Today, I want to talk about the sanctity of human life and, specifically abortion. This morning, I want you to join with me in a celebration of life. There is a widespread divide regarding the issue of abortion … people are not indifferent regarding this contested issue. Even now, bringing the very word up in front of this congregation means there is a vortex of emotions. Whether you are pro-life or pro-choice, you have strong emotions. Whenever the word abortion is mentioned, the atmosphere in the room becomes tense. Many elections are nothing more than a referendum on this issue with both sides watching the balance of power on the Supreme Court regarding this one issue.
To no one’s surprise, I stand here decidedly pro-life. But because we have such a divide in this nation over this issue, I want to take today’s message and cut it in half. During the second half, I want to share Christianity’s convictional values regarding life and its value. It is during this later portion of today’s message that I will be sharing our church’s convictional values straight from Scripture. In the first half, I want to share why the science of biology leads us to the conclusion of being pro-life. Again, during the first part of today’s message, I want to share some scientific facts that lead me to believe abortion involves taking the life of a human being. Nearly all of the facts are taken from either neutral or pro-choice sources so that others may not accuse me of bias.
My Purpose
I want to equip our church family in speaking intelligently and compassionately about abortion. I don’t have a Republican agenda here today as much as I have a kingdom of God agenda. I want to talk about this highly sensitive topic in a way just as I would discuss it if I were sitting across the table from someone who has had an abortion. I want to help all of us by presenting a rational argument for the pro-life position. Again, my aim is to do this so that a friendship can continue where oftentimes, the very mention of the word kills a friendship.
Everything about abortion hinges on the question, “Is the unborn a person?” There are really only two choices concerning abortion. If the unborn are human, then abortion is taking the life of a human. If the unborn are not human, then you may do what you wish.1
1. The Facts of Life
One of our members recently asked how they could make the pro-life argument to someone who didn’t believe the Bible. There’s a belief in our culture that goes like this: “Pro-life beliefs are largely decided based on one’s religious beliefs. My religious beliefs inform me that life begins at birth, not conception.” So, if I walk away from the Bible and discuss abortion from a scientific viewpoint can I make the argument for the protection of pre-born life?
So here are the embryological facts of life before birth.
1.1 The Development of Human Life
Medical science is not friendly to the pro-choice argument. Most all these facts you’re about to hear are taken from the Texas Department of Health and the Mayo Clinic. The pictures you’ll see are from WebMD.2
Four Weeks
At four weeks, The Mayo Clinic tells us that the brain and spinal cord begin to form.3 At four weeks, the heart begins to form. At four weeks, the stomach and intestines are forming. At four weeks, bone tissue is growing. At four weeks, the eyes are ears are just beginning to form. At four weeks, you should know that your baby is less than one ounce and is less the 1/8 inch in length.
Eight Weeks
At eight weeks, brain activity can be recorded. At eight weeks, elbows and toes are now visible. At eight weeks, facial features – the eyes, nose, lips, and tongue – continue to develop. At eight weeks, you should know that your baby is about ½ to ¾ inches long. At the end of eight weeks, you’re not even to the end of the first trimester. Men, your wife would still be throwing up at this point if she were pregnant. Ladies, your uterus would be about the size of a lemon at this point.
“Measuring one-and-one-fourth inches from crown to rump and weighing about one-thirtieth of an ounce, the (56-day-old) embryo is now all but fully formed. All body systems are in place and elaborated. Architecturally, the organism is more or less whole... Though the energy output is about one-fifth that of an adult, the heart is functionally complete... A great passage has been made.”4
Twelve Weeks
At twelve weeks, the neck is present, and the face is now well formed. At twelve weeks, arms and legs move. At twelve weeks, definitive signs of male and female gender appear. At twelve weeks, a heartbeat can be heard with electronic devices. At twelve weeks, you should know that your baby is about two to three inches in length. At twelve weeks, the pre-born life starts to make his/her own movements. It’s about this time that a woman shows she is pregnant, and the uterus is about the size of a grapefruit.
Sixteen Weeks
Swallowing and chest movements are clearly present. The baby’s mouth makes sucking motions The mother can begin to feel the baby move. The neck takes shape while the head and body become proportional. The baby’s eyes can blink, and the heart and blood vessels are fully formed. The baby’s fingers and toes have fingerprints. The baby now measures about 4.3 to 4.6 inches and weighs about 3.5 ounces.
Twenty Weeks
The baby can suck a thumb, yawn, stretch, and make faces. Arms and legs can begin to punch and kick. The baby’s taste buds are present. The baby weighs about ten ounces and is a little more than six inches long. After twenty weeks in the state of Texas, a woman’s life must be endangered for her to have an abortion.5
Quick Review
Science tells us that the fetus has a heartbeat. Science tells us that the fetus’ kidneys are functioning. Science can monitor the brainwaves of the fetus… Now in 1973, when Roe v. Wade was decided, you couldn’t take a 3D sonogram and watch your baby suck his or her thumb. Now, we know that by eight weeks, babies have brain waves. They even dream. Yes, they suck their thumb. At eight weeks, all their organs are functioning. They have brain waves, heartbeat, and kidney functioning. The baby even has their own blood type that is distinct from their mother’s or father’s.
1.2 Fetal Homicide Laws
In 2004, President George W. Bush signed into law a bill that made it a crime to kill or harm an unborn child during an assault of the mother. The law was popularly known as the “Laci and Conner’s law” because Laci Peterson was eight months pregnant when she disappeared on Christmas Eve, 2002. The President said at the time of the bill’s signing: “All who knew Laci Peterson have mourned two deaths, and the law cannot look away and pretend there is just one.” Thirty-eight states (including Texas) have laws against harming an unborn child. It is illegal to take the life of an unborn child if the mother wants the baby, but it is legal to take the life of the unborn if she does not. Now that we see that there is life before birth, if you still wish to argue for abortion, you are now arguing that a woman’s life is more important than her child’s life.6
1.1 The Development of Human Life
1.3 Neo-Natal Care
Neo-natal care is specialized medical care for the tiniest of patients. I remember a preemie baby born prematurely when I served in West Texas about ten years ago. His name was Taylor. As I walked into the neo-natal unit and inquired about the health of baby, I was told the nurses had to hang-bag the baby continually for his first ten hours of life. They did this because the normal ventilation breathing would have destroyed the soft tissue of the lungs one of the neonatal nurses explained to me at the hospital in Amarillo. You see, this preemie’s lung tissue was like Kleenex and these nurses hand-inflated his lungs to keep alive around the clock. Here’s a picture of Nathan today – isn’t that incredible!?
I spoke to a physician this week who told me when his mind was really cemented about abortion. It was when he and his wife were working in John Peter Smith Hospital and working to save the lives of unborn children at twenty-eight weeks. He spoke of staying up all night in order to see some preemie children survive. It was right then that he could not understand why we are taking the lives of unborn children while spending substantial resources on saving others. My doctor friend is not alone. High-risk pregnancy specialist Dr. Stephen Calvin of Minnesota writes, “When I started medical school in 1976, babies born below 28 weeks were not resuscitated. They were not considered viable. Today, the lower limit of viability is 23 weeks.”7 Calvin writes in a letter some years ago to the Arizona Daily Star: “There is inescapable schizophrenia in aborting a perfectly normal 22 week fetus while at the same hospital, performing intra-uterine surgery on its cousin.”8
1.4 Sonograms
Note to media team: (4d Sonogram Video to be shown on screens here. It’s around 45 seconds with no sound, and the video should end after I am finished with this sonogram portion.
The progress of medical technology since the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision had been incredible. Modern day sonograms offer us a window into the mother’s womb. Again, high-risk pregnancy specialist, Dr. Stephen Calvin:
“In 1973, fetal ultrasound imaging technology was early in its development. The anatomic development and activities of the fetus were invisible. Today the practice of obstetrics is much more effective because of our ability to obtain detailed views of the fetus inside the uterus.
Current ultrasound imaging techniques reveal the marvelous complexity of prenatal growth and development. Just as parents of newborns mark their baby’s developmental progress with milestones of activities, thanks to modern technology, we can see similar developmental milestones in unborn babies.”9
There is inescapable conflict in how modern American medical practice works. An unborn child is only to be saved when the mother wants this child. An unborn child is a child when her mother wants her. Yet, she is not a child when her mother does not want her. But how can one unborn child at five months deserve abortion when an unborn of the same age can undergo a life-saving surgery in the next room over? I speak directly to you in the name of Jesus this morning. I appeal to you more than anything else: WANT this child.
1. The Facts of Life
2. The Story of Abortion
Again, the facts of science are not friendly to the pro-choice side.
2.1 The Statistics of Abortion10
Abortion is one of the most common surgical procedures in America.11 Abortion is the leading cause of death in America, with heart disease taking the lives of 600,000 annually.12 Nearly sixty million people have lost their lives to abortion since Roe v. Wade in 1973. In the US, approximately 954,000 abortions took place in 2014 – this number has been trending downward in recent years. 58% of women having abortions are in their 20s. 61% of women who have an abortion already have one or more children. 85% of women who have an abortion are unmarried; 69% of women who have an abortion are economically disadvantaged. And 73% of women who have an abortion report a religious affiliation.14 This tells me it’s not just those outside these walls having an abortion but those inside these walls.
I want to speak to mothers and young ladies for a moment. I recognize it is difficult when no man will stand up and help you as he should. But I appeal to you this morning: do not choose to take the life of your child.
2.2 Why Do Women Have Abortions?
The most common reasons women give for having an abortion are social and economic. According to the Guttmacher Institute, seventy-four percent of women who had an abortion said, “Having a baby would dramatically change my life.” Seventy-three percent of women who had an abortion said, “I can’t afford a baby now.” Forty-eight percent of women who had an abortion said, “I don’t want to be a single mother or am having relationship problems.” Lastly, thirty-eight percent of women who had an abortion said, “I have completed my childbearing.” Twelve percent of women said their abortion was related to a health problem, and 1.5 percent said they were victims of rape or incest.15
2.3 Abortion and Race
Black women are 3.6 times more likely to have an abortion than non-Hispanic white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control.16 Abortion kills three times more minority children than non-Hispanic white women. “The Negro cannot win as long as he is willing to sacrifice the lives of his children for comfort and safety.” King’s niece continues, “How can the ‘Dream’ survive if we murder the children? Every aborted baby is like a slave in the womb of his or her mother. The mother decides his or her fate.” Alveda King, “How Can the Dream Survive if We Murder Our Children?”17
Our nation is rightfully concerned that all people are treated justly, no matter the color of their skin. Yet, Pastor Clenard Childress calls what is happening to America, black genocide. That’s Clenard Childress’s term for abortion in America and its pervasive effects in the last generation, especially in the Black community. His site (www.blackgenocide.com) laments that “a Black baby is five times more likely to be killed in the womb than a White Baby.” Childress says, “The most dangerous place for an African American to be is in the womb of their African American mother.” One in four black children’s lives are being taken away by abortion. For Childress and a growing number, the point is clear: Abortion in America is a race issue.
3. Why Are Christians So Pro Life?
I want to tell you the story of John Mark McCord. John Mark was delivered at twenty-six weeks in Austin, Texas just a few years ago, during a highly contentious debate about abortion on the senate floor in our capital. Start video with these words: I want you to hear and see Mia’s story in her own words. He was delivered so early because of the health of his mother, Mia. Mia had high blood pressure and it had gotten to the point where Mia’s organs were starting to fail. So, John Mark was one lb and 4.8 ounces at delivery. Here is a picture with Mia holding John Mark as an infant. And here he is now! Seeing this, I am so happy his parents chose life for John Mark.
3.1 Every Human in the Image of God
We believe life begins in the womb at conception. It is the only place in the universe where there is a new strand of DNA out of nowhere that is not the mother and is not the father. Here is our biblical rationale for life: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16).
The moral, spiritual soul is present at conception, and all human life is made in the image of God. Therefore, human life is more valuable than the rest of God’s creation. I want to call on all of us to love our unborn neighbor. In biblical terms, the sanctity of human life is rooted and grounded in creation. Mankind is not viewed as a cosmic accident but as the product of a carefully executed creation by an eternal God. Human dignity is derived from God.
3.2 Biblical Justice
The Bible tells us this: “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9). In Roe v. Wade , the Supreme Court, in effect, made abortion on demand untouchable by law. The way this was done was with two steps. First, this landmark and unethical decision effectively said laws may not prevent abortion, even during the full nine months, if the abortion is “to preserve the life or health of the mother.” The second step was to define “health” as “all factors — physical, emotional, psychological, familial and the woman's age — relevant to the well-being of the patient.” For forty years, this has meant that any perceived stress is a legal ground for eliminating the child. But we are called to something higher: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24).
Skeptics frequently say that God is an evil God to allow all this evil into our world. This person typically says, “A plane crashes: thirty people die, and another twenty people live. What kind of a God would arbitrarily choose some to live and some to die?” Yet, when we play God and determine whether a child within a mother’s womb should live, we argue for that as “a moral right.” So, when human beings are given the privilege of playing God, it’s called a moral right. When God plays God, we call it an immoral act. Can you justify this for me?18
Why do we have child protective services in our nation? Are we called to protect the lives of the defenseless? Isn’t this why our police force is championed? Should not this same protect extend to the mother’s womb? “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute” (Psalm 82:3).
If you’re motivated to help this important cause, here are three organizations that you can assist: The Mid Cities Crisis Pregnancy Center: http://mcpregnancy.org/. Mercy House is a ministry that houses, supports, and ministers to single pregnant women. 19 The third ministry I want to highlight is the Human Coalition. 20 This ministry serves to drive abortion-minded women to Crisis Pregnancy Clinics by giving then options. They use technology in abortion-dense areas and are talking to around 40% of women who are abortion-minded.
3.3 Forgiveness for Abortion
Look right at me for a moment. I want to speak directly to your conscience for a moment. There is forgiveness in the cross of Jesus for those who have taken a life through abortion. Your guilt is working hard on you this morning as you sit here. You have experienced an abortion, or you’ve encouraged your girlfriend/wife to have an abortion, and guilt is working on you. Abortion not only stops a beating heart, it stops your heart this morning. Abortion is not just a sin against the child, it is a sin against God. Abortion not only kills, it also kills the conscience. You’ve done everything possible to conceal your actions because you feel so terrible about this. While they tell you your abortion is private, your conscience tells you something very different. Your guilt is very real.
Satan and Abortion
Russell Moore has said, “No one is more pro-choice than Satan on the way to the abortion clinic, and no one is more pro-life than Satan on the way out.” All the promises of release and freedom are gone after your abortion.21 Instead, all you have is a crushed conscience and unimaginable hurt. Satan whispers in your ear out the door of the abortion clinic, “You are a murderer.” Yet, Jesus tells you, “You are forgiven in Christ.” Jesus tells you that all your sins are hidden in the cross of Jesus.
EndNotes
1 “If pro-choice advocates are correct and abortion is merely harmless surgery, then pro-lifers oppress women and falsely accuse them of homicide. But if pro-life advocates are correct and abortion ends the life of a human being, then pro-choicers are guilty of defending the killing of millions of people.” Trent Horn, Persuasive Pro-Life: How to Talk About Our Culture’s Toughest Issue (El Cajon: Catholic Answers Press, 2014), Kindle Locations 184-186.
2 See the explanation where this document is reviewed annually given here: https://dshs.texas.gov/wrtk/; accessed November 22, 2016.
3 http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/prenatal-care/art-20045302?pg=1; according November 22, 2016. All pictures are taken from webmd.com. http://www.webmd.com/baby/ss/slideshow-fetal-development; accessed November 22, 2016.
4 Alexander Tsiarsas, From Conception to Birth (New York: Doubleday, 2002), 183.
5 https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/state-facts-about-abortion-texas; accessed November 22, 2016.
6 https://www.congress.gov/108/plaws/publ212/PLAW-108publ212.pdf; accessed November 22, 2016. http://www.foxnews.com/story/2004/04/02/bush-signs-laci-and-conner-law.html; accessed November 22, 2016. http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/PE/htm/PE.1.htm#1.07; accessed November 22, 2016. See also, https://rewire.news/article/2014/10/16/pregnant-texans-charged-crimes-dont-exist/; accessed November 22, 2016.
7 http://med.studentsforlife.org/2013/01/22/an-open-letter-about-the-future-of-abortion-in-u-s-and-medical-students/; accessed November 22, 2016.
8 http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/we-know-they-are-killing-children-all-of-us-know; accessed November 22, 2016.
9 http://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/news/2013/09/abortion-and-the-practice-of-medicine-25-years-of-increasing-schizophrenia/#.WDSkPmQrIsk; accessed November 22, 2016.
10 Abortion Around the Globe About 1 in 5 pregnancies around the globe end in abortion. The following was omitted in the interest of time: 30% of all pregnancies in Europe end in abortion. According to the World Health Organization, there are approximately 42 millions abortions annually. http://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/international-abortion-3-things-you-need-to-know; accessed November 17, 2106.
1 Surgical procedure is given a wide definition in this perspective. http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2012/feb/15/patrick-johnston/leader-personhood-issue-claims-abortion-most-commo/; accessed November 22, 2016. Contra Randy Alcorn’s statement, Why Pro-Life? Caring for the Unborn and their Mothers (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2004), 15.
12 Brian Fisher, Abortion: The Ultimate Exploitation of Women (Dallas: Brown Christian Press, 2017), 12.
13 http://abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/; accessed November 22, 2016. The following was omitted in the interest of time: 21% of all US pregnancies (excluding miscarriage) end in abortion. At current rates, about three in ten American women will have had an abortion by the time she reaches age 45. Black-market industries have popped up along side abortion industries. http://abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/; accessed November 22, 2016. http://www.lifenews.com/2016/11/15/indiana-university-caught-paying-200-for-brains-of-aborted-babies-for-research/; accessed November 22, 2016.
14 https://www.guttmacher.org/fact-sheet/state-facts-about-abortion-texas; accessed November 22, 22016.
15 All statistics come from https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/pubs/psrh/full/3711005.pdf; accessed November 22, 2016. http://blackgenocide.org/director.html; accessed November 22, 2016.
16 http://abort73.com/abortion/abortion_and_race/; accessed November 22, 2016
17 http://www.silentnomoreawareness.org/testimonies/alveda-king.html; accessed November 22, 2016.
18 http://www.alwaysbeready.com/22-apologeticquote/229-apologetic-quote-ravi-zacharias-abortion; accessed November 10, 2016.
19 https://mercyhouse.org/what-is-mercy-house/; accessed November 22, 2016.
20 https://www.humancoalition.org/cities/dallasfort-worth/; accessed November 22, 2016.
21 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/abortion-kills-two-hearts; accessed November 22, 2016.
