Abortion: Ten Bible Reasons Why It’s Wrong

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Copyright © 1996 James L. Melton

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Prior to the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision of 1973, about 500,000 illegal abortions were occurring per year.  By 1975, over 1,000,000 babies were being aborted in the United States.  Today, about 1,500,000 abortions occur each year.  That's over 4000 per day, and nearly three per minute!

Ninety-three percent of the abortions in America are for convenience.  The mother's health is an issue only three percent of the time, and the baby's health is an issue only three percent of the time.  Rape or incest are issues only one percent of the time.  Ninety-three percent of all abortions in America are performed just because someone doesn't want a child!

There are four basic types of abortion being performed in America today, while two more types may be added in the near future.

First, there's the suction type abortion.  This is where the unborn child is literally vacuumed from the mother's womb during the early stages of pregnancy.

The currette-type abortion is where the child is cut from the mother's womb with a spoon-like object.

A third type is similar to a Caesarean operation.  The baby is surgically removed from the mother and allowed to suffocate, because the child's lungs aren't developed.

The fourth type of abortion is the Salt Brine technique.  With this method, the unborn child is literally "pickled" to death by the injection of a strong salt solution.  A few days after the injection the child is still- born.

There is currently much debate about partial-birth abortions.  This is where a child is partially delivered, then stabbed in the skull to have his or her brains sucked out. 

There is also much talk about the RU-486 abortion pill from France, also called "mifepristione" in America.  This pill works by inhibiting pregnancy hormones, and is normally used within seven weeks from conception.  At the present time (1996), mifepristone is illegal in the U.S., but there is much political pressure to make it legal.

Abortion Is an Act of Murder

In reference to pregnant women, the term "with child" occurs twenty-six times in the Bible.  The term "with fetus" never occurs once.

In Luke chapter one, verses 36 and 41, we are told that Elisabeth conceived a "son" and that the "babe" leaped in her womb. God does not say that a "fetus" leaped in her womb!  He says THE BABE leaped.  This is the exact same word that God uses to describe Christ in the manger AFTER He is born (Luke 2:12, 16).  In God eyes, an unborn babe and a newborn babe are the same.  They are both living human beings!

Dear reader, please answer a question: What is an "infant?"  Get the answer in your mind and keep it there for a moment.  Do you have it?  Okay, please consider Job 3:16: "Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light."  Did you see that?  Job referred to unborn children as INFANTS.  Not fetuses!  Not masses of tissue!  INFANTS! In God's eyes, an unborn child is a living human baby.  God never says once that an unborn child is anything less than a human being.

David said in Psalm 51:5, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."  He did not say that a fetus was shapen in iniquity and conceived in iniquity.  David, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said that HE was conceived.  David, not a blob of tissue, was conceived.

The same is the case in Psalm 139:13-16: "For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them."

Who was in the womb?  David! A literal and living person.  The Bible never uses anything less than human terms to describe the unborn.

Notice that in Jeremiah 1:5 we are told that God KNEW Jeremiah:"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."

To further confirm the fact that God views the unborn child as a person, please consider Exodus 21:22-23: "If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,"

If the woman has a premature birth and the child lives ("no mischief follows"), then there's no death penalty.  However, if the child dies (or the woman dies) God says the death penalty applies: "thou shalt give life for life."  Why would God require the death penalty if He didn't consider the unborn child to be a human being?

Friend, like it or not, God says that life begins at conception, and the unborn child is a human being.

But the Bible isn't alone in declaring this truth.  Science also declares that an unborn child is just as much an independent human being as you.  The original human cell consists of 46 chromosomes, 23 from each parent.  At no point during pregnancy does the mother contribute any new cells to the child.  The original cell divides itself and multiplies to provide development and growth for the child.  Scientifically speaking, the child is just as independent at six months before birth as he will be six months after birth.  Yes, the mother does provide nourishment to the unborn child, but she also provides nourishment to the newborn child!

At two weeks pregnancy, the "fetus" can move alone.  By four weeks the child has limbs, muscle tissue, a heart and heartbeat.  Ears, eyes, and small hands are visible by the fifth week.  The child responds to touch sensations by the sixth or seventh week.  At eight weeks, the baby sometimes tries to take a breath when removed from the mother.  At twelve weeks, the child will often struggle for life two or three hours when removed from the mother.    

Friend, abortion is wrong because abortion is MURDER!

Abortion Involves the Shedding of Innocent Blood

Proverbs 6:16-17 says that God HATES those who shed innocent blood!  Deuteronomy 27:25 says, "Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person.  And all the people shall say, Amen."    

Who could possibly be more innocent than an unborn baby?!  Yet, our society has become so wicked that it condones the slaying of 1.5 million innocent children every year.  The Bible says that God HATES people who do this.

Abortion Is a Violation of the Golden Rule

In Matthew 7:12, the Lord Jesus Christ said, "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." 

Would it be your desire to suffer and die while someone traps you in a cage and literally tears your arms and legs from your body? 

Abortion is a violation of the golden rule.

Abortion Attempts To Destroy A Work of God

"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him."  (Ecc. 3:14)

God is eternal, so His work is also eternal.  Abortion is an attempt to do away with unwanted people--an attempt to make a liar out of God by bringing an end to His work.  However, Jesus said you can destroy a person's BODY, but not their SOUL (Mat. 10:28). Parent, if you've had an abortion, your aborted child is in Heaven right now, because you only destroyed the body!

Abortion Often Brings Shame, Heartache, and Deep Regret

After his sin with Bathsheba, King David confessed these words to God: "For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me."  (Psa. 51:3) David was living under constant conviction and regret for what he had done. He couldn't get away from it!

Most women who decide to have an abortion spend the rest of their lives regretting it.  Are you thinking about an abortion?  I challenge you to visit with some women who have had abortions.  Ask them if they would do it again.  Ask them if they have any regrets.

In the book, The Christian and Social Issues, by Tom Wallace, a reference is made to a full page Washington Post ad, dated June 13, 1983.  A lady who had undergone a saline abortion six months earlier describes the mental torments that she now suffers every day.  She speaks of her "...everyday hell of never hearing a baby cry without crying within myself; counting days to see how old the baby would have been; wondering what contributions my baby would have made to our desperate society; and wondering if there will ever be another chance for motherhood." 

Of the abortion itself, the lady recalls, "...sitting in a crowded waiting room studying each others fearful, anxious faces...signing death certificates for what is very much alive within you...seeing crying women given tranquilizers and sent home to recuperate and try to forget."

Abortion is wrong because it brings shame, heartache, and deep regret.

Abortion Disannuls a Plan of God

If God allows a child to be conceived, then God obviously has a plan for that child.  Mary's parents didn't know that she'd give birth to the Savior of the world, but she did.  God has a plan for unborn children (Jer. 1:5; Lk. 1:13-17; Gen. 4:25; Jud. 13:3-5), so to abort an unborn child is to stop a plan of God.

Abortion De-values Human Life

God created man to be the highest form of life on earth (Gen. 1:26-28).  Human life is very precious to God.  In fact, it is so precious that God Himself instituted the Death Penalty for anyone who takes the life of another (Exo. 21:12; Num. 35).  God places great value on human life!

However, abortion promotes the message that life is NOT so valuable, and that man can do as he pleases with it.  How long will it be before our nation decides that the killing of elderly people and sick people is justifiable?  Why stop there?  How long will it be before it becomes lawful to kill Bible believers who refuse to conform to the world system?  It won't be as long as you may think (Rev. 13:16-18; Rev. 20:4).  Abortion devalues human life, and it pushes our nation a step closer to that wicked day when it becomes lawful to murder innocent people. 

Abortion Shows a Lack of Natural Affection

Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:3 that the last days will be characterized by people who lack "natural affection."

I believe the pro-abortion movement is a perfect example of this.  It is NATURAL to conceive a child, grow to love that child, take care of the child during pregnancy, give birth to the child, and then raise the child with the best care possible.  That's the natural process that God has ordained.  It is NOT natural to kill the child!  To commit such an act is to show a lack of natural affection, which is sin.

Abortion Encourages Sin

"Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil."  (Ecc. 8:11)

Why will 1,500,000 women have abortions this year?  Largely because it has become popular.  It is no longer illegal, and it is no longer considered a shameful sin by our society.  Every time a woman has an abortion she helps society to become more comfortable with it. She's advertising it!  By her example, she's encouraging others to commit the same sin, and other sins as well.  The convenience of abortion will only lead to an increase of other sins such as adultery and fornication. Friend, abortion is wrong because abortion encourages sin!

Abortion Shows a Lack of Faith

Romans 14:23 says, "...for whatsoever is not of faith is sin."  Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God. 

To have an abortion is to take matters into your own hands, rather than to trust God to work things out.  This shows a lack of faith in God, which the Bible labels as SIN.

A desperate woman says, "I can't afford to have a child.  I'm not ready for this."  Lady, you need to start trusting God and claiming His promises.  You need to STOP trying to run your own life for a change and START trusting God.  You don't need an abortion, for such will only INCREASE your troubles.  The devil has you thinking that abortion is the answer, that it will take care of everything, and you're very close to giving in to his subtle temptation.  If you do, you'll regret it forever, and God will hold you accountable!  Why not turn your life over to the Lord Jesus Christ right now?  Why not make Him the Lord of your life and trust Him to work things out for you?

You Can Be Saved Right Now!

Jesus Christ came into this world to lay down His sinless life for YOU--to pay for your sins, because you couldn't.  Jesus is your only hope for salvation.  Only by receiving Him as your Savior  can you enter the gates of Heaven.   There is no other way.

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." (John 14:6)

"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."  (Acts 4:12)

The Lord Jesus Christ has come and PAID for your sins by shedding His own Blood on Calvary.  By receiving Him as your Savior, you can be WASHED from all your sins in His precious Blood (Rev. 1:5; Col. 1:14; Acts 20:28; I Pet. 1:18-19).  Notice these important words from Romans 5:8-9:

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."

Jesus PAID your way to Heaven for you!  By receiving Him as your Savior, you will be receiving God's ONLY means of Salvation for you.  Are you willing to forsake YOUR righteousness and receive Jesus Christ as your Savior, your ONLY HOPE for Salvation?  Romans 10:13 says, "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Romans 10:9 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."  Are you willing to forsake your own righteousness, and trust Jesus Christ alone?  He will save you just as He promised.  Why not receive Him today and trust Him to give you a better way of life?

For more information about salvation, please send for your free copy of Understanding God's Salvation Plan.