Troublesome Topic: Respect for All Life Must Include the Unborn

We are horrified by the child sacrifices of certain ancient religions. Yet are we any better? Our modern, shiny, technologically advanced society has perfected the practice of killing babies before they even come out of the womb.

In ancient times, people offered a child to the fertility gods in hopes that their lives would be survivable. In modern times people offer a preborn baby to the god of convenience so that their lives will be more comfortable. At least in America, abortion is not a matter of survival. Even in other countries, it is seldom for survival in a true sense of the word; it is still for convenience, but on a more serious level than we have in the USA.

Before I go on, allow me to pause and say this. I understand that many people find an unexpected child to be a greater burden than they think they can handle. The financial repercussions of having a child are great. I get that. I also know that there are various factors involved in this debate of abortion vs. giving birth. However, there are times when we cannot consider all the factors involved to have equal weight. In this case taking a human life has overwhelming weight compared to any other factor. And we know without any question that the unborn child is indeed a human life. So I will go on to talk about abortion, not because other factors don’t exist, but because I consider the issue of life to overwhelm all the other factors with its importance. (I will address the issue of unsafe abortions in a moment.)

Abortion is by far the biggest killer of our time. Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death worldwide among people who have been conceived and born. 17.9 million deaths occur worldwide yearly due to cardiovascular disease. (https://www.who.int/health-topics/cardiovascular-diseases/#tab=tab_1). But the WHO reports that between 40-50 million abortions are performed every year worldwide. Abortion claims well over twice as many lives as heart disease.

The WHO says there were 56.9 million total deaths for the calendar year 2016 (https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death), and other online sources imply that this number is a good average for the last few years. (From the best I can see, this counts the deaths of individuals who have been born, not the deaths of individuals who have been conceived but not born, therefore the statistics for abortions are not included in the number above.) The WHO indicates that 40-50 million abortions are performed every year (https://www.worldometers.info/abortions/#:~:text=According%20to%20WHO%2C%20every%20year,approximately%20125%2C000%20abortions%20per%20day). Another source reports that from 1990-2014, the worldwide average number of abortions was 56 million per year (The Lancet. 388 (10041): 258–67). It is hard to get good statistics because many abortions are not reported because they are performed in countries where it is illegal or because those statistics are not kept.

Let those numbers sink in. There were 57 million worldwide deaths per year for people after birth, and close to 50 million abortions per year worldwide. It is almost a 1 to 1 ratio. If we take 57 million deaths by other causes per year, and 48 million deaths by abortion per year (half way between the low estimate of 40 million and the high estimate of 56 million), we have a total of 105 million deaths per year. Abortion accounts for 45.7% of those deaths (heart disease is only 17% of the total).

The number of abortions in America is coming down. We hit a peak at 1.4 million in 1990. From 1990 to 2016 the numbers for abortions in America came down each year with only one exception. These decreases happened despite the fact that our population has been steadily growing. But the numbers are still far too high.

Yes, many unsafe abortions occur every year, mostly in poor countries, and that causes many hospitalizations and many women die from complications. It is a sad reality.

But still, we need to do things God’s way. God’s teaching about sexual activity and about respecting life go together to bring about a situation which is good for everyone. It would not require the killing of any pre-born babies or a situation that would see so many women dying from unsafe abortions. Providing more free abortions is not the answer because it will take us further from God’s plan and will eventually reap God’s wrath, meaning far more deaths. I don’t know what that will look like or when it will happen, but I know God hates the killing of the innocent. Any promotion of abortion on demand takes us in the wrong direction. 

 The baby is a human life too. Science has proven that the baby is a living being, and that the baby does feel pain.

Abortion on demand cannot be defended scientifically.

When were we given the right to take another life just because bringing that life into our homes will make like more difficult? Who granted us that right? Do we give it to ourselves? If so, since when can I give myself the right to take the life of a walking, breathing person without consequence because my life will be better? Why do we not allow the taking of life from a breathing person but we do allow it for those who are not yet breathing air because they are still connected to their mother’s umbilical cord?

Abortion on demand cannot be defended logically.

The acronym SLED clearly describes the only differences between a pre-born baby and one that has been born.

S = Size – the preborn babies are usually smaller than their counterparts outside the womb. I’m short and have a small bone structure, does that mean someone can kill me without consequence?

L = Location – does moving 6 inches down a birth canal make you a human being?

E= Environment – the baby in the womb is in a watery environment instead of an environment of air. If I dive into a swimming pool is it OK for someone to kill me because I am in a watery environment?

D = Development – the babies outside the womb are generally further developed because they are usually older. If a child is not very good in school, is he in danger of being killed because his brain is less developed?

What about the safety of the mother? If it were my wife, we would tell the doctors to fight for both lives and we would leave the results in God’s hands. However, I cannot force others to have faith in God, so I see why very few people consider it wrong to abort in those cases. But we all know that the cases in which the life of the mother is at risk are quite rare, although they do occur. In Florida in 2018, there were 70,083 abortions and .27% of those times the life of the mother was endangered by the pregnancy (https://abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/). This argument tries to legitimize abortion for every woman by saying it is necessary for a few.

The next lesson in the full series on Covenants is Population Control Is an Affront to God