Last Friday marked the 37th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade United States Supreme Court decision.
Though an exact count is hard to determine, according to statistics gathered by the Center for Disease Control and the Guttmacher Institute, roughly 50 million unborn children have been killed through abortion in the United States since the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973. That is far more American deaths than recorded in all the wars of American history combined. From the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror, the U.S. lost approximately 1.3 million people. In fact, more children are lost to abortion each and every day than lost in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Most abortions, according to statistics, are done for convenience reasons unrelated to health, and less than 2 percent of abortions are done for serious health reasons, rape or incest.
“About one in five, or 20 percent, of our nation’s youth have had their lives ended by abortion. Minorities have also been hit hard by abortion. African-Americans account for about 12 percent of the population, but 37 percent of the 1.3 million abortions each year. Latinos make up about 15 percent of the population, yet account for about 22 percent of the annual number of abortions,” according to a Liberty Counsel release.
And we know better! Whether people will admit it or not, deep down they know that abortion is murder, that it is snuffing out the life of an unborn human being. That is why so many are plagued with guilt over what they havedone, and there is no comfort in the words of pro-abortionists. The unborn child, whether called a “fetus” or “mass of tissue,” is a human being, a child.
God Himself also makes clear that abortion is murder, for he says, “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16).
God said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5).
In the book of Ecclesiastes, it says: “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all” (Ecclesiastes 11:5).
The Bible plainly teaches that God gives conception (cf. Genesis 1:28; Ruth 4:13) and that God creates life in the womb. The same God also commands, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17). Thus, abortion, for whatever reason, is cutting off and killing a life created by God. It is nothing less than the murder of a helpless child!
When we consider how seriously God views murder (cf. Genesis 9:6; Deuteronomy 21:1-9), how can we expect God not to hold our nation and people accountable for this great atrocity! How can we view America as a Christian nation when it is legal to murder children and 50 million lives have been snuffed out! How can we begin to think for a moment that God will bless us and not judge us for this great sin! If America does not repent, this nationand people will be held fully accountable for the blood of our murdered children.
It amazes me that we as a people consider ourselves civilized and proponents of human rights when we ourselves are more murderous than many of the nations we criticize for human rights violations.
And as we go through the present economic woes, do we stop and think of the effect of cutting off 50 million children and their children and their children’s children on the economy? Homes would be in demand. Farmers would not need to be subsidized. Manufacturers and retailers would have no shortage of consumers.
Though I’m not certain “the day will come when we will once again honor and protect the right to life for all Americans,” I must agree with this comment of Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law: “January 22 is a day that will live in infamy. It is the darkest day in American history. The Supreme Court’s decision distorted law and logic. Abortion has caused incalculable harm and pain to all of us. We can deceive ourselves for a time, but we cannot escape the consequences of killing our children.”
And for those who have committed (or supported) this heinous crime against the lives of unborn children and have now come to see abortion for what it really is, thereis only one way to be healed of the hurt and guilt, and that is through the shed blood of Christ Jesus. Abortion, like all disobedience to God’s commands, is a grievous sin, but Jesus Christ, God’s only-begotten Son, came to take our guilt and punishment that we might have forgiveness and life in Him. He suffered an agonizing death on a Roman cross, bearing the guilt and punishment of the sins of the world. And He rose again on the third day, that we might be assured of God’s mercy and forgiveness in Him!
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Gentry Courier-Journal and the Decatur Herald. He can be reached with questions or comments at [email protected].
Opinion, Pages 5 on 01/27/2010