Pro-God
Are you Pro-Life or Pro-Choice?
My intent is not to make anyone agree with my opinion. In fact, I try to stay away from stating just "my opinion". I try to look to the Bible for the answers. If you have a disagreement about what is said in the Bible, you really can't be mad at me; You have to be mad at God. I do think that when making your own opinion, it would be a good idea to look at the facts, and first and foremost, look at what the Bible says.
Here are a few Laws of interest.
The Unborn Victims Act of Violence also called The Child In Utero Act allows punishment for a person attacking and killing or injuring a mother's child while it is still in the womb.
There is the very well known Rowe v. Wade case which the supreme court decided that: the term "person" does not apply to anything unborn, a mother's privacy and body should be protected allowing her to have as much sex as she wants with abortion as a safety measure for unwanted pregnancies, and that an unborn child has no rights since they do not fall under the term "person" as indicated in the constitution. In other words the court decided that abortions should be legal to protect the mother's rights to do what she wants with "her body" even if that means destroying a fetus or embroyo since it isnt a "person" and has no rights, liberties, or "life".
Finally, each state has a similar law as California Penal Code 596-597 which has a fine of up to $20,000 and imprisonment up to 1 year for a person that:
“Maliciously and intentionally mains, mutilates, tortures, or wounds a living animal, or maliciously and intentionally kills an animal
A quick summary of these 3 laws.
Someone else killing your unborn child in which the mother wants the child - ILEGAL
A doctor terminating your unborn child that the mother does not want - LEGAL
Killing or even hurting an animal - ILEGAL
Here is another stunning fact. There has been over 400 million abortions just in The U.S. and China alone since 1971!
I think Pro-Life and Pro-Choice are somewhat of euphemisms. Although, I think people may disagree with me here, Pro-life is against being able to legally have abortions and Pro-Choice is for being able to legally have abortions.
The Pro-Life side seems pretty cut and dry, "No abortions under any circumstances".
The Pro-Choice side seems a little more complicated. There are a lot of "WHAT IFs" I think its a great idea to look at these "WHAT IFs" because I have also pondered and meditated on these "WHAT IFs".
First "WHAT IF": What if the pregnancy is from a case of rape and incest?
A 2004 study actually found that only 1% of abortions were because of rape and less than 0.5% of abortions were because of incest. Even in these rare cases, I believe God can turn something bad into something good. Genesis 50:20 says,
You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.
Even through a horrible situation, God can turn it into good. Thinking from a logical perspective, there are two victims when someone has an abortion because of rape, the mother and the child. The perpetrator of the crime feels no ill effects. The abortion causes an extra victim from the heinous act. It would also seem inappropriate to use this 1.5% to justify the 98.5% of abortions that are not a result of rape and incest.
Second "WHAT IF": What if there is a health danger to the mother?
The same 2004 study above found that 12% of women had abortions because of health concerns for themselves. This definitely poses quite a dilemma. Consider first the verse found in Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Also consider the verse found in John 15:13
There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends.
I think the Bible says to trust that God has your best interest in mind. Also it think it is saying that in this second "WHAT IF" that a true act of love is laying down your life for another, just like Jesus laid down his life for us. Now I'm not going to make it seem like this would be an easy decision for me and in a life-or-death situation I would do this because who knows what I would do in that situation. I would hope that I could bring myself to do an act of love as mentioned. Just food for thought.
That leaves roughly 88% of abortions for reasons other than rape, incest, and health concerns to the mother. In fact, 74% of women in the study listed the reason for their abortion was:
"Having a baby would dramatically change my life"
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like having a child was considered to be an "inconvenience". Wow! This is far from the sentiments of "true love is laying your life down for another"
Final "WHAT IF": What if the fetus/embryo/baby isn't really "alive" until the 2nd trimester?
This argument I have heard many times and was a strong point in Rowe v. Wade. Some would say life begins at conception and some would say after the 2nd trimester and other would point to when there is a heartbeat, etc. The supreme court decided in Rowe v. Wade that a baby isn't a "person" until it is outside the womb.
I think what we must consider is every person has a physical life and a spiritual life. What I mean is, we have a physical life and consciousness, but everyone has a soul which is on a spiritual level. As humans we live in time. God does not. Debating when "life" begins is unnecessary because God knew every creation before he created it. Consider Psalm 139:16,
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
Also consider Jeremiah 1:5,
I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
Finally consider Ephesians 1:4
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
All three of these verses say that God knows us before conception or before any conceivable time interval or period. He knew us before the world and universe was created and he has a plan for us. Think of the 400 million lives that have been cut short since 1971.
But lets say we look at "life" from a scientific viewpoint. In Biology, the study of life, there are 7 things that say that something is "living":
composed of cells
different levels of organization (tissue, organs, organ system,etc.)
use energy
respond to environment
grow
reproduce(have reproductive system - sexual or asexual)
Adapt to their environment
At the point of conception, cells start to divide and the embryo or fetus or baby falls into this criterea of "living". Therefore, it would be faulty to say that an embryo or fetus or baby is not living and not a "person".
When I was formulating my own opinion on this matter, it occurred to me that there was something being overlooked in this whole situation, "Under what circumstances do unwanted pregnancies occur that would lead to abortion or the consideration of abortion?" According to the Center for Disease Control, 85.5% of women that have abortions are SINGLE. Now if you have read my previous post "S-E-X", you will see that sex and reproduction is a commandment from God and is amazing under the right boundaries. However, the bible also talks about sex before marriage (fornication) in 1 Corinthians 6:18,
Flee fornication. Every other sin which a man does is outside the body, but he that commits fornication sins against his own body.
I can't help but think this verse has undertones towards abortion. This verse says committing fornication is a sin against your own body, which leads to another sin against your own body, abortion. Pro-Choice is all about the woman's body and choosing to do something to her body (and the baby). In fact, Rowe v. Wade said that a woman's right to have sex unrestricted was a matter of her privacy and that abortion laws were impeading her right to have sex at her discresion. In other words, she shouldn't be stopped from having the right to have legal abortions because then she wouldn't be able to have sex with the "fall back" of abortion.
I think when we get to the argument/discussion about abortion and Pro-Life vs. Pro-Choice, we have already gone too far. We have crossed a bridge that we cannot backtrack. That is why I am Pro-God. God says in his word that we should not fornicate (have sex before marriage) and therefore not lead to a situation resulting in an "unwanted pregnancy". BUT WHAT IF! What if we are in that situation? What if we have crossed that bridge? Again, I'm Pro-God. God has a plan for you and he has a plan for the unborn child; Both of you he knew before the world began.
If you wanna know more about God's plan for you, the best place to start is having a relationship with Jesus. Check out my "What must I do to be saved?" section to learn more about starting a relationship with Jesus Christ.
links:
http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html
http://www.abort73.com/abortion_facts/us_abortion_statistics/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_abortion
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/6724580a-8d64-11e2-82d2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3SzfFlupG
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/410/113/case.html (Rowe v. Wade case)
