Reuters – “U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ends constitutional right to abortion”
Washington Post – “Supreme Court overturns Roe vs Wade”
But the one statement that did not receive national headlines was by former Vice President Mike Pence: “Today, Life Won.” Short. To-the-Point. And .... in my view, Sweet!
When it comes to talk about abortion, the discussion can be a polarizing one. So be it! For Christians the subject reminds us that while we should embrace all people, that does not mean we embrace all beliefs. Swallowing the progressive marinated-mind mantra that says, “It is my body” intentionally ignores that at no point in a pregnancy is the developing embryo simply a part of the mother's body, but a separate body!
Imagine! While American government officials, like Biden’s newly minted Supreme Court judge, Ketanji Brown Jackson, are unbelievably unable to define the meaning of the word ‘Woman’ (“I’m not a biologist”, she said) ... suddenly the looney left (not to be confused with the looney right) re-discovered biology 101 and went apoplectic about the constitutional right of a ‘woman’ to abort a pregnancy. Forgive my belly-laugh here, but ‘C’mon man!’ – that is just way too funny!
Here in the Great White North, the Feds are struggling with this same virus. The Department of ‘Women and Gender Equality Canada’ (WAGE) states that it “does not use a specific definition of ‘woman.'” OK! So, a federal department, funded by taxpayers to protect the rights of women and others in the nations – does not know what a woman is? Astounding! So much for stupidity being only to our south.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms establishes
no constitutional right to abortion, including the 1988 Morgentaler decision by the Supreme Court. Prime Minister Trudeau does not know what he is talking about.
Now when SCOTUS’ legal decision came out, the baldly political tactics of progressive politicians, legacy media, unsavory Twitter mobs and of course, the millionaire, gated-community, Hollywood elite activists was predictable. Angry, vindictive, petty. No surprise there. They chirped that it is unconscionable that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a woman’s core reproductive rights ... when in fact SCOTUS did no such thing. If only the human brain came with a lie detector!
What DID happen was that the court (minus the hysteria) put the issue back into the hands of the people and individual states, where it belonged. No one believes that with the SCOTUS ruling abortions are now going to stop. Babies in the womb will still have to dodge not only liberal states with their suction aspiration dilation and evacuation, dilation and extraction, curettage methods, but their saline and abortive pills like Mifepristone and Misoprostol (RU 486). Not going to happen.
“The God who declares that we are to be fruitful and multiply regards it as a great evil when human beings destroy their offspring.”
Martin Luther
Now it would be comforting to think that Christianity is generally anti-abortion. I wish! More than a church-load of believers are ‘soft’ or completely dismissive on the issue. The Pew Research Center notes that the Episcopal, Evangelical Lutheran, Presbyterian, United Methodist, United Church of Christ, Conservative and Reform Judaism support abortion rights with either some, few and even no limits. Did you know that five years (1967) before Roe, pastors founded the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion to help women get legal and illegal abortions from licensed professionals? Interestingly 59% of Christians and 35 % of white Evangelicals (no figures for blacks) do not want Roe v. Wade overturned. 1
Even current Generation Z’s (Whom USA Today calls the “Loneliest Generation”) coming out of evangelicalism and who trumpet justice issues like the environment, racial justice, inequality ... not to mention including gender options other than ‘man’ and ‘woman’ and approval of NFL players kneeling during national anthems, believe that abortion, or more specifically, bodily autonomy – is virtuous! And if you listen carefully to their theological logic, it reflects cultural contextualization, not theological astuteness. In fact, you will generally find very little heavy theological lifting by them. Consider the example of Jes Kast, a pastor with the United Method Church who also serves on the clergy-advocacy board of Planned Parenthood.
“When people talk about “Our body is a temple of God, and holy,” I see that as I have the right to choices over my body, and the freedom to make the decisions that are right for me.” (A Pastor’s Case for the Morality of Abortion, in The Atlantic. May 26, 2019)
Hmmm! I am thinking that bodily autonomy certainly did not happen in State Capitals and Canada during Covid – when governments infringed on a person’s right to visit their dying mom in the nursing home, fired workers for refusing to comply with vaccine mandates, and here in Canada disallowed travelling inter-provincially. Does anyone remember that Wilfrid Laurier University would not permit students who normally learn in-person to take part in online courses (Fall, 2021) if they have not been fully vaccinated against COVID-19? These are supposed to be smart people! But I digress!
I understand that the modern church generation is full of zeal and energy ... and it is not a bad attribute when trying to change societal outcomes. But regrettably when they do embed themselves into the text of Scripture, they frame its authority on what they think and feel, rather than what the Scriptures say. I mean, we should try to be biblical, shouldn’t we? So, let’s be clear: the Christian’s moral perspective on abortion is shamefully wide-open.
Caring for life is to care not only for existing people,
those already here, but the child in the womb who is ‘almost’ here.
The Bible gives us a picture of God’s view of life, both before birth and afterwards ―and there is little room for compromise. Jesus spent a great deal of His time spelling out God’s core values. Consider Matthew 7:24 . . .
"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on.” (MSG)
The values that we embrace as Christians should be values to build a life on. In this regard then, our values should be timeless, eternal truths which guide our life and form the basis of who we are. This is why we have that Bible warning in James 1:18 about “a double-minded man is unstable in all he does.” So, whether we call it a religious, political, cultural, or social issue . . . for sure, abortion is an issue of values . . . and whose values will win the day.
You do not have to be religious to understand that
abortion kills a human being. Follow the Science!
While I am at it, let me say that in the United States. . . between 0.3 of all abortions occur because of rape or incest (Canada – 0.5%), in cases of risk to maternal health or life 1 %, (Canada – 1%), and in cases of fetal abnormality, 0.5% . . . leaving about 96.5% - 98% of abortions as elective, for socio-economic or for birth control reasons. 2
The right to not be killed supersedes
the right to not be pregnant.
That 2% is important and tolerating the hard case of aborting a children conceived from rape out of a natural empathy for the rape victim, might be a helpful dodge for some, but exploiting and exporting this same compassion to the remaining 98% who abort for considerably different reasons like financial (40%), bad timing (36%), relationship to the father (31%), perceived need to focus on current children (29%) is to ignore and be dismissive of this greater reality. 3 “You shall not kill” is still in the Bible and abortion is morally wrong and a sin.
Those of us on this side of the birth canal might not feel like they are worth very much, but in God’s sight we have eternal value. God sees the unborn the very same way . . . for whenever the Scriptures talk about the unborn, it is always in personal terms like identity (Jeremiah 1:4-5) … personality (Luke 1:41) … worth (John 10:11-12) . . . and not the terms that pro-choice likes to use like fetus … or pregnancy mass.
First - An Open Word About God’s Creative Work
― Of all of God’s creative work, the creation of human life was the pinnacle, high point, peak of His creative work.
So, God creates the earth, the atmosphere and all living creatures and pronounces it “good” (Genesis 1:25). On the 6th day God creates human life (1:31) and declares it “very good.” And then God stopped creating altogether … teaching us that Human life is the climax of God’s creative work. So, it should not surprise us that everything in creation has been designed to sustain and nourish that human life.
In astrophysics and cosmology this is called the Anthropic Principle, a term first used by Brandon Carter, a theoretical astrophysicist in 1973 in a symposium celebrating Copernicus' 500th birthday. You might remember that Copernicus (1473-1543) proposed that the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the Solar System.
The Anthropic Principle is the belief that the physical Universe must be compatible with the conscious life that observes it (you + me); that the universe is not random, but instead there are biological factors that keep the universe to be more or less in a ‘golden age’, not too young, not too old; a kind of cosmological constant! To illustrate:
What if the earth had been a little closer or further from the sun, or just a little larger or smaller, or if it rotated at a speed any different from the one we’re spinning on right now, which is about 1,038 miles per hour (1,670 kph) at the equator? Instead, human life is a given condition of the universe. Without God, there would be an astronomically small probability of it having values that permit and sustain human life.
― Of all of God’s creative work, the creation of human life involved a unique approach.
Unique in that God took counsel! Genesis 1:26 . . . “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness …” There is an exchange within the Godhead (cf. Psalm. 2:7; 110:1; Isaiah 48:16). Nowhere else is this introduction found ― so special significance is attached to the creation of human life.
Unique in that the 1st humans were made by God. Genesis 1:26 “Let us make man …” Before then, the Scriptures consistently tell us that “God spoke” things into existence.
Unique in that the 1st humans were not only quantitatively different from the animals, but qualitatively distinctive as well, for Genesis 1:26 says we were made in God’s “image” (3x). This cannot be said of animals.
The Christian worldview of seeing humans as image-bearers has been rejected by our pagan culture.
Morality (freedom, responsibility). There is a moral consciousness to us.No animal is guilty of moral or spiritual sin … so my daughter really needs to stop saying to their dog, Marley, “Bad dog.”
Personality (knowledge, will, feelings). This is the ability to think abstractly. Sorry to be the one to break the news, but your pet is not reflecting consciously on its self-awareness.
Spirituality. There is a God consciousness within us, with the capacity for loving and worshipping Him. His approach to creating human life was unique!
― Of all of God’s work, God willing sacrificed His Son to death, to redeem humans from their sins.
In the words of Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Human life is special! Consequently, our values … our Christian values are to be shaped and informed by our faith and understanding of Scripture. And these values absolutely touch on abortion!
Second, An Open Word to ‘Christians’ Supportive of Abortion
Since God cares … there is little freedom to stick handle around it. Sorry, but this is not a social or cultural problem; it’s a moral one. And don’t fall into the political trap of those who would try and convince you that abortion is a poverty issue – that abortion is really a ‘benefit’ to the poor . . . relieving those families of the responsibility / difficulty of raising another child. It isn’t.
If as you read this article you find yourself contending with me in your head, arguing on the basis of ‘fairness,’ ‘feelings, and your ‘facts’ ... then as a Christian try not to dodge the following:
By what biblical logic can a Christian conclude that any aborted child is ‘better off’ being sliced and diced or vacuumed out of the womb … than being raised in poverty?
And by what biblical mandate can a Christian embrace today’s overwhelmingly secular, God-opposed social engineers who try to make you believe that the birth of an unplanned child has a negative effect on a women’s life, but an abortion has a positive one?
Precisely which bible passages have you in mind to justify the termination of the life of a child, with no legal restrictions in Canada, up to the very moment it is coming down the birth canal ... or because of the mother’s economic circumstances ... or inconvenience ... or competing rights (My right vs the baby’s right)?
If a child is ‘unwanted’ after birth, why not use the same logic that we use to justify a child’s death prior to birth? We know why: because the entire premise is built on a fallacy.
As I have said before, a Christian worldview is a framework of ideas, beliefs, convictions, and habits that help us make sense of God, the world, and our relationship to both. This kind of world view matters because (1) it is the lens through which we see our world, and (2) because it helps us navigate everyday life. If we are Christians then we need to come up with something more substantive than, ‘I feel’ when measured against the Scriptures over-arching view of the sanctity of human life whether in the womb or out!
If Christians listen to the legacy media, you will think that the abortion issue is settled; that Canadians have reached a consensus . . . that abortions are always legal. Do not be fooled. To illustrate, The Toronto Star on Sunday, May 16, 2010, began its editorial this way … “Abortion has been a settled issue in Canada for a quarter-century.” Fake writing!
In 1987, what the Supreme Court actually said was that the existing law, i.e., the 1969 Trudeau / Turner / Chretien abortion reforms which made abortion legal under certain conditions, was applied unequally and was unconstitutional because it violated the new (1982) Charter of Rights. So, the Supreme Court said to the government of the day, “Go back and fix it!” To this very day, it never has – and so abortion laws exist in a vacuum here in Canada. You can murder a child up to the moment it is born. So, despite trying to revise history, the liberal, left leaning Toronto Star is dead wrong: “Abortion has NOT been a settled issue in Canada for a quarter-century.
No Christian can be a committed follower of Jesus Christ and be soft on abortion. If I hurt your feeling – get over it!
According to the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, in Lake Forest, California, 18% of all abortions in the U.S. are performed on women who identify themselves as Born-again /Evangelicals. Tough to find Canadian stats. So, we should not think it’s just the non-believers who are getting abortions. Like the diligent canary in the coal mine, those who call themselves Christian ─ need to counteract this culture of death.
Proverbs 6:16,17 . . .
“There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood …”
Assuming you have read to this point, you will know I have spoken pretty straight-on. The subject is deserving of turning neither to the left or the right. If you had an abortion, whether before you became a Christian or even afterwards, the life of a child was taken and no amount of wordsmithing by me can change that reality. However - that does not mean you are evil. That does not mean you are not a good mother either. And you certainly do not need to be called names or be stigmatized by people – Christians included. What you are is a sinner, just like the rest of us. And the place to go is the Cross. Always has been for sinners.
At the Cross, Jesus died for all of those who would believe in Him; He died bearing our sin. Where Hebrews 10:4 tells us, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins”, the Apostle John (1:29) was right to say, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Christ’s death did that and in Christ, God satisfied His own justice.
If you were an unbeliever when you had your abortion, but have been beating yourself up with guilt, then you need to confess your sin and let it go.
If you were an unbeliever when you had your abortion, and have since become a Christian, but have been beating yourself up with guilt, then you need to confess your sin and let it go.
If you were a Christian when you had your abortion and feel even more guilt because you knew better, confess your sin and let it go.
Abortion is a pox on our country and poses
an existential threat to the fabric and
long-term potential of our national life.
None of us can earn our salvation or do anything at all to merit forgiveness from God. Christ did it all. I encourage you to receive the full forgiveness of Christ that comes from a loving and holy God who has saved you knowing exactly who you are and what you have done . . . and let the guilt of your sin be forgiven and washed by the blood of Christ.
Psalm 139:13-16 . . .
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
On Friday, June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld Mississippi’s ban on abortion at 15 weeks (Dobbs v. Jackson), overturned Roe v. Wade saying abortion was not a Constitutional right and returned the power to set abortion laws to individual states.
Critics of SCOTUS will tell you they overruled 50 years of precedent. So? I recall that after a precedent of 246 years (1619 to the 1865 Thirteenth Amendment) slavery was also over-ruled. So much for the precedent argument!
As I wrote this blog article, multiple companies are feigning corporate social responsibility, bending over backwards to get on the politically correct side of abortion in saying they will provide abortion-related benefits. They include some of the usual woke suspects: Amazon, Microsoft, Walt Disney, Meta, Starbucks, Netflix and American Express. Hey, Dicks Sporting Goods will shell out $4,000 USD for employee abortions. Why? It’s cheaper! Gotta keep those women working.
Do these large corporations care? I suspect it has more to do with (a) giving the ‘appearance’ of virtue within corporate capitalism, (b) conforming to the single-party expectation for where you are expected to come out within the progressive movement .... and (c) it is just a better business model for private industry, helping to reduce their labour costs. “Give us the best years of your life,” they say. “Don’t worry about children. I mean, who wants the burden of holding your own baby when you can make money?
The Bible makes no moral distinction between
born or unborn children. Nor should we!
Christian progressives do not want their beliefs to be the focal point of a theological conversation. But why not? I mean, after their huffing and puffing to blow the pro-life house down for the sake of secular accommodation and trying to distract people from their true ethos, why not tilt the conversation towards what the biblical narrative says about values and the sanctity of life? I have tried to do a little of that here. Ultimately, the Scriptures have the last word: Those who reject God ultimately love death (Proverbs 8:36). “OnlySaying ...”
Pew Research Centre. “With religion-related rulings on the horizon, U.S. Christians see Supreme Court favorably.” March 3, 2020.
The Guttmacher Institute, formerly the research arm of Planned Parenthood.
A 2013 BMC Woman’s Health article based on data from the much-criticized Turnaway Study. See also Human Life International. May 20, 2021.
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