Series: America Bless God
Sermon Title: Why we must vote against Abortion
Sunday, October 17th 2004
Intro: These sermons, as I have been telling you, are focused on guiding you to making the right decision in voting this coming November. We simply must turn out and vote, turn out in mass and make our voices heard.
We must also, consider what issues are the most important. Not just to us alone, but what issues are those that God would consider the most vital in turning this country in the right direction.
This week I am going to speak on what I think is by far the most important issue in this election. And the issue is abortion.
•4,000-4400 occur everyday.
•In other words, 1 abortion every 22 seconds.
•About 1.2 million abortions occur in the United States every year.
•Over 35,000,000 abortions have occurred since Roe v. Wade.
Why we must vote against Abortion?
I. God Created Us to live.
The unique characteristic of each human being is the reflection of being created "in His image." Each of us reflects the very image of God.
If we lose sight of the value placed on human life, we are susceptible to the temptation to destroy that life designed by God. Life is sacred. When life is destroyed, we lose the impact of a life that could have enriched our lives and brought glory to God.
The movie, It’s A Wonderful Life, allows a man to see what the world would have missed if he had not been born. A similar experience might help us value our lives and all human life.
a. God values live because, we are created in His image
i. We are created to live. God saved His breath for the creation of human beings. Genesis 2:7 says, "the Lord God…breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being." We are created in the image of God and endowed with His very breath to live. That is sacred.
ii. Paul speaking to the men of Athens, a great Greek city, notes that God is the giver of life. (Acts 17:25)
iii. Isaiah (44:24) the prophet is informed that the Lord formed us in the womb.
iv. When we lose sight of a Creator who has formed us with a purposeful life in mind, we may devalue life and even be willing to destroy it.
v. Our culture no longer recognizes the sacredness of human life.
Mother Teresa said, "Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion."
b. The World devalues life because of rebellion against God
Hosea 4:1-3a Hear the word of the LORD, You children of Israel, For the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land. 2By swearing and lying, Killing and stealing and committing adultery, They break all restraint, With bloodshed upon bloodshed.3 Therefore the land will mourn; And everyone who dwells there will waste away
i. “You don’t fit into my plan therefore I will kill you.”
1. Roman coliseum stands as a monument of this
2. Slavery (Including US) testifies of the devaluing of life
3. Native American massacres
4. Jewish Holocaust
5. Sadam
6. Terrorist
Let try to understand the reasons for abortion: The Top 6 reasons woman have abortions
• Can’t afford the baby right now 21%
• Not ready for the responsibility of parenthood 21%
• Woman’s life would change too much 16%
• Problems with marriage; unmarried 12%
• Too young; not mature enough 11%
• Woman has all the children she wants 8%
ii. The top six reasons comprise 89 percent of the abortion choices. This amounts to nearly 1.1 million babies are killed in the US because of selfish reasons.
iii. We need to change the culture!
iv. Many of these women feel forced into having an abortion. (NOT a Woman’s Right to choose)
Women should have a choice.
Is it a choice — or is it lack of support for the crisis pregnancy?
In a study of 252 aborted women who suffered psychological problems after their abortions,
53 percent felt "forced" into the abortion by others
65 percent felt "forced" by their circumstances.
83 percent stated they would have kept the pregnancy if they had been encouraged to do so by one or more other persons.
Statistics taken from Aborted Women — Silent No More, by David C. Reardon (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1987).
“Let Love Win”
II. Abortion Kills babies
This is the last thing that a Pro-abortionist wants to admit.
a. What does God say:
Exodus 21:22 we read from the Old Testament legal code. “If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”
Luke 1:41. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greetings, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” The baby in the womb experienced joy, which is a human emotion.
{ bref’-os} an unborn child, embryo / A new-born child, an infant, a babe
The same word used in describing Jesus as a babe being wrapped in swaddling clothes.
If God doesn’t make a distinction between an unborn child and any other human being, neither should we.
b. What does good sense say?
i. The Argument: It’s a woman’s body
ii. True, a woman has a right over her own body.
iii. Our legal system does not recognize an absolute right over one’s body.
1. People are not guaranteed absolute power over their bodies in our nation.
2. We do not allow someone the right to get drunk and then drive a car.
3. We do not give people an absolute right to use dangerous drugs, to commit suicide, to walk around without clothes.
4. We even limit what a woman can do with her own body and reproductive system. How about prostitution?
iv. Abortion however, involves another separate living body inside her own.
c. What do good science and medicine say?
i. The Argument: It’s just a tissue mass, not a baby.
ii. Advanced medical technology has proven otherwise:
Genetic Research:
Day One - A human being has 46 chromosomes. A sperm and egg each have just 23 chromosomes. But a trained geneticist can now distinguish between the DNA of an embryo and the DNA of a sperm and egg. But that same geneticist cannot distinguish between the DNA of a developing embryo and the DNA of a full-grown human being.
At day 21, the baby inside of her has a beating heart.
By day 28, the arms, legs, eyes, and ears have begun to show.
At day 40, brain waves can be detected.
Ultrasound machines:
Dr. Bernard Nathanson was the leading abortion doctor in the United States in the 1970’s.
• Performed over 60,000 abortions.
• It was the invention of the ultrasound machine that turned his heart.
• He could see all four chambers of the heart pumping blood.
• And during the scan Nathanson became convicted.
“Suddenly, everything he had been learning about the child in the womb since his entry into the medicine snapped into focus. He had known what took place in the womb but somehow seeing it for the first time changed everything.”
Another argument used is along the same lines of the previous one: the fetus doesn’t feel pain during an abortion. Well that has also been proven untrue in recent years.
He asked a colleague who was performing several abortions a day to put an ultrasound device on a few of his patients and with their permission, tape the procedure. What they actually witnessed through the ultrasound was tiny bodies being torn limb for limb – Dr. Nathanson says he was startled and revolted. Even more sickening, the ultrasound showed the babies desperately trying to wiggle away from the suction apparatus. One 12 week fetus continued to struggle even after it had been severely maimed, opening his mouth in what looked horrifyingly like a scream of fear and pain. In fact, Dr. Nathanson released this footage on video and entitled it The Silent Scream. And today you can go to a website and view it online at www.silentscream.org. I warn you, what you will see is haunting. Nathanson says that the abortion doctor who allowed his procedure to be videotaped, ceased doing abortions after he saw the video.
Further ultrasound advancements speak even louder: 4D machines
• Let me show you a picture taken with a 4D machine: Amber
• These machines are helping turn the tide in one PRC in “A Woman’s Choice Resource Center” in Louisville, Ky
Advertising free ultrasounds draws a lot of patients from the abortion clinic across the street. The center’s 70 percent success rate in saving babies has gone up, though they don’t know exactly how much, since buying a 4D ultrasound late last year.
• A mega-church matched donations to help A Woman’s Choice buy theirs.
• National Institute of Family and Life Advocates President Tom Glessner estimated that if a thousand crisis pregnancy centers were able to provide ultrasounds, the abortion rate could be cut by more than half within a decade.
Article from the publication: “Citizen”
An ardently pro-life mother of two, Melody Oliver never dreamed of seeking an abortion. But after being sexually assaulted during a date last spring, she found herself at a Louisville, Ky., abortion clinic.
The fear and horror of being raped might have driven Oliver through the doors, but the fear and horror of the conditions inside drove her right back out. "I thought the one reason the government made abortion legal was so women could be in a clean environment with medical doctors," said Oliver, a licensed practical nurse who has seen abortion-mutilated women in the Bowling Green emergency room where she works. "But there was an inch of dust on everything. The health department would have shut down my hospital in five minutes for any one of the violations I saw in that place."
Not only that, but Oliver suspected the clinic was bilking patients for money. Rather than measuring several of the fetuses’ body parts to determine gestational age, the clinic workers measured only their heads — the largest part of the body. "I had just been at my OB’s office and I knew I was 12 to 14 weeks pregnant, but their estimate was 18 weeks," Oliver said. "That wouldn’t seem to matter — except that the price of the abortion depends on the age of the fetus."
Oliver got dressed, paid the $300 the clinic charged for ultrasounds and left. Once outside, she met staffers from A Woman’s Choice Resource Center, who asked her if she would accompany them across the street for a free, complete ultrasound on their new machine. Oliver did—and realized that even her pro-life beliefs and medical training hadn’t prepared her for the sight of her daughter’s face as presented in 4D.
"She was blinking. She was just hanging out, looking around, sucking on her thumb," Oliver told Citizen. "It was so realistic, so lifelike. It looks like you can just reach right in there and pick up the baby.
"I know they have a heartbeat at 4 to 6 weeks, but it still doesn’t feel as real to you until you see a human. It amazed me."
After that, Oliver knew she couldn’t have an abortion, but she was still ambivalent about what to do once the baby was born Feb. 15. For a while, she considered giving her up for adoption. But a few days later, while Oliver and her baby were still in the hospital, a nurse asked if she wanted to see her — and Oliver realized, to her surprise, that she did.
"Do you want to name her?" the nurse asked. Oliver glanced down at the magazine she’d been skimming. A headline caught her eye: "FAITH." "Well, why don’t we just call her Faith for now?" Oliver said. The nurse laughed, then replied: "We’ve all been calling her Faith for the last two days."
As Citizen went to press, Oliver was in the midst of her assailant’s prosecution, and seeing a trauma counselor. But she was still amazed by the reality of Faith.
"I never thought I could love or bond with a child [who] was conceived under such horrible circumstances, but that’s where we don’t give God enough credit," Oliver said. "I look at her, and I don’t even see him. She’s beautiful and perfect."
J. Kerby Anderson in his book Moral Dilemmas writes, “Medical science leads to a pro-life perspective rather than a pro-choice (pro-abortion) perspective. If medical science can be used at all to draw a line, the clearest line is at the moment of conception.”
Where morality fails to move man, technology may drag him.
III. Abortion Damages Women
“This isn’t just about saving babies.
It’s about helping hurting woman and preventing further damage done to woman.”
Problems with future pregnancies
1. Ectopic (tubal) pregnancy
50% higher risk after 1 abortion
90% higher risk after 2 abortions
2. Pre-term delivery and Low birth weight
3. Birth defects
–Anencephaly - condition when baby is born without most of brain and spinal cord.
–Study: 2.5 times higher risk of anencephaly after abortion.
4. Miscarriage
40% higher risk after 1 abortion
340% increased risk after 2 abortions.
Woman’s future health
5. Breast Cancer
National Cancer Institute: 50% higher risk of breast cancer after abortion
British study: 170% higher risk among women who had their abortion before their first childbirth.
6. Psychological Effects of Abortion
Study: 50-60% of women experience some amount of emotional distress, classified as severe in 30% of the cases.
Finnish study: 3 times higher incidence of suicide after abortion
7. Post-Abortion Symptoms
a. Guilt
b. Anxiety
c. Avoidance behavior (of anything to remind the mother of pregnancy & children)
d. Psychological “numbing”
e. Depression
f. Re-experiencing events related to the abortion
g. Withdrawal
h. Anger
i. Preoccupation with becoming pregnant again
j. Anxiety over fertility & childbearing issues
k. Interruption or disruption of the bonding with the present and/or future children
l. Self-abuse/self-destructive behaviors
m. Anniversary reactions
n. Brief psychotic disorder
o. Fear of failure
p. Despair
Complications resulting from an Abortion
8. Varity of possible complication including Toxic Shock
9. Even Death
Diana Lopez, 25, died February 28, 2002 in Los Angeles, CA Lopez was 18 weeks pregnant when she went to the Los Angeles Planned Parenthood for an abortion by Dr. Mark Maltzer. According to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, “she bled to death after her cervix was punctured during her abortion.” She died at a nearby hospital after an emergency hysterectomy. Lopez’ family is suing Planned Parenthood and Maltzer on behalf of her two living children.4
IV. How can my vote make a difference?
a. Partial Birth abortion Ban
i. The Pro-Abortion side claims the need for a “Health of the mother” clause in any such limitation. Do you all understand what this procedure entail? I am not a doctor. But, I have read about this form abortion. The Baby is delivered breach, then it is held in the birth canal while the doctor kills it. All but the head is already born!
b. Elect godly Law makers
nonprofit pregnancy centers may be able to buy ultrasound equipment if Congress passes a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla. The bill, introduced Feb. 5, earmarks $3 million for grants to help health clinics buy any type of ultrasound machine they like; the legislation calls for the government to pay $20,000 or half the cost of the machine, whichever is less, for nonprofit pregnancy centers that provide ultrasounds for free. Abortion clinics charge ultrasound fees despite receiving federal subsidies.
H.R. 195, is being considered by the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, and has 36 cosponsors. But the pro-abortion lobby, which helped defeat a similar bill last year, is up in arms.
i. Proposed resolution for grants to help PRC by Sonogram machines
ii. “One example of real help”
c. Appoint godly Judges
Much of the Christian community has been looking for change for so long that it is possible that some have given up the fights. “Oh, it doesn’t really matter what I do, nothing seems to make difference.
Article from NARAL Pro-Choice America’s web site. Given the number of Supreme Court Justices likely to retire and their positions on Roe v.Wade, The next President could well be able to remake the Supreme Court to one that will overturn Roe and will eradicate numerous rights and freedoms for a generation or longer. Judicial positions of particular importance to the right to choose include:
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice: If Chief Justice Rehnquist retires as expected, the next President could elevate a sitting Justice to that powerful position, or nominate a new anti-choice candidate to the Court and the Chief Justice slot.
U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice(s):
Justice Stevens, widely considered to be the most liberal Justice and a supporter of Roe, is 84 years old.
Only four Justices in history have served past their 85th birthday.
Justice O’Connor, frequently the deciding vote on choice and other issues and a supporter of Roe, is 74 and is widely thought to be considering retirement.
Justice Ginsburg, also a supporter of Roe, is 71 and has been rumored to be thinking of retirement.
Even Justice Souter, although comparatively young and another supporter of Roe, is considered a possibility for retirement. If just two of the pro-Roe Justices retire,
The next President will have the opportunity to appoint enough Justices to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“One man’s fears are another man’s hope.”
V. Other Ways to make a Difference:
a. Value life above all other aspirations.
b. Be a voice of reason and compassion for your neighbors
c. Tell of God’s forgiveness
d. Encourage Mothers
(You may not know that they are pregnant. This is why a constant attitude is needed.)
i. If they can’t raise the baby then encourage adoption
ii. Approximately 40 qualified couples are waiting for every baby available.1
David Trovillion, placed for adoption in 1974. “I am here because a young woman unselfishly gave her unborn baby a chance, It took a great deal of love for my birthmother to not have an abortion and then give up her baby for adoption."
a. Volunteer at a “Pregnancy Resource Center”
Conclusion:
