Human life is precious. I believe every baby in the womb has the right to live. But of course, many disagree. Discussions on abortion are plentiful and complex. However, as a Christ follower I stand for the right of every unborn baby to have the right to life. God is the author of life (Genesis 1:27; 2:07; Ruth 4:13; Job 33:4; Psalm 71:06).
The most significant verses in all of Scripture regarding God’s design for human life in the womb is found in 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.
The Psalmist demonstrates the care the Lord of the universe takes in creating every single life on earth. Each life, no matter the circumstances of conception is precious before God’s eyes. However, some in our culture believe the opposite and advocate for the “right” of women to abort. Hence, why at times the Supreme court finds itself entrenched in long debates over the issue of abortion. Some Supreme Court Justices side against pro-life arguments.
For more read:
Today, reports Ronn Blitzer, “The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a potential landmark abortion rights case Wednesday, as the state of Mississippi defended an abortion restriction law that directly challenges Roe v. Wade.” The case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case showcases a Mississippi abortion law that challenges Roe v. Wade, which has created a lot of chatter online.
The topic of abortion is very sensitive to many. I personally know people who have chosen to abort their babies. It can be a very traumatic experience. There is almost nothing more intimate than the relationship between a women and the child in her womb.
Some ministries like Gateway Women’s Care offer the educate and provide pre-abortion counseling to women and their partners. If you struggle or grief with the choice of an abortion in your past and need help, I suggest that you reach out to the Gateway Women’s Care: https://gatewaywomens.care/services/options-counseling/
ARGUMENTS AGAINST PRO-ABORTION
I am pro-life. I do not condone abortion. In 2019, Ben Shapiro was the keynote speaker for the March for Life. At the event he provided some of the most common arguments against abortion and those who are pro-choice. I believe Ben Shapiro, who is not a Christian, provides a good framework for evangelicals who desire to debunk pro-abortion arguments.* Some of his responses to certain arguments are valuable.
For a full video of Ben Shapiro at the March for Life, 2019, access:
THE VIABILITY ARGUMENT: The “viability” argument, that preborn babies don’t have a right to the life if they can’t live on their own “obviously doesn’t hold,” he said, because infants and many elderly are dependent on others, as well. As for the notion that the difficulty of parenting justifies abortion, Shapiro noted that raising children was difficult “because it’s the most important thing we do […] there is nothing moral about the idea that you think you’ll be a bad parent so you get to kill the child.”
THE BODILY AUTONOMY ARGUMENT: Shapiro also took aim at the “bodily autonomy” argument for an abortion, which likens pregnancy to an adult who’s been connected to a violinist against his will as a form of life support. Shapiro pointed out that in the hypothetical, the person is not responsible for the violinist’s plight whereas the pregnant woman directly caused the baby to be dependent on her body. Even in cases of rape, where the woman is not responsible, Shapiro added that “abortion is not just pulling a plug,” but more akin to killing the violinist with an ax.
THE LACK OF MORAL VALUE OF A FETUS: Shapiro’s response: “A first-trimester fetus has moral value because whether you consider it a potential human life or a full-on human life, it has more value than just a cluster of cells. If left to its natural processes, it will grow into a baby. So the real question is, where do you draw the line? So, you’re going to draw the line at the heartbeat – because it’s very hard to draw the line at the heartbeat? There are people who are adults who are alive because of a pacemaker, they need some sort of outside force generating their heartbeat. Are you going to do it based on brain function? Okay, well, what about people who are in a coma? Should we just kill them?”
THE SCIENCE ARGUMENT: Some use science to prove that a fetus is not a person. Shapiro’s insight: “We lied about the science…We pretended that human beings were not actually human beings. We pretended that human beings with DNA different from their fathers and their mothers, human beings producing their own red blood cells by 12 weeks, their own fingerprints by week 8, their own developing eyes legs and hands by week 5, their own forming nervous systems by week 3. We pretended that these were not human beings, human lives at all but disposable balls of meat.”
THE “RIGHT TO ABORTION” ARGUMENT: Shapiro writes, “This, of course, is a lie. There is no “right to abortion” in the Constitution. The founders would have been appalled by such a statement. The Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade (1973) is a legal monstrosity by every available metric. As legal scholar John Hart Ely wrote, “Roe is not constitutional law and gives almost no sense of an obligation to try to be.”
THE RAPE ARGUMENT: During an interchange with a female student Shapiro quipped, “That’s not all abortions. Significantly less than 1% of all abortions are performed on women who have been raped. If you want to talk about the epidemic of abortion in the country — over one million abortions performed a year in the United States — let’s talk about the other 99% of cases. When you are willing to agree with me that the other 99% of cases are not cases where abortion should be necessary then I’m willing to have a discussion with you about compromise. The answer is that [rape] doesn’t actually change the calculus, meaning that obviously, what happened to this person is an awful, awful horrible thing. And as I said earlier, the person who raped her should be tracked down, captured, killed or castrated. So that’s number one.” He said: As far as the morality of abortion [goes], the morality of abortion does not change based on need, right?…The abortion argument really comes down to, ‘do you think this is a life or not? If you don’t think it’s a life, then you can do whatever you want with it. If you do think it’s a life, then you can’t do anything with it. As far as what she does with the baby, that’s up to her. It’s obviously going to be an obvious economic burden. I would think though that there are a lot of people out there, like me, who would give charity in order to try and help out somebody who’s obviously in that sort of situation.”
THE “NO HARM NO FOUL” ARGUMENT: Some argue that the majority of women who get abortion do not on average experience trauma. However, post traumatic stress on women after induced abortion is not a myth, as some make it out to be the case. There is much shame and regret that lasts a person’s entire lifetime. There are consequences to every action we make as humans. One of those consequences is when you choose to have intercourse, it may result in a pregnancy, you have to count the cost. The emotional tool a woman and her partner can experience is a serious issue. Click here for more information on emotional/psychological impact from abortion: https://gatewaywomens.care/abortion-info/health-risks/#no3.
HOW CAN WE PRAY?
I came across an article by the Gospel Coalition that explains the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case. It also offers some very tangible ways we can pray for the Dobbs case. I find it helpful and worth sharing:
1. Pray for the Supreme Court justices: Clarence Thomas, Stephen Breyer, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Pray that they would have wisdom as they hear the oral arguments, deliberate, and write a decision.
2. Pray for the law clerks who will research the case and assist the justices.
3. Pray that Mississippi’s lawyers would have wisdom, winsomeness, and courage as they argue on behalf of the Gestational Age Act.
4. Pray that the public discourse and media coverage on the case would be accurate and truthful.
5. Pray that women facing unplanned or challenging pregnancies would receive the counsel, resources, encouragement, and support they need to choose life.
6. Pray that men would choose life for their unborn children and take responsibility for them. Pray that men would support their children’s mothers.
7. Pray that pregnancy care centers throughout the nation would have wisdom, compassion, and empathy when interacting with women considering abortion or women who have had an abortion. Pray that these centers would continue to have the means to lend medical, material, and emotional support to these women.
8. Pray that churches and communities would support mothers who choose to parent their children in difficult circumstances. Pray for adoption agencies as they find loving homes for children whose mothers cannot parent them.
9. Pray that abortion would end not only in America but also in every nation around the world.
10. Pray that local, state, and federal lawmakers would stress legislation that protects unborn children and that our nation’s courts would uphold these laws.
*Here’s an example of how Ben Shapiro framed his pro-life stance against a pro-choice proponent: https://americasvoice.news/ben-shapiro-on-abortion-you-dont-get-to-kill-things-just-cause-its-in-your-uterus/
Read another one of my blogs:
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward” – Psalm 127:3
“As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything” – Ecclesiastes 11:5
“Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy” – Proverbs 31:8
“Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts. On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God” Psalm 22:9-10
Written by Daniel Messina