On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States declared state laws prohibiting abortion unconstitutional. This past Wednesday marked the 41^st anniversary of that monumental court decision, Roe v. Wade. The debate on life and choice goes on.

It’s estimated that over 55 million abortions have taken place in the United States since that controversial decision by the Supreme Court. Many question whether the court ever had the power or authority to make such a decision that has not only cost so many lives, but has caused so much hurt and pain for those women who’ve endured abortions, and now have to deal with the emotional pain and grief.

The Declaration of Independence tells us that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” If this is something that we, as a nation, agree with, then the child developing in the womb was created equal to us and has the same rights that need to be preserved. And the Constitution of the United States says, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Based on our laws, Congress and the Supreme Court should be protecting the unborn (which is a person), rather than allowing them to be aborted on demand. The Supreme Court’s decision does just the opposite.

(Photo by Bill Crawford)

No human being, including the unborn, is just a meaningless blob of cells that can be discarded like a tumor. However many evolutionists view human beings as just another animal- no different than an ant or a fish. They may take a humanist approach by valuing human life in the sense that they want to preserve their own life and avoid pain, but there’s essentially little difference in killing a fly, a person, a human fetus, or chopping down a tree. As long as no fully developed human is hurting another fully developed human who’s an essential part of society (however that’s defined), then we can all get along. And to this way of thinking, an unborn baby has less value than other humans. And that means abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, and suicide can all be justified on the basis of choice and convenience. Morality, therefore, is reduced to subjective choice rather than an objective truth; therefore it’s not immoral to take a human life. In fact Margaret Sanger, a pro-eugenic and pro-abortion advocate, founded the American Birth Control League- which became Planned Parenthood- with the mission to maintain a “fit” nation through ethnic cleansing by targeting low-income families. And Mary Elizabeth Williams, a writer for Salon, wrote, “So what if abortion ends life?” as if the baby’s life is a life worth sacrificing.

Both abortion and evolution reduce human life to meaninglessness. It then becomes the culture that decides what value to place on certain humans, deciding who lives and who dies. Some argue that any baby in the womb can and should be aborted if that’s what the woman decides. Others would go so far as to argue that a woman should be able to decide when to terminate the life of a child that has already been born (perhaps up until it becomes an adult), and others would argue that we should be able to terminate the life of the elderly and mentally retarded when we deem them to be a burden. Thus our society continually devalues human life while placing value on convenience- as if being inconvenienced is an acceptable reason to end a human life. Anyone or anything that becomes a burden to us should be eliminated for the sake of convenience. Sadly, it’s not easy to convince society that all humans, including the unborn, have value and should be protected.

Despite the forty years of protests, we haven’t been able to overturn Roe v. Wade. But I believe we’re making progress in the right direction. More and more young people are beginning to take a stance against abortion. We’re now able to look directly inside the womb and see the development of a fetus. More people understand that life begins at conception, and that a fetus can feel pain. All this is beginning to change the way people think about this issue.

This past Wednesday several hundred thousand people stood in frigid weather so that their voice could be heard in favor of those who don’t have a voice. Adoption is being presented as a legitimate option to spare the unborn. And women who are struggling and suffering over their decisions are being given new hope.

(Photo by Bill Crawford)

In so many cases women don’t feel they have a choice when they get pregnant. They feel trapped, as if their only option is abortion. It shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that many women who’ve had abortions struggle with their decision years later. But there is healing and hope for these women. There are crisis pregnancy centers available to help. Women are learning about alternatives to abortion, such as adoption, and they’re being equipped to care for the baby should they choose to keep it. And those who’ve had abortions are learning how to cope with the mental anguish they’ve endured by talking with others who’ve experienced the same loss, and counseled by those who care.

The Bible tells us that we do have tremendous worth- even those who haven’t been born. We’ve been created in God’s image, and he knows us, even in the womb. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Psalm 139:13: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” This shows how God is involved in our development and cares for us, right from the beginning.

This past Sunday our church played the following video; it’s a gripping story of a woman who had an abortion, struggled with that decision, but has since found hope. Please take a moment to view Carrie’s Story and see how we can help women in need.