The doctor leans on her desk, clears her throat, and gently says to the nervous young woman sitting acrossfrom her, “You are pregnant.” The shocked young woman bursts into tears, and before she knows it, she blurts out, “There is no way that I am pregnant.” The doctor has heard it before, but the tests leave no doubt. “I assure you that you are. You are seven weeks into the pregnancy.”

So, a baby is on the way. Not just a baby, but a human baby. For most, that is a cause of real joy. Others, though, see it is a mental burden to think that a child is on the way. For a wide variety of reasons, expecting parents sometimes do not want the child that has been conceived. Abortion is the option that thousands of people choose each day.

“Abortion” – what does it mean?

In general, the word “abort” means “to terminate or cause to terminate an operation or procedure before completion. (1)  An airplane or space ship might abort a takeoff, meaning the takeoff was “scrapped.” In a medical sense, “The term ‘abortion’ actually refers to any premature expulsion of a human fetus, whether naturally spontaneous, as in a miscarriage, or artificially induced, as in a surgical or chemical abortion. (2)

After conception takes place, there is a fetus in the womb of the woman. When we speak of “abortion” in this tract, we are not talking about a miscarriage, nor are we talking about an accidental death. From here onward, when we say “abortion,” we have in mind the process of willfully killing the fetus that is in the expecting mother’s womb. 

Abortion – how is it done?

There is no pleasant or refined way to describe what is actually done to the fetus during an abortion. It is what it is. “During the first trimester (three months) of pregnancy, the most common method is suction curettage, or vacuum aspiration. This method involves removing the fetus by suction with a vacuum aspirator, followed by probing or scraping the uterus with surgical instruments called curettes. During the second trimester of pregnancy, many doctors use a method called dilation and evacuation, or simply D and E. In this method, the fetus is dismembered in the uterus and then removed. Another method involves injecting a salt solution into the amniotic fluid that surrounds the fetus. The solution kills the fetus and causes it to pass from the woman’s body. A second trimester abortion also may be performed by injecting prostaglandin drugs into the amniotic fluid. The drugs cause muscle contractions that expel the fetus. (3)

Today we often hear of what is called “partial-birth abortion.” “Partial-Birth Abortion is a procedure in which the abortionist pulls a living baby feet-first out of the womb and into the birth canal (vagina), except for the head, which the abortionist purposely keeps lodged just inside the cervix (the opening to the womb). The abortionist punctures the base of the baby’s skull with a surgical instrument, such as a long surgical scissors or a pointed hollow metal tube called a trochar. He then inserts a catheter (tube) into the wound, and removes the baby's brain with a powerful suction machine. This causes the skull to collapse, after which the abortionist completes the delivery of the now-dead baby. (4)

According to the same source, “Under state laws, a ‘live birth’ occurs when a baby is entirely expelled from the mother and shows any signs of life, however briefly – regardless of whether the baby is ‘viable,’ i.e., developed enough to be sustained outside the womb with neo-natal medical assistance. Even at 4,5 months (20 weeks), perinatologists say that if a baby is expelled or removed completely from the uterus, she will usually gasp for breath and sometimes survive for hours, even though lung development is usually insufficient to permit successful sustained respiration until 23 weeks. Thus, the term ‘partial-birth’ is perfectly descriptive. (5)

Abortion stats – how many are performed?

The 1973 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Roe vs. Wade legalized abortion in our country. Since that time, over 47 million abortions have been performed in the U.S. alone. (6) To date, the peak period for the number of reported abortions performed in the U.S. were the years 1988-1991, when each year around 1.5 million abortions were reportedly carried out. (7) In 2000, more children died from abortion than Americans died in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf Wars combined. (8) Did that get your attention?

How often do abortions take place in America? One baby is aborted every 24 seconds. That is a rate of 147 abortions every hour, 3542 each day, 24,865 per week, and 107,750 abortions per month. That makes over one million per year. (9)

Who is having all of these abortions? One source indicated that out of all the abortions performed in the U.S., 52% of the women who get them are younger than age 25. Women aged 20–24 have 33% of all abortions, while teenagers account for 19%. About 2/3 of the abortions in this nation are performed on women that have never been married. (10) No surprise: the majority of abortions are for those that have conceived illegitimate children.

Abortion – is it right or wrong?

Is abortion something that a Christian should support, or oppose? Let us consider this vital question in view of the teaching of the Bible.

1. The fetus in the womb of the mother – is it a human being, or not? When the sperm of a human male unites with the egg of a human female, that which is conceived can only be human! Humans produce humans, and despite what anyone might say otherwise, human life does begin at conception.

Two Bible examples are helpful in this regard. First, there is the example involving Rebekah, the wife of Isaac. Notice these facts: “. . . and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her . . . behold, there were twins in her womb” (Genesis 25:21,22,24). What were the unborn Esau and Jacob called, while still inside their mother’s womb? “Children” and “twins.” They were not just a blob: they were human kids. Where? Inside Rebekah! The Hebrew word “bane,” which is translated as “children” in this instance, is used again in Genesis 37:3, where we read, “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children . . .” So, the same Hebrew word was used in the Old Testament to refer to a human offspring, regardless of whether the child was inside the mother’s womb (as when Jacob and Esau were inside Rebekah,), or children living outside the womb (as in the case of Joseph).

The New Testament also contains a plain case in point. While John the Baptizer was still in the womb of his mother Elizabeth, he was called a “babe” (Luke 1:41,44). The Greek word used here for “babe” is “brephos.” Later, after Jesus was born, the same word “brephos” is used to describe Him: “. . . the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12, 16). What does this mean? John was a “babe/brephos” inside the womb, and Jesus was a “babe/brephos” outside the womb. Had Herod been successful in killing the young child Jesus, he would have been killing a human. And, by the same reasoning,
if Herod or someone else had killed John while he was yet in the womb, that person would have been killing a human boy. Yes, the fetus within the expecting mother is a human.

2. The fetus in the mother’s womb that is aborted – is it alive? Of course. If it were not alive, then there would be no consideration of performing an abortion. Do not forget just what an abortion does: it takes the life of the unborn child – it kills it.

3. The fetus in the mother’s womb – is it sinful or morally corrupt? No. It is innocent of any wrongdoing. Because the unborn child is incapable of violating the law of God, it is sinless (1 John 3:4; 5:17). It is pure and innocent before God.

4. When an abortion is performed on the unborn fetus, is that act accidental or intentional? It is a willful, intentional act. It is done on purpose.

Let us summarize our answers to the four questions above. What is it that happens when an abortion is performed? Someone purposely or intentionally kills an innocent, human being. What do we call it when people intentionally put to death an innocent human being? Answer: murder!

“But if abortion is legal, how can it be wrong?” Just because something is legal, that does not make it morally right. In a number of countries, including the U.S., prostitution is legal under certain circumstances. While some might claim that prostitution fulfills a need and desire, the Bible calls such relations “fornication,” which is an act that will keep one out of heaven (Galatians 5:19-21).

“But I believe a woman has the right to do what she wants to with her own body.” Ah, but there is another body involved: the body of the child in the mother’s womb. What about that human’s rights? In truth, a woman has no right to do with her body or anyone else’s, that which violates the will of God.

Don’t be deceived by slogans or shouting celebrities. Abortion is the murder of helpless humans. “Prochoice” equals pro-abortion, which equals pro-murder. Those that perform abortions carry out the act of murder. One that murders is a murderer. The Bible teaches that murderers will be lost (Galatians 5:20,21; Revelation 21:8). Murder is serious business. Come to think of it, so is lending support to those that perform abortions, whether that support is given directly or indirectly.

Is abortion acceptable to God? That is the question. It has nothing to do with any ruling that nine people sitting on the Supreme Court might make. Neither is the rightness or wrongness of abortion determined by polls, politicians, past policies, popularity, presidential pleas, or parents. The Bible alone is our moral standard. Abortion is sinful because it violates the teaching of the Bible. That, friends, is the bottom line. It is simply wrong, always has been, to murder one that is made in the image of the God of heaven (Genesis 9:6).

References:

1. Webster’s Dictionary and Thesaurus, 1997.
2. http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/ASMF/asmf3.html
3. The World Book Encyclopedia (International), Vol. I, (Chicago, IL: World Book, Inc., 1993), pp. 40,41.
4. http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/pbafacts.html
5. Ibid.
6. http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/abortionstats.html
7. http://www.abortiontv.com/Misc/AbortionStatistics.htm
8. http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/abortionstats2.html
9. http://www.mccl.org/abortion_statistics.htm
10. http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html

Note: All info taken from cited web sites on 12/06/06.