The Bible teaches that abortion violates God's will. Defenders of abortion, however, usually try to open the door by emotional appeals to traumatic cases. If these exceptions are granted, they proceed to argue for abortion on demand.
A close examination of the reasons for abortion, however, will actually strengthen the general conclusion that abortion should be avoided. Consider the following reasons for abortion.
Abortion defenders use rape and the mother's health to argue for lax abortion laws, but these cases are a microscopic proportion of all abortions.
In any year, women who are divorced, separated, widowed, or never-married account for at least 75% of all abortions. According to the US Centers for Disease Control in 2002, 82% of all abortions were performed on unmarried women ("Abortion Surveillance --- United States, 2002," www.cdc.com).
These figures, however, are deceptively low because: (1) many married women abort babies conceived as a result of adultery; (2) many unmarried women claim to be married to cover up fornication.
Clearly, the vast majority of abortions occur so women can escape embarrassment and inconvenience resulting from fornication.
The Bible repeatedly states that the sexual relationship is honorable within marriage but condemned outside marriage (Heb. 13:4; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 7:2-5; Rev. 21:8; Gal. 5:19-21; etc.)
Yet, abortion defenders are usually the same people who excuse sexual immorality. They almost never rebuke fornication. They promote sex education programs based on contraception, not abstinence. They claim they object to "imposing morality" on others, then proceed to impose legal abortion on society, including millions of unborn babies!
Incredible amounts of time, money, and effort are spent for clinics, referral agencies, sex education, and political and legal maneuvers to promote abortion. If these efforts were instead spent to promote premarital chastity and marital fidelity, the need for abortion could be substantially reduced.
Deuteronomy 24:16 says: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin." Justice is one of the weightier matters of the law (Matt. 23:23). May we kill an innocent baby after it is born, because its parents sinned? No, and killing an unborn baby for his parents' sin is likewise a miscarriage of justice.
In 2 Samuel 11 and 12, David committed adultery with Bathsheeba, and she conceived. To cover up the sin, David had Bathsheeba's husband killed, then he married her. Today people would simply have the baby killed before it was born! Why is it wrong to cover up by killing the innocent husband, but acceptable to cover up by killing the innocent baby?
Throughout history sinners have killed innocent people in an attempt to hide their own guilt. Cain killed Abel. Sinners killed Jesus, Stephen, and the apostles. Criminals kill witnesses. And today fornicators kill unborn children.
We oppose abortion, not because we want the mother to be punished for her sins, but because we don't want the baby to be killed for the mother's sin. "The way of the transgressor is hard" (Prov. 13:15). Fornication is wrong. But it simply compounds the error to allow the guilty parents to escape the consequences of their sin by killing an innocent person. Two wrongs do not make a right!
Guilt for fornication cannot be removed by killing the innocent baby (Prov. 28:13). The only way to remove guilt is to repent, confess, forsake sin, and be cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15,16; Acts 2:38; 22:16; Hebrews 7:25; 5:9; Matthew 11:29,30).
Many parents are simply unwilling to care for the baby they conceived. They may not want to spend the necessary time or money. They may think they are not "ready" for children or they already have enough children. Maybe the child will interfere with the mother's career. Maybe a child born later in life will be an unwanted burden. Some even get abortions if the baby is not the sex they want!
In such cases, some argue that the mother should have the "right to choose" not to give birth to the baby: hence, "abortion on demand."
Inconvenience or responsibility that a person causes, no more justifies killing him before he is born than it does after he is born. We have no right to kill a child, parent, spouse, or any other person simply because we do not want to care for them.
It is a principle of Biblical and civil law that the rights of one individual end when they infringe on the rights of another individual. For example, I have the right to drive a car, but I do not have the right to drive your car without your permission.
Likewise, a woman does have a right to avoid being pregnant - as long as she is not yet pregnant! After she has conceived, however, the rights of another person must be considered: the baby within her. To kill that other person would be sinful. (Note: even if the baby was just a part of the mother's body - which it isn't - still the Bible denies that "a woman has the right to do what she wants with her body." Study 1 Cor. 6:19,20; Rom. 12:1,2; 6:12-19.)
One of the biggest problems in society is people who want freedom without responsibility. Certain acts automatically demand responsibility. To avoid the responsibilities, we may choose to avoid the act; but we are not free to participate in the act and still avoid the responsibilities.
For example, a man may choose not to drive a car. But if he chooses to drive, then he automatically obligates himself to drive according to the traffic laws. People who want the privilege of driving without obeying the laws are irresponsible, illegal, and immoral.
Likewise, a man may choose not to marry (1 Cor. 7:27,28). But if he chooses to marry, he automatically becomes responsible to love and provide for his wife (1 Tim. 5:8; Eph. 5:25-29). Far too many people want the privileges of marriage without the responsibilities that go with it.
Likewise, if a man and woman choose to enjoy the sexual union, they automatically assume the responsibility to care for any child that may result (Eph. 6:4; 1 Tim. 5:8; Prov. 22:6; etc.). So if a woman wants to avoid pregnancy, the time to exercise that choice is before she has a sexual relationship. When a couple chooses to engage in sexual relations but then kills the baby they conceived, their actions are irresponsible, immoral, and ought to be illegal. It is gross inconsistency to say that a woman has a "right to choose" not to be pregnant, even after she chose to participate in the act that made her pregnant!
Young people, remember: The way to avoid the consequences of an act is to avoid the act! If you do not have the scriptural right to become parents, or if you are not willing to become parents, then do not participate in the act that God designed for reproduction! Furthermore, do not participate in sexually suggestive activities that may overwhelm your emotions. Participating in sexual relations makes you a debtor to raise any child that results. If you don't want the debt, then avoid the act that may make you a debtor!
Pro-abortionists ignore the fact that the unborn baby is a human being, but emphasize instead "quality and dignity" of life. They say abortion is justified if the baby might be deformed, poor, abused, or neglected. These are real problems, but is abortion the right solution?
(Note that people often defend abortion as an act of mercy to the child, when their real concern is to avoid inconvenience for the parents. If so, then we are back to the previous case.)
"Quality" and "dignity" of life are relative terms. Who gets to decide, and where do you draw the line, especially regarding an unborn child who has no voice in the decision? Once you justify the killing of innocent humans, where do you stop? Consider some examples.
* Should we kill an unborn child that might be deformed?
Based on medical techniques such as amniocentesis and ultrasound, parents are sometimes advised to abort an unborn baby who might have a birth defect.
But where do you draw the line? The techniques are often inaccurate, and they cannot tell how bad the deformity will be. Many normal babies have been aborted as a result. How great must be the probability and how extreme must be the deformity to justify killing? Further, the vast majority of handicapped people prefer to live rather than die. Handicapped children are often a beautiful blessing to their parents. How do we know ahead of time that the "quality of life" truly justifies killing?
* Should we kill an unborn baby that might suffer poverty?
If so, how poor must the family be? Might their circumstances improve in the future? Might other people help with the financial burden? Are all poor people miserable? Some of the greatest people in the history of the world were born into poverty. Should they have all been aborted?
* Should we kill an unborn baby that might be neglected or abused?
How can we be sure it will be abused or neglected? How badly abused and neglected must it be to justify killing it? Again, neglect and abu