“Before I formed you in the womb I
knew you, before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to
the nations.”
– Jeremiah 1:5
This Sunday, January 22, marks the 44th anniversary of the U.S.
Supreme Court’s decision to legalize abortion in the United States. In their
landmark Roe v. Wade decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14th
Amendment protects a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy. Interestingly,
the 14th Amendment was intended to protect an
individual’s rights while providing him/her with equal protection under the
law. Evidently, the Supreme Court justices didn’t believe these protected
individual rights extend to the unborn child. As a result, over 58 million
pre-born babies have been aborted in the U.S. since 1973. That’s roughly equal
to the entire populations of California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and New
Mexico combined!
Fast forward 44 years. Here we are just two months after our
national elections, where well over 100 million Americans went to the polls and
voted for a slew of candidates and a laundry list of propositions. And one of
these propositions in the State of Colorado slipped under the national radar:
Proposition 106. It passed by an overwhelming 2/3 majority, making Colorado the
sixth state to legalize doctor-assisted suicide.
With these sobering realities in mind, Christian leader Dr.
Frank Wright recently wrote, “Will a
differently constituted U.S. Supreme Court make a difference in the defense of
life? It could, but we have heard those promises before. Besides, a question
more important than whether the courts will defend life is: Why is the culture
running headlong after death?” Now, that’s a sobering question. Why is our culture running headlong after
death?
Honestly, one of the main reasons is because we as a nation
no longer read, understand, or embrace what God’s word says about the great
value of human life. We have failed to embrace what God says in the very first
chapter of the Bible—Genesis 1. He makes it clear that all life on earth is
good and beautiful. But only human
life is sacred, which is defined as “connected
to God and dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserving veneration.”
Every human life is connected to God in a way that a dog or cat couldn’t be.
Every human life is dedicated to a religious purpose—to worship Him and love
Him in a way that a rhino, monkey, or polar bear never could. As a nation, we
have rejected these timeless truths.
And we have ignored and rejected the timeless truth of Psalm
139:13-15, where King David answers the “when” question: “When does God create human life as good, beautiful and sacred?”
David answers—in a mother’s womb. David expresses amazement at the thought of
God creating his kidneys, lungs, and heart before he drew his first breath.
Without a doubt, human life begins in the womb. Therefore, the life of the
unborn child is good, beautiful and sacred in the sight of God. From God’s
perspective, a fetus is not a clump of cells, a mass of tissue, or an
inconvenience. What the medical community labels a “fetus” is a child, created
with great love and care by our Creator. As a nation, we have rejected this
timeless truth.
The truth is: There are only four differences between an
unborn child and a toddler, and none of these differences taken individually or
together diminish the value and “humanity” of the unborn child. See for
yourself. [These four differences form the acronym, SLED.]
SIZE. For years pro choice groups like
Planned Parenthood have argued that a human fetus is not a human being because
of its tiny size. But since when does human size equate to human value? Would
anyone make the case that a 7-foot-tall NBA center’s life is 3 ½ times more
valuable than a 2-foot-tall toddler’s life? Would anyone try to convince us
that a teenager is twice as human as a two-year old because the teenager is
twice as tall? No way! The size argument is completely illogical. Size has
nothing to do with human value.
LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT. Abortion clinics have peddled the
lie that because a child in utero is less developed than a baby, it’s not a
human being. Because the heart isn’t beating until the second month and the
pain receptors aren’t functional until the second trimester, it’s not a baby.
But since when does level of development determine human value? Toddlers are
less developed than teenagers. Teenagers are less developed than adults. Many adults
have diabetes or other diseases that keep them from feeling pain, and some
severely disabled adults aren’t self-aware. Would any reasonable person
conclude that children and adults with developmental disabilities are less
human than those who are perfectly healthy? I think not!
ENVIRONMENT and DEGREE OF DEPENDENCY. These last two differences between an unborn
child and a toddler are equally important. Abortion advocates make the case
that because a human fetus is inside his/her mother and is completely dependent
upon her for survival, the fetus is not a human being. But under close
scrutiny, both of these arguments fall apart. When toddlers change
environments, do they change their value? Is a toddler in the house more human
that a toddler in a swimming pool? As
for degree of dependency—Is a retiree on dialysis and oxygen less human than a
senior with a clean bill of health? Hardly! You see, dependency is irrelevant
to value. In fact, a greater level of dependency signals us as compassionate
human beings to help and fight for the one who is dependent. Right?
Perhaps we will never fully understand why our culture has
been running headlong after death. But of this we can be sure: God holds all
human life—from the earliest stages in the womb to the final day of hospice
care—as good, beautiful, and sacred. Therefore, we as His followers must also
hold all human life to be good, beautiful and sacred. As God loves and defends
human life, so too must we.
Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of
First Christian Church in Victorville. For more information,
visit www.fccvv.com and join us for
worship Sundays at 10 am.
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