Two notable news reports precipitated this article. First, I both read a web article, and then saw a televised Fox News report describing the sale of aborted baby parts for research. Then, on another web-site, I saw a picture of a 21-week baby in its mother's womb, grasping the finger of the surgeon who was about to perform a spine operation on the unborn child. The first report was disturbing, even maddening. The second report was quite encouraging, however the cold reality is that the baby who underwent the spinal surgery was at an age when many abortions take place. This means that while life-saving surgery was being performed on him, many of his contemporaries were being cut for a different reason. They were being cut to pieces and sold for profit! Such a practice almost defies description. Abortion itself is abominable, but the mayhem described above is inhumane, barbaric and utterly detestable.

     Something is very wrong with a culture and country that would allow such deviant behavior to go unpunished. Whatever loopholes are responsible for such atrocities must be sewn up. If they are not, if such practices are tolerated, then it would appear that we are losing ground in our battle against the torture and murder of the unborn, yet we must not give up. We must remember the power of the Gospel to positively influence the thinking of men and women (Rom. 1:16). However, one thing is absolutely certain. If the country refuses to listen, if it is unwilling to do anything about such awful wickedness, God will! He has demonstrated such willingness in the past.

     The practice of abortion, along with related atrocities like the dissecting and selling of aborted baby parts, reminds me of a heathen ritual that Old Testament Jews had acquired from the nations about them. Servants of the idol god "Molech" would take their sons and daughters to the valley of Ben Hinnom and offer them to the false god as sacrifices for their own sins. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, volume III, page 2075, offers this account in an effort to describe what little we know of the pagan ritual:

     "The image of Moloch was a human figure with a bull's head and outreached arms, ready to receive the children destined for sacrifice. The image of metal was heated red-hot by a fire kindled within, and the children laid on its arms rolled off into the fiery pit below. In order to drown the cries of the victims, flutes were played and drums were beaten; and mothers stood by without tears or sobs, to give the impression of the voluntary character of their offering."

     There is some disagreement as to whether these children were killed by the fire, or were first killed as sacrifices and then offered upon the fire. The ISBE offered the following thoughts:

"The victims offered to the divinity were not burnt alive, but were killed as sacrifices, and then presented as burnt offerings. 'To pass through the fire' has been taken to mean a lustration or purification of the child by fire, not involving death. But the prophets clearly speak of slaughter and sacrifice, and of high places built to burn the children in the fire as burnt offerings (Jer. 19:5; Ezek. 16:20-21).

     One thing is certain, whether by knife or by intense heat, the slaughter of these innocents, and the burning of their bodies in a pagan ritual was a heinous offense. So bad was the crime that God repeatedly stated, "They have built the high places of Tophet in the valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire - something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind" (Jer. 7:31; 19:5; 32:35). Long before Ahaz (2 Kgs. 16:3) or Manasseh (2 Kgs. 21:6) committed this sin, God had identified this practice as being particularly abominable. He also connected this sin with the downfall of the Canaanite peoples (Deut. 18:10-12; Lev. 18:21). He specifically forbade the Jews to practice such a sin (Lev. 20:2-4).

     As we noted above, the practice of killing innocent children was instrumental in God's judgment against the land of Canaan, yet there is more. According to 2 Kings 17:17, the practice of sacrificing children was a key reason for God bringing judgment against the Northern Kingdom of the Jews - the house of Israel. Then in 2 Kings 23:10 we see that this sin was also instrumental in God's condemnation of the Southern Kingdom - the house of Judah. The conclusion is simple. This kind of violence against innocent children is the mark of a callous heart and a depraved mind. People who can conscientiously engage in this kind of conduct are "heartless" and "past feeling" (Rom. 1:31; Eph. 4:19).

     Most would agree that the kind of mentality that would allow a person to selfishly burn his own innocent child is a mentality making one a fit candidate for divine wrath. Most would also pride themselves in the notion that they would never even come close to tolerating such godless behavior in their own society. However, let them not puff up too hastily. I would suggest that there are "legal" practices, in our present society, that are comparable to what we have described above. Practices like abortion and the dissection and sale of aborted fetus parts are such practices.

     "Abortion - 1."the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy. 2. any of various procedures for terminating a pregnancy." (Random House Webster's College Dictionary).

     Since the 1973 Roe V. Wade ruling, tens of millions of innocent and defenseless human beings have been purposelessly slaughtered and killed. With the advent of partial birth abortion, many of these babies have suffered violent, torturous deaths. What is viewed as acceptable in the eyes of civil law is abhorred in the eyes of God and all those who respect His decrees. Of course, there are those who are influenced by pro-abortionists' arguments. Many of these people will not go so far as to actually practice or endorse abortion, yet they do strengthen the hands of pro-abortionists by criticizing those who oppose it. How do the pro-abortionists win these people?

     "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20).

     One of the cruelest, most detestable, most inhumane acts known to humanity is glossed over as "the removal of an embryo from the uterus!" Definitions and explanations like the above are the only way sane men and women can even begin to accept or tolerate the godless practice of abortion. They are deceived by smooth, non-offensive terms that are cleverly substituted for meaningful, real life, day-to-day words. The Bible says "children" struggled together in Rebekah's womb (Gen. 25:22). Some today would prefer that the Bible called them "embryos." Rather than calling it a "baby" that leaped in Elizabeth's womb (Luke 1:41), some would prefer that the Bible said a "fetus" did the leaping.

     These people do not like to hear terms like "child," "children," and "babe" or "baby" applied to the unborn, for these terms personalize the being, making it difficult for them to viewed as a mere "mass of tissue."

     The very expression "pro-choice" has to be the greatest misnomer in the history of human language. To the average person, the expression projects images of noble concepts like liberty and free moral agency -- things you have even read about in the Bible! But as we said, the expression is severely misapplied. The unborn baby has no "choice" in the matter, and under the rule of "the survival of the fittest" the mother's choice will win out every time. Those who think the pro-choice position harmonizes with the biblical concept of free moral agency couldn't be more wrong. The baby has no freedom of choice and there is nothing moral about killing an innocent, defenseless human baby. Abortion is an abominable act.

     This is the standard pro-abortion argument. It is argued that the mother should have the right to choose what she will do with her body. Roe V. Wade focused on one's Constitutional "right to privacy," but the real argument has always been over the mother's right to do with her body as she pleases. The abortion defending and oft-repeated refrain, "It is my body and I will do with it as I please" may sound good in theory, but it has certain far-reaching implications. Being a mother certainly doesn't give a woman the moral and legal right to kill her husband and her born children! It doesn't give her the right to "terminate" her neighbor's life. Neither does it grant her the right to take her own life. The Bible condemns this type of killing. It is called "murder" and it will keep people out of Heaven (Gal. 5:21; Rom. 13:9). The Bible tells us that neither a mother, nor anyone else, has the right to do with their bodies just as they please! As the property of God, humans are subject to His spiritual and moral standards. Notice these words from 1 Corinthians 6:20:

     "For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

     No, the woman's body is not "hers, to do with as she pleases." It belongs to God, and it is God's will that humans use their bodies in service to Him, not to please themselves. If the practice of abortion can be defended on the basis of a woman's right to do with her body what is best for her, then on this same basis, all moral, ethical, spiritual and civil laws should be suspended for all pregnant women. All morals and ethics would then be pregnancy situated. That is, during the time of their pregnancy, mothers can do no wrong. There would be no laws to break and no punishments to bear. After all, "shouldn't mothers have the right to do with their own bodies as they please?" By applying the pro-abortion, Planned Parenthood "pregnant mother" argument, in these other circumstances, I am hopeful that all can see the fallacy of the above argument.

     Scripture recognizes no distinction between a born child and an unborn child, save its physical location. The word "babe" (brephos) is equally applied to the unborn child, as well as the born child. Elizabeth's baby "leaped in her womb," and Mary's baby was laid in a manger (cp. Luke 1:41 and Luke 2:12).

     The Psalmist proclaimed God's perfect knowledge of him before his emergence from the womb. He spoke of God's intimate knowledge of him "while he was being fashioned," and before "he was fully formed" (Psalm 139:13-16). God had ordained Jeremiah as a prophet before he came forth from the womb (Jeremiah 1:5). It is a certain fact that God recognizes the person of the unborn child. The "mere mass of tissue" description of the unborn is denigrating and unscriptural.

     Some ask, "But where does the Bible say, 'Thou shalt not have an abortion'?" Of course we affirm that it does not, in just so many words, however, the Bible does forbid abortion. All one must do is find a Bible passage that condemns the unlawful, premeditated killing of innocent life (any "murder" passage), and he has found the inquirer's passage! It is just a matter of properly defining one's terms. The Bible condemns murder (Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:21; Rev. 21:8; 22:15), and therefore condemns abortion. The only way the Bible could be used to justify the killing of unborn children would be if it also justified the killing of born children, along with all other grown men and women. I wonder how long it will be until someone actually contends for such a doctrine!

     Exodus 21:22-23 contains some interesting teaching regarding the sanctity of the unborn child's life. The passage says:

     {22} "If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit departs 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. {23} And if mischief follow, thou shalt give life for life."

     In the first scenario, the child does not die! The man hits the pregnant woman and the child "comes forth," but "no mischief follows." This amounts to what we commonly refer to as a "premature delivery" of the child. Some translations do render the Hebrew term as "miscarriage," but they are inaccurate. In this scenario, the offender may be fined to compensate for any special costs that may be associated with the premature birth, but no other penalty is involved.

     The second scenario involves far different consequences. Notice that "if any mischief" does follow, that is, the child died as a result of the incident, then the offender would pay with his own life. It would be "life for life" - His life for that of the baby. In other words, the death penalty was in force against men who killed unborn children. The offender's life was considered equal to the life of the unborn child. Justice could only be served by the death of the offender. Of course, Old Testament Jews lived under a Theocracy; a form of government in which the civil law was intertwined with the spiritual law. We are not under this law today. As I said before, we merely consider this passage for the purpose of understanding God's estimation of the life of the unborn child. This passage certainly teaches the sanctity of life, even the lives of those yet in the womb!

     From the valley of Hinnom to modern day abortion clinics, the climax of wickedness is manifested in the ungodly treatment of children. Whether the children are born or unborn, it is abominable to sacrifice those children upon the selfish altars of convenience and personal freedom. Our society should rise up as one man against the godless practice of abortion. We must use every forum possible to diligently oppose this evil. The time has passed for use to simply post signs saying, "Abortion Stops a Beating Heart." We must clearly define and plainly state the meaning of such words. Abortion is murder, and it is murder of the worse kind. The victim is completely defenseless and entirely innocent! Let us announce God's condemnation of such perversity from the housetops. Let us pray for the defeat and downfall of all judges, leaders and legislators who refuse to abolish this brutal procedure that has plagued our society for these many years.

Tim Haile
7693 Russellville Rd.
Bowling Green, KY 42101
{270} 842-5354