Friday, Jan. 22, marks the 48th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision which opened the way for legalized abortion in the United States; and I would have to count that day to be one of the saddest in American history because, since that day, more than 61 million babies have been murdered in this country through legalized abortion.
It is, as I've said before, America's holocaust because we have killed -- or stood by and done little or nothing while it happened in our own land and communities -- 61 million of our own children inside or partially inside their mothers' wombs. More than 20 million of those murdered children are African American -- more than the entire African American population in the U.S. in 1960. If God graded on a numbers-based curve -- and He doesn't -- Adolph Hitler and his Nazi regime would come out looking like saints in comparison to us.
And why have we done it? The argument we usually hear is that it is a woman's right and her freedom of choice. But the truth is that it is selfishness. People do not wish to be burdened and inconvenienced with the responsibilities of giving birth to and raising a child. They place themselves and their own plans and desires above the needs of another human being and choose to kill a child rather than being responsible and giving of themselves to care for it.
Science itself tells us that the unborn child in its mother's womb is a human being -- a heartbeat at 3 weeks, a highly developed brain by 8 weeks, thumb sucking by 9 weeks -- and yet we still kill each day an average of 2,360 human beings for the convenience of mothers and fathers. We are alarmed at the death toll from the coronavirus but still murder more babies each and every day through abortion.
The Bible clearly forbids us to murder human beings (Ex. 20:13; Deut. 5:17). And the Bible also clearly teaches that it is God who creates life in the womb and appoints to that life a number of days on this earth: "You brought my inner parts into being; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will praise you, for You made me with fear and wonder; marvelous are Your works, and You know me completely. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, and intricately put together in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw me unformed, yet in Your book all my days were written, before any of them came into being" (Psalm 139:13-16).
Since, as I said before, God does not grade on a curve, even one abortion is a terrible tragedy and heinous crime. But the crime goes on in America's death camps; and the judgment of God, who created and gives life and values each life so much He gave his Son to redeem it, will fall upon our nation and people for all the innocent blood that is shed in our land, whether in abortion clinics or doctors' offices and hospitals (cf. Deut. 21:1-9; Gen. 9:5-6). Perhaps we are beginning to see it in the current pandemic.
Some would argue and say, "What about cases of rape and incest and those pregnancies which endanger the life of a mother?"
The fact is that they are only a very, very small percentage of the pregnancies which end in abortion. But in cases of rape or incest, why should the child be put to death for the sins of another? Why not put to death the guilty rapist and the sexual predator? Yet we destroy the innocent and let the guilty off with minimal punishment. And even when medical professionals determine the life of a mother could be at stake, is abortion the right answer? I've known of mothers who, without medical warning, gave their lives to deliver a healthy child and of many who've been told they would die if they gave birth but went on to have several children and with few complications.
My point is simply this: Pray for God's mercy upon our people and an end to legalized abortion in our land, use your voice and your votes to protect human life whether young or old, encourage and teach Biblical morals to children and youth regarding God's design for marriage and bearing children, and stand up for the protection of life against those who would urge us to tolerate their ongoing slaughter of the innocent.
And this is especially important now as our new federal government leadership has promised to defend and further enable this merciless slaughter of children in our land.
O Lord, open our eyes to see our great wickedness and repent before Your full judgment falls upon our land and people!
[Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer and a pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Rogers. He may be reached by email at [email protected]. Scripture quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. Views expressed are those of the author.]