Abortion
A Doctrinal Supplement
Introduction
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THE ISSUE:
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The
issue is very simple.
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Either
an unborn child is a human being or else it is not.
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If
it is a human being it deserves protection by the law of the land and is
already protected by the law of God.
When Does Life Begin?
·
Psalm 51:5 "Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful
FROM THE TIME MY MOTHER CONCEIVED ME."
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Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I FORMED YOU IN THE WOMB I knew you,
before you were born I sanctified you."
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Life begins when God creates life in the womb through
the miracle of conception.
·
It is false to
claim that no one knows when life begins and dishonest to argue that abortion
does not kill a human being.
Are Unborn Children To Be Regarded As Human?
·
Luke 1:41-44 “And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of
Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy
Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and
said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is THE
CHILD IN YOUR WOMB! But why this is granted to me, that the MOTHER OF MY LORD
should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting
sounded in my ears, the BABY LEAPED IN MY WOMB for joy.
o
In fact, Mary was
only a few days or weeks in pregnancy when she visited Elizabeth. Take note of
common usage of motherhood before birth in "maternity clothes,"
"childbirth," "woman with child." We do not say "fetal
clothes, fetalbirth, woman with fetus."
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Both common sense
and Scriptures equate the unborn as children.
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Exodus
21:22-25 “If men fight, and hurt A
WOMAN WITH CHILD, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he
shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and
he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is serious injury,
you are to take life for life …”
o
This passage
establishes the fact that God’s Old Testament law treated the unborn child in
the same way as a born child. If this passage only dealt with an injury to the
woman, that situation covering bodily injury had already been treated. What
makes this case different is that it is a "woman WITH CHILD" so that
two persons need protection from bodily harm.
·
The Bible speaks
of the unborn as children and offers them the same protection as the born.
Are the Unborn Truly Human Persons?
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Luke 1:44 "The babe in my womb LEAPED FOR JOY."
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"And in
Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who WAS CONCEIVED BY THE HOLY
GHOST." -- The Apostles’ Creed,
a confession of our Christian faith.
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The Bible speaks
of the unborn as having feelings of joy which implies faith and therefore a
soul.
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We confess that
Jesus became a man from the moment of his conception.
Are Some People Better Off If They Are Not Born?
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But what about
birth defects?
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Like
many of the pro-choice arguments, this argument begs the question by assuming
that the unborn is not fully human.
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If
the unborn are fully human, then to promote the aborting of the handicapped unborn
is no different morally than promoting the execution of handicapped people who
are already born.
Why Not Allow Abortions For Causes Like Rape Or Incest?
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Deuteronomy
24:16 "Fathers shall not be put
to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each
is to die for his own sin."
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Deuteronomy
22:25 "If out in the country a
man happens to meet a girl pledged to be married and rapes her, only the man
who has done this shall die."
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Genesis
38:15,27,29-30 "When Judah saw
Tamar, … not realizing that she was his daughter-in-law, he went over to her by
the roadside and said, ‘Come now, let me lie with you.’...When the time came
for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb...He was named Perez.
Then his brother, who had the scarlet thread on his wrist, came out and he was
given the name Zerah."
o
Matthew 1:1,3 "A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the
son of David...Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar.“
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Genesis
19:36-38 "So both of Lot’s
daughters became pregnant by their father. The older daughter had a son, and
she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. The younger
daughter also had a son, and she named him BenAmmi; he is the father of the
Ammonites of today."
·
Pregnancy due to rape and incest does not change the
fact that another life has been conceived and therefore comes under God’s
prohibition against murder. God punished the guilty and spared the victim.
Abortion kills the victim and frees the guilty.
Can’t We Do With Our Bodies As We Like?
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Exodus 20:14 "You shall not commit adultery."
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Ephesians 6:1 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for
this is right."
o
What a paradox!!!
In the state of Texas, a minor girl can get an abortion without parental consent,
but must have permission to have her ears pierced!
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Genesis 9:6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his
blood be shed…”
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Luke 23:41 "We are punished justly, for we are getting what
our deeds deserve. But this Man has done nothing wrong."
o
Much confusion
has been caused by the insistence by some that to be anti-abortion or pro-life
means that one must also be against capital punishment and nuclear armaments.
There is a vast difference between the killing of an innocent baby through
abortion and the execution of person who brought this punishment upon himself
by his own choice and action.
·
We have the right
and duty to control our bodies in a moral way. We do not have the right to
control, harm or kill someone else’s body. An unborn child is a separate body
even though it rests within another body. Boys obviously cannot be part of the
female body of their mothers.
But If It Is Legal Isn’t It Right?
·
Act 4:19 "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in
God’s sight to obey you rather than God."
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Isaiah 5:20 "Woe to those who call evil good and good
evil."
·
Exodus 1:15-21
"The king of Egypt said to the
Hebrew midwives... ‘if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her
live.’ The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt
had told them to do; they let the boys live...
·
Making something legal does not necessarily make it
right. Laws sanctioning abortion, and other evil activity does not make those
morally right.
What Should A Christian Do About All This?
·
James 4:17 "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do
and doesn’t do it, sins."
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Proverbs
31:8,9 "Speak up for those who
cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up
and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."
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A Christian is compelled to speak up and to fight
against abortion, the murder of the unborn. God’s Word demands nothing less!
How to Talk About Abortion
·
People will claim
that the abortion issue is complex. It
is not.
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There’s only one
question to answer in the abortion debate: What is the unborn?
o Imagine that your child walks up when your back is
turned and asks, "Daddy, can I kill this?" What is the first thing
you must find out before you can answer him?
o You can never answer the question "Can I kill
this?" unless you've answered a prior question: What is it?
·
If the unborn is
not a human being, no justification for abortion is necessary. However, if the
unborn is a human being, no justification for abortion is adequate.
The SLED Test
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“What’s the
difference between a human being and a human person? Abortion advocates
typically cite one or more characteristics they believe make a human being a
person.
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Size,
Level of development, Environment, Degree of dependency.
Size
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A four-year old
is smaller than an adult, but we can’t kill her because of that.
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A human being’s
value is not based on their size. She’s still equally a person even though she
differs in that characteristic.
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If we can’t kill
the four-year old because she’s smaller, then we can’t kill the unborn because
she’s smaller either.
Level of development
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The unborn is
also less developed than a born human being.
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A four year-old
girl can’t bear children because her reproductive system is less developed than
an adult woman.
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We can’t
disqualify an unborn child from personhood for the same reason we can’t
disqualify the four year-old.
Environment
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The unborn is
located in a different environment than a born human.
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How does your
location, though, affect your value?
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An astronaut who
spacewalks in orbit is in a radically different environment than a person on
the planet, but that does not affect his personhood.
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A one foot
journey through the birth canal doesn’t magically change a person’s value.
Degree of dependency
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The unborn is
dependent upon the mother’s body for nutrition and a proper environment.
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But, newborns and
toddlers still depend upon their parents to provide nutrition and a safe
environment.
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No human being –
regardless of size, skin color, level of development, race, gender, or place of
residence – should be excluded from the community of human persons.
·
This view of
humanity is inclusive and wide open to all, especially to those who are small,
vulnerable, and defenseless.
Acknowledgements:
This study based on materials from:
Dr. Richard Keltner, Mesa Hills Bible Church; Christian Life Resources;
Summit Ministries; and Greg Koukl, Stand to Reason
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