Abortion Part 2

Abortion I. abortion: The act of giving untimely birth to offspring, premature delivery, miscarriage; the procuring of premature delivery so as to destroy offspring. (In Med. abortion is limited to a delivery so premature that the offspring cannot live, i.e. in the case of the human fœtus before the sixth month.) A. miscarriage: Untimely delivery (of a woman)... c/w JOB 3:16; ECC 6:3. B. procure: To bring about by care or pains; also (more vaguely) to bring about, cause, effect, produce. C. A distinction must be made between premature delivery and procured abortion. For purposes of this study, abortion refers to the latter. II. One's views on abortion will largely depend on his/her determiner of right and wrong. A believer is obliged to recognize God's law as the determiner. PSA 119:128. A. Popular opinion, emotion, expediency, legislation or scientism cannot overrule God's law. B. “But wisdom is justified of all her children” (LUK 7:35). III. The issue of abortion revolves around the following major points: A. Is it just to slay innocent life? B. When does human life begin? IV. Abortion has been successfully marketed by inflated concerns about illegal abortions and by catchy slogans like, “A woman's body is her own,” “Women must have control over their own bodies,” “Freedom of choice,” “Pro-choice,” etc. A. Such slogans divert attention away from the child in the womb to the freedom of women, from the taking away of life to the taking away of choice. B. “ 'I remember laughing when we made those slogans up,' recalls Bernard Nathanson, M.D., co-founder of pro-abortion vanguard group NARAL, reminiscing about the early days of the abortion-rights movement in the late '60s and early '70s. 'We were looking for some sexy, catchy slogans to capture public opinion. They were very cynical slogans then, just as all of these slogans today are very, very cynical.' ” (David Kupelian, The Marketing of Evil, p. 190) C. The morality of making a woman's choice superior to the life of the child in her womb requires the dehumanizing of the child in the womb. D. The exaltation of human choice underlies all sin, and we should not be surprised to find other aspects of this error corrupting society. LEV 18:21-23. E. Only the willingly ignorant refuse to admit the obvious: consequence-free sex is the real reason for abortion, just as consequence-free sexual perversion is the real reason for eradicating anti-sodomy laws and legitimizing same-sex behavior. 1. Pregnancy presents problems for both man and woman but especially for woman. 2. It should come as no surprise that the feminist movement has especially advanced the need for legal elective abortion since it levels the playing-around field. It is a tool of female empowerment. 3. All the other reasons that supposedly justify abortion are subordinate to this. V. Scripture condemns the taking of innocent life. PRO 6:17; MAT 19:18. A. Abortion is murder if the “thing” in the womb is a person. B. Dehumanizing the “thing” in the womb by a law cannot take away its personhood. Abortion 1-7-17 Page 1 1. The infamous “Roe v. Wade” Supreme Court decision of 1973 was nothing more than the framing of mischief by a law. PSA 94:20-21. 2. The Dred Scott decision of the Civil War era which denied full personhood to blacks is another example of framing mischief by a law. 3. “At a eugenics conference in New York in 1921, Charles Darwin’s son, Major, called eugenics the practical application of the principle of evolution....A seminal event in the advance of eugenics was the founding of the American Birth Control League in 1921, which became Planned Parenthood in 1942. Founder Margaret Sanger, a strong advocate of eugenics, said, 'Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race. Grossu described how the Planned Parenthood matriarch saw birth control as a tool for the elimination of both unwanted and socially undesirable children, those with physical and mental defects: the feeble minded, diseased and handicapped. Sanger saw a 'racial responsibility' not to reproduce 'unfit' children. Virginia became the first state to legalize compulsory sterilization in 1924. The state’s Sterilization Act was upheld in 1927 by the U.S. Supreme Court in an 8-to-1 decision in the Buck v. Bell landmark case 1927. In effect, it legalized compulsory sterilization across America. Writing for the majority, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said society would be better off if Carrie Buck were sterilized, because such people were sapping the energy of the state. 'It is better for all the world, if instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind,' wrote Holmes, adding, 'Three generations of imbeciles are enough.' However, Buck was not an imbecile. A rape victim, she kept her child, who ended up in the top of her class....The Supreme Court decision cleared the way for the sterilization of 60,000 Americans. The 'success' was noted overseas, where the Nazis were enthusiastically promoting eugenics in Germany. Grossu described how they used the U.S. legal model to institute their own sterilization program in 1933, in close collaboration with administrators in California. Some eugenicists advocated euthanasia to decrease the undesirable population. It was one of the points suggested in a 1912 report presented at the First International Eugenics Congress. Grossu noted that the use of gas chambers was the most commonly suggested form of eugenicide in America.” (http://www.wnd.com/2016/09/eugenics-making-comeback-as-high-tech-godsend/) C. The Holocaust was essentially justified to the Nazis by dehumanizing its victims. D. The abuses perpetrated against aborigines and pygmies were justified on the assumption that they were not fully human (accommodated by Darwinian evolutionary theory). E. The practice of destroying the innocent for the welfare of society is almost as old as sin itself. That wicked spirit played an important part in the crucifixion of Christ. JOH 11:48-50. Abortion 1-7-17 Page 2 1. A common characteristic of the O.T. Gentile religions was the sacrifice of children to the idolatrous gods of the lands, such as Baal, Molech or Chemosh. This was viewed as a necessary cost in appeasing their god and seeking his blessing upon their society: a. “Out of reverence for Kronos (Baal), the Phoenicians, and especially the Carthaginians, whenever they seek to obtain some great favor, vow one of their children, burning it as a sacrifice to the deity, if they are especially eager to gain success. There stands in their midst a bronze statue of Kronos, its hands extended over a bronze brazier, the flames of which engulf the child. When the flames fall on the body, the limbs contract and the open mouth seems almost to be laughing, until the contracted body slips quietly into the brazier.” (Greek author Kleitarchos, quoted in Abortion: Child Sacrifice in the 90's?, Dr. John D. Currid, Ministry, summer 1993, p. 2) b. Sadly, even the covenant people fell into this abominable practice from time time. PSA 106:37-38; JER 7:31; EZE 16:20-21. 2. In our present culture, New Age doctrine has become increasingly accepted and it has implications: “The New Age doctrine of reincarnation provides the perfect excuse for abortion. The Law of Karma states that each person chooses their fate in the life to come. For example, to balance the evil act, a murderer in one lifetime may, upon death, choose to become murdered in the next life cycle. Since the baby in the womb is now known to have a heartbeat and thus be 'alive' at three weeks, according to this New Age law, the killing of the baby is merely the carrying out of the baby's own desire, before incarnation. In other words, the theory is that the baby chose to be aborted!” (Texe Marrs, Ravaged by the New Age, p. 37) F. It is hard to imagine that any rational, compassionate human being could become so hardened against innocent life. But then again, hasn't humanistic evolution been teaching our society for years that man is just an animal like other animals? There is no limit to what unrestrained beast philosophy will lead people to do, even to the extent of acting like animals. LAM 4:3 c/w JOB 39:13-17. 1. The loss of natural affection (ROM 1:31) is an expected concomitant to people who have no other god but their belly. PHIL 3:18-19 c/w 2TI 3:1-3. 2. Suffice it to say that God holds the fruit of the womb in high regard. PSA 127:3; 139:14-16. G. The abortion industry knows full well how important it is to keep the personhood issue out of the picture. 1. Having a law to back the practice is one thing. Preventing the pregnant woman's conscience from getting in the way of an abortion is another. 2. The testimony of Carol Everett (who once ran five abortion clinics) is telling: “ 'The two questions they always ask are: No. 1, "Does it hurt?" And the answer would always be, "Oh, no. Your uterus is a muscle. It's a cramp to open it, a cramp to close it – just a slight cramping sensation." And the girl thinks, "That's no problem. I can stand that. I've been through it before." Then the client asks question No. 2: "Is it a baby?" "No," would come the answer, "it's a product of conception," or "it's a blood clot," or "it's a piece of tissue." They don't even call it a fetus, because that almost humanizes it too much, but it's never a baby.' ” (Ibid. p. 196) 3. “The latest salvo in the wimmin’s war on sinister sonograms? It’s a doozy of a screed this week published by Moira Weigel, 'writer and a doctoral candidate in comparative literature at Yale University,' in the Atlantic Monthly magazine Abortion 1-7-17 Page 3 originally titled, 'How the Ultrasound Pushed the Idea that a Fetus is a Person.' “...Curiously, Weigel raised no objection to the appalling use of ultrasound by Planned Parenthood operatives to harvest unborn baby parts. In 2015, the Center for Medical Progress exposed how Dr. Deborah Nucatola, the abortion giant’s senior director, boasted of using 'ultrasound guidance' to improve the quality of coveted organs ('a lot of people want liver'). Ultrasound machines helped their harvesters 'know where they’re putting their forceps' to score better prices. 'We’ve been very good at getting heart, lung, liver,' Dr. Nucatola chirped, 'because we know that, so I’m not gonna crush that part, I’m gonna basically crush below, I’m gonna crush above, and I’m gonna see if I can get it all intact.' ” (http://www.wnd.com/2017/01/ultrasound-the-anti-science-lefts-bugaboo/) H. Mother Teresa of Calcutta sagely noted, “Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love but to use violence to get what they want.” (National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., Feb. 3, 1994) VI. Vital to this topic is the question, “Is the unborn a person?” A. person: An individual human being; a man, woman, or child. B. If the unborn is a person, then abortion is criminal homicide. C. If the unborn is not a person, then abortion amounts to no more than removing a tumor. D. What remains is to establish from Scripture when the unborn is considered a person. VII. Consider the personality of the unborn from LUK 1:40-44. A. Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John the Baptist. LUK 1:36. B. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost and spake (vs. 41-42), terms descriptive of inspired prophecy. c/w LUK 1:67. C. What she went on to say was by inspiration from God. D. Like David, she in spirit called the Messiah Lord. c/w MAT 22:42-45. E. Therefore, her description of the babe in her own womb (v. 44) was not mere poetry. 1. The babe LEAPED. This is personally initiated action. 2. AS SOON AS THY VOICE SOUNDED, the babe leaped. This is responsive action. 3. The babe leaped FOR joy. This is purposeful action. 4. The babe leaped for JOY. This is emotive action. F. This unborn babe manifested the attributes of personality: intelligence, purpose and emotion. VIII. Consider the personality of the unborn from David's words in PSA 139:13-16. A. Throughout this passage, David uses personal pronouns when referring to himself when yet unborn: “MY reins,” “covered ME in MY mother's womb,” “MY substance,” “I was made in secret,” “MY substance,” “MY members.” B. David was a person even before his embryonic substance was formed into distinct bodily members. C. This passage refers to the second stage of prenatal development (multi-cell to the end of the second month). The baby is at this stage called the embryo. D. According to ECC 11:5, a woman with an embryo developing a skeletal structure is WITH CHILD. Abortion 1-7-17 Page 4 IX. The unborn are persons at the moment of conception. A. In PSA 51:5, David uses a personal pronoun when referring to the single, fertilized cell at conception. B. JOB 3:3 speaks of a man child at conception. C. Compare ISA 7:14 with MAT 1:23. 1. “Virgin shall conceive” equates with “virgin shall be with child.” 2. Once conception takes place, a woman is with child. 3. child: The unborn or newly born HUMAN BEING; fetus, infant. 2. A young PERSON of either sex below the age of puberty. D. Samson was to be a Nazarite from the womb. JDG 13:3-14. 1. Nazarites were forbidden any part or product of the vine. NUM 6:3-4. 2. The woman was to abstain from these things BEFORE she even conceived, lest the conceived Nazarite be polluted. JDG 13:4-5. 3. This establishes specific identity from conception. E. The foregoing verses cover the first stage of prenatal development: the single, fertilized cell called a zygote. F. At the moment of conception, a unique being is created with its own genetic package programmed for development into adulthood. 1. Nothing will be added to this unique being except time, nutrition and oxygen: the very things that will continue to be added after birth. 2. The fertilized ovum is NOT a potential human being but rather a human being with potential! G. It is a PERSON that God forms and fashions in the womb. JOB 31:15. H. JOB 39:13-17 shows that God deems the fertilized, unhatched eggs of the ostrich to be her young ones. 1. Humanists assign legal protection to the eggs of eagles, etc., which assumes that the eggs are birds in the making. 2. How can the hidden prenatal human embryo not have such protection? I. Mind that God obviously considers personhood to be established well before a heart is formed or beating, before a brain or central nervous system are formed, etc. X. Some argue that abortion is justified until the baby is viable (capable of independent existence). A. The change that takes place at birth is the change of the baby's external life support system. 1. Before birth, the baby derived nutrition and oxygen through its umbilical cord. 2. After birth, the baby derives nutrition through its stomach and oxygen through its lungs. B. A newborn baby is just as dependent after birth as before birth. It is not capable of independent existence. C. The logical progression of the notion that killing is justified for the non-viable is the taking of human life at any age. Various cultures have adopted such a philosophy throughout history from outright child sacrifice to the exposing of the elderly or handicapped in unprotected environments to purging the “weak human weeds” that bog down the system. XI. The law of God upheld the right of life for the unborn. A. EXO 21:22-25 has strong implications relative to abortion. 1. If mother or child died in this case, the man who caused it had to die. 2. Mind that this is a case of unintentional abortion/miscarriage, not deliberate abortion. Abortion 1-7-17 Page 5 3. If the penalty for an unintentional abortion was death, how much more would one who deliberately caused an abortion deserve to die? 4. Even if no debilitating injury occurred, a fine was imposed. 5. This law protected the woman AND the fruit of her womb. 6. It is an ugly inconsistency that in our culture someone who causes the death of an unborn child may be charged with homicide, unless that is what the mother wanted. B. Normally, there was a sentence of death imposed upon a woman found by a husband to have previously been a (consensual) fornicatress. DEU 22:20-21. 1. But what if the woman were pregnant? If the law of God is consistent, the fruit of the womb from the time of conception was a protected person. 2. When the just Joseph found Mary with child, he only sought to put her away privily. MAT 1:18-19. 3. A just man does not default to abortion, nor to the killing of a child in the womb under legal pretexts such as DEU 22:20-21. 4. Israel's law recognized the bastard (DEU 23:2). Better to produce a bastard than to slay a child for a mother's sin or abort the child. 5. For a woman pregnant out of wedlock, her pregancy was one sense in which a woman would be saved in childbearing. 1TI 2:15. XII. God condemns the shedding of innocent blood. EXO 20:13; 23:7; PRO 6:16-17. A. God especially condemns financial gain for slaying an innocent PERSON. DEU 27:25. B. Child sacrifice is an ordinance of devil worship. PSA 106:37-38; JER 19:4-5. 1. The Egyptian ankh is frequently seen in connection with abortion providers. 2. The resemblance of some Planned Parenthood buildings to Mesoamerican heathen temples of human sacrifice is hard to ignore. XIII. If women wanted babies and if men were responsible, the incentive for abortion would diminish. A. The playboy concept of women as sex objects discourages pregnancy and motherhood. B. The careerism of modern feminism discourages motherhood. C. Scripture exalts childbearing and motherhood. PSA 113:9; 127:3-5. Abortion 1-7-17 Page 6