Abortion has been in the national limelight more
than usual lately with New York’s passage of the Reproductive Health Act, which
legalized “abortions after 24 weeks in cases where there is an ‘absence of
foetal [sic] viability, or the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s
life or health.’”[1]
This legislative action came right on the heels of the annual March for Life
and Sanctity of Human Life Day in January and in the midst of other
abortion-related legislation being proposed or adjudicated in other states such
as Vermont, Virginia, and Iowa.
Heightening the emotional impact of the New York
law, is a particularly strong irony that came in the governor’s celebratory act
of lighting One World Trade Center in pink. While the new World Trade Center
was lit in celebration of the potential for ending unborn lives, the memorial
at the old World Trade Center site lists the unborn among those killed in 2001.
The contrast is beyond chilling. Also chilling is a recent video showing a
Virginia state representative blank-facedly admitting that her proposed bill
would allow abortions to take place even up to the moment of birth. Thankfully,
that bill was defeated.
The issue of abortion raises incredibly strong feelings on
all sides. However, my intent with this post is not to go into the medical
arguments against the presuppositions in these laws; others have shared their
expertise to show that while delivery might be necessary to save a mother’s life, abortion is not. Neither is my intent to answer the myriad of arguments
that self-proclaimed “pro-choice” individuals offer up to rationalize abortion,
nor to delve into the scientific and technological advancements that
increasingly support the claim that life begins at conception. Instead, my
purpose is to share how I have come to rethink what is referred to as the
“right to life” and to call us all to expand our view of what we are truly
dealing with when we make the argument for the protection of the unborn.
Oftentimes in the Right to Life movement, the
persuasive arguments center around the unborn themselves: babies (fetuses) are
alive, and they have the right to live; extinguishing their lives before
they are born robs them of the opportunity to live, to love, and to
experience love outside the womb; taking their lives removes their choice
for what they want to do with their lives. All of these statements are true,
but are they really the fundamental reason why abortion is wrong? In other
words, is killing others wrong because they deserve the chance to live and
thrive?
Our Declaration of Independence asserts that all
of humanity has a right to life. But where does this right come from? Is it a
right we give to ourselves? Is it something our Founding Fathers just came up
with? As the Declaration acknowledges, the right to life comes from our
Creator, i.e. God. There is nothing we bring to the table in and of ourselves
that makes us deserving of life. What makes us deserving is not who we are but
Who our Creator is. He has made us and, in doing so, has imparted His image to
us. That’s what makes us valuable, i.e. worthy of living. So because He is the
One who gives us life and who imputes value to us, He is the only One who has
the right to take our lives away. Let that sink in for a moment. God is the
only One who has the legitimate authority to end a human life.[2]
So when it comes to abortion, while it can be
emotionally persuasive to talk about the unborn, to make us feel empathy for
their utterly defenseless condition, to horrify us at the callousness it takes
to cause a defenseless person pain and then to extinguish their life, I have
come to see that these are not the most important reasons we should stand
against it.
What is? Just this: to end the life of an unborn
human is fundamentally about usurping the power and authority of the almighty
God of the universe. And that is a profoundly dangerous thing to do. Look at
the consequences of those who tried to become like God--Satan, who incurred
eternal damnation, and Adam and Eve, who ensured that they and the entirety of
their descendants would be unable to have a relationship with God were it not
for God’s intervention through Jesus, are the ones that immediately come to
mind. Bottom-line, trying to be like God is not something to mess around with.
God is the only all-powerful being and the only all-wise being, so to
attempt to assert our own “power” and “wisdom” over His is incredibly foolish.
The point, when it comes to abortion, is not so much that the unborn have a
right to live as it is that we do not have the right to kill them.
Of course, this is a less palatable point to
raise, because it heightens the onus placed on those consenting to and
performing the abortion. If we’re not careful, making such a point can be
interpreted as heaping guilt on an already struggling individual. And in a
pro-life culture that has admittedly done a less-than-acceptable job of showing
compassionate care and real tangible and emotional support to mothers and
families contemplating abortion, it can be scary to argue for life from this
perspective.
That is why we must learn how to simultaneously
hold onto the appropriately big view of God, including the thoroughly inherent
rights He has by nature of Who He is, and to practically demonstrate His love
for women who are carrying the lives He has created. We don’t have a right to
take a human life, because that right only belongs to God, but we also don’t
have a right to devalue those whom He has created in His image, which includes
not only the unborn but also the teens and adults connected to them.
So as we think about the issue of abortion in
the coming days and years, let us consider the greatness of God and our own
smallness in comparison. Let us acknowledge that we cannot rightfully end
another human’s life, because that right only belongs to Him. He is the one who
numbers our days and who allots our time in His perfect design (see Psalm
139:16). Let us not presume to know better than He. And in contemplating His
greatness, may we also be overcome by His goodness such that we are filled with
compassion for those who are hurting, for those who are conflicted, and for
those who are convinced. At the end of our earthly lives, when we stand
before God to give an account, may we be able to say, “I stood for preserving
your gift of life, and I showed your love to all.”
[1] Pierpont, George, BBC News, “New York abortion law: Why are so many people talking about it?” accessed 29 January 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46994583
[2] In some cases, e.g. when humans kill other humans in cold blood, God has delegated this authority, but in the case of the unborn, He has not done so.
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