the scientific fact remains incontrovertible that a live human being is put to death in the womb, simply on the basis of the selfish wish of the mother. And the ways in which abortions are carried out are often nothing less than barbaric, as a living child is violently dismembered in the womb, sometimes even suctioning the brains out of the baby’s skull before delivering the then-dead infant’s corpse. Video evidence from ultrasounds shows children in the womb writhing, clearly in pain, as their limbs were being ripped off.
The reasons that are offered to legitimize this inhumane practice of torturously executing children are incredibly appalling, usually as justification just the convenience of a mother who doesn’t want a child because of the impact that motherhood would impose on her financially or hinder her career plans, especially in cases of young single women. One cannot help but point out the parallel of the ancient Palestinian practice of child sacrifice before the god, Molech, tossing living infants into the flames raging inside the idol’s hollow statue. That false god still calls today for the sacrifice of unborn infants at the hands of their mothers. This was something which was a direct cause of the action of the Lord to exterminate those cultures which engaged in this horrific practice around ancient Israel.
The pro-choice lobby typically argues that what is in the womb is not a child but just a fetus, that the pre-birth tissue is only a potential human being, that it is part of the woman’s body and so she should be free to do whatever she wants with it, and that this “blob” does not become a human child until it is born. Of course, that last argument falls apart today as many campaign for the right to have abortions legal until the moment of birth, or even more radically even abortion up to six or eight weeks after birth!
One way to challenge those who insist on holding such views from the “pro-choice” lobby is to raise a theoretical situation. If the mother decides at two months before delivery, should she be able legally to put the child to death? If she decides at two months after delivery, should she be able legally to put the child to death? What’s the difference? Neither child could survive without parental support. It’s only a difference of time and the degree of physical and mental development.
In our day, this moral issue has energized believers to raise their voices and educate their friends, not only in opposition to abortion, but also to support ministries that provide counsel and support to help these vulnerable women and save the lives of their babies. Crisis pregnancy centers across America now provide not only pregnancy testing but also counsel and practical support, including material supplies like cribs, clothing, diapers, and baby formula. They deserve your prayers and financial support, and should be on your church’s benevolence budget. Check on-line to find the one nearest to you, and enlist the support of your pastor to engage your church’s involvement. Many of these have a baby bottle campaign where members can take a baby bottle to their home and fill it will money to give to that local ministry.
In Chattanooga, Tennessee, one can visit the “Memorial to the Unborn.” It is a deeply moving experience to go there, on the very ground where some time years earlier there had been an abortion clinic. A long wall stretches from one end to other, on which are small engraved plaques from parents, grieving over the children whose lives – they now deeply regret – they had put to an end under the hand of an abortion executioner. Many of them included the babies’ name and something to the effect, “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.” If you do visit, contact the local crisis pregnancy ministry there for access.” You can find it on-line at www.choiceschattanooga.org. And when you visit, be sure to bring tissues to wipe the tears from your eyes!
When we take a stand for the sanctity of human life, and do so by opposing the practice of abortion, we should make sure that we remember – and remind folks – that there is forgiveness available from the God whose little ones have been murdered. It is most likely that there will be women sitting in the pews in our churches who, for whatever reason, at some time in the past have had abortions performed on their unborn child. If these are truly believers in Jesus Christ, they probably deeply regret that, a secret from their past that no one around them knows about, but for which they still carry an enormous sense of grief and guilt. They need not publicly confess that sin before the church, but if they have privately and sincerely expressed that guilt to the Lord, we need to assure them that God forgives every repentant sinner and every sin for which Jesus has paid the price. Some may even voluntarily share their testimony before the church. When that happens, it is incredibly powerful! And think how wonderful it will be someday in heaven for these mothers (and fathers) to meet that child, and stand together before the throne, singing the praises of the Lamb!
And so on the third Sunday of every year (closest to that January 23, 1973 date), churches observe the National Sanctity of Human Life Day. This was established by presidential decree in 1984 by then-president Ronald Reagan, to commemorate the value of human life and raise awareness about the pro-life movement, calling for a national commitment to protect the unborn. One can find much information about this and all of the issues involve simply by searching on the internet. In addition to local church observances and prayer gatherings, each year there is a national pro-life “March for Life” and open-air rally in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of thousands of marchers participate in the march, and then gather to hear addresses by major public figures and political leaders, on the grounds of the Lincoln Memorial. More details can be found at https://marchforlife.org/national-march-for-life/
This issue is a moral and theological one. Don’t let people “sideline” it, falsely claiming it is a political one. People’s biblical convictions will – and should – carry over to their political views. But whether or not to kill babies is not a political issue, even though political parties will adopt different – and usually opposite – views in their political platforms. For evangelical believers, there is virtually unanimous consensus that the life of the unborn child, a human being made in the image of God, is previous and sacred, and that we are duty-bound by the fifth commandment (murder) to do all that we can to protect that child.
Here are ten of the primary scripture verses in which God has declared His will regarding abortion, and which should therefore shape what we believe and what we do about all this. Preceding all of them (and others) is this simple and obvious one: Exodus 20:13 … You shall not murder.
Psalm 139:13-16 … For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.
Jeremiah 1:5 … Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
Isaiah 49:1 … Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb He has spoken my name.
Job 31:15 … Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?
Job 12:10 … In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.
Proverbs 24:11-12 … Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who guards your life know it? Will He not repay everyone according to what they have done?
Luke 1:41-44 … When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.”
Genesis 1:27 … So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.
Matthew 18:10 … See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven.
Mark 10:14 … When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
Christians need to be motivated to make their biblical convictions known and to educate their friends and fellow church members to become better informed about the subject. Prayer is one of the most important things that can and should be used. By checking the local crisis pregnancy center, literature and special speakers can be secured, including a list of specifics about what to pray about.
When churches observe the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday on that third Sunday of January, whether it is the central focus of the service or just involves a few minutes to review the issue and to offer public prayer, it is helpful to have a hymn for people to sing that addresses the issue. While some have composed hymns for that purpose in recent years, they are of mixed quality and can be very difficult to find, if not actually to sing. A good resource that already exists is found in the Bible itself. It is Psalm 139, specifically verses 13-18, a passage frequently used in Christian pro-life gatherings and as the basis for sermons about abortion and the sanctity of human life. Here is a fine metrical setting of those verses. Since it is in long meter (L.M.), there are many well-known hymn tunes which every congregation will know and which can be used easily in corporate worship to sing the biblical text. One suggestion would be the hymn tune WOODWORTH, which everyone uses to sing the hymn “Just As I Am.”
Stanza 1 is a setting of verses 13 and 14.
You formed my mind within the womb,
My inward parts as on a loom.
I’m made with awe-inspiring skill,
Your wondrous work! I praise You still!
Stanza 2 is a setting of verse 15.
My soul knows well that this is true!
My bones were not concealed from You;
They secretly before my birth
Were crafted in the depths of earth.
Stanza 3 is a setting of verse 16.
You on my unborn self did gaze,
While in Your book were set my days,
Days all inscribed and formed as done,
Although as yet there was not one.
Stanza 4 is a setting of verses 17 and 18.
How precious, God, Your thoughts for me;
How vast in their totality.
Their sum exceeds the grains of sand.
I wake and still I’m with Your hand.
Here’s a link to a youtube performance of this wonderful Psalm.