Why Care About Abortion? January 20, 2014
ThisWednesday, January 22, will mark the 41st anniversary of the SupremeCourt’s landmark decision legalizing abortion, Roe v. Wade. Over thepast 4+ decades, 55 million preborn babies have been killed in the United States,and the killing continues at a clip of about 1.2 million annually. The goodnews is, that number is down about 25% from a high of around 1.6 millionabortions in 1990. But 1.2 million is still an incredible number—more loss oflife every year in Americathan those who died in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam,the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan combined.Just give that a moment to sink in.
Why shouldChristians care? Is abortion an issue really worth our time and energy? Yes, Ithink so.
First,Scripture pulses with God’s heart for the helpless and His wrath against thosewho shed innocent blood. God values life, and He proactively favors the needy,the humble, the weak—like unborn babies, still in the womb.
Second,Jesus’ teachings compel us to action. The Christian response to those in needis famously depicted in His parable of the Good Samaritan. There is noChristian way to look away and move along on the other side with your headdown. You cannot actively follow Jesus and neglect the hurting and helpless.
Third, thegospel demands to be emulated by those who claim to believe it. Jesus gaveHis life to rescue the spiritually helpless, those exposed and vulnerable toutter destruction. It’s only reasonable then, given our first principle, thatwe Christians would use every possible resource we have to protect thehelpless. Those who disagree might take exception to our understanding of thefacts, but I don’t think they can argue with our principles. If that tissue inthe womb is a real human life, how could we who follow Jesus the Savior not actto save it?
Fourth,abortion is always closer than you think. In your neighborhood, at yourworkplace, in our congregation, there are men and women tragically vulnerableto the abortion clinic’s false gospel: “Come to us, you who are weary andheavy-laden, and we will give you rest. We’ll take care of this problem, and itwill all go away forever.” Christians know that only Jesus can make that kindof promise.