Could it be we are on very dangerous ground with God—at least on a slippery slope?
Wherever a pregnant woman is mentioned in the Bible, she is spoken of as being “with child.” Isaiah 49:1, gives a word picture for this, “The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.”
God’s knowledge of us began while we were still in the womb. In Jeremiah 1:5, God’s words to Jeremiah assure us of this, ““Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you . . .”
The hardest of all client counseling, for me, has been helping women who have had abortions. Most of them have an exceedingly difficult time forgiving themselves. Memories of their abortion(s) haunts them . . . and so often simply won’t “be still.” It is hard for them to hear the words, “God loves you. God forgives us when we ask.”
One was considering suicide when she came to me, saying, “I hate myself for making a decision that has taken peace from my heart.” Another recently bent low over her belly, weeping over the abortions she had thirty years ago. My heart goes out to these women who put their trust in the words of people who had no problem with urging them to believe killing their children while they are still in the womb is a woman’s right. After all, “it is legal!” A woman can be anesthetized while it is happening. She doesn’t have to think about what is happening while under the knife, or about the little preemie’s loss of life.
A caring, kind and loving act can take place if the U.S. Roman Catholic Bishops carry through with extending “the public medicine of temporary exclusion from the Lord’s Table,” urged last week by San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone. In fact, we can hope that all churches will teach the importance of consciously and prayerfully approaching the communion table. Why?
The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:27-34, tells us it is possible to approach the Lord’s Table in an “unworthy manner,” leaving us “guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Scripture instructs us to examine ourselves before partaking of the bread and drinking of the cup. Verse 29-30, states, “For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” At the communion table we don’t want anything to remain in our lives that could be displeasing to the Lord.
The victims of abortions are not only unborn persons residing in wombs, but also the mothers of those babies. After being instructed, within family planning instances, “Abortion is your right; it’s your body, you get to decide,”—the deed is done. Then comes the unforgettable pain and inner angst for many.
It seems like we are spitting in the eye of our Creator when a baby can be legally killed in the mother’s womb, stopping a child’s chance to be birthed and breath. Since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, this legal practice has killed over 61 million innocent, preborn little human beings within their mother’s wombs.
This is taking place for multitudes of unborn people—in most cases because the woman involved neglected to take precautions in order to protect herself against an unwanted or untimely pregnancy. “Be fruitful and multiply,” was the first recorded request God made of humankind.
I am thankful to our Arizona Governor Doug Ducey for taking a definite, strong stance against abortion in this State. Also, Governor Brad Little recently added Idaho to the 29 states demonstrating resistant efforts towards abortion.
Years ago, Supreme Court Justice Sandra O’Conner made an interesting comment within a Senate Judiciary committee, “In the State of Arizona, if an individual that crushes a gila monster egg—this is one of the only two poisonous lizards left in the world—not the gila monster, only the egg—is subject to a fine of $750 and 4 months in jail.” She compared that to abortion.
As a reporter covering an event held in Boise early in the 80’s, I heard Dr. Carolyn Gerster speak. She had lived in Germany and said of Hitler’s New ethics, “Abortion first, then euthanasia and infanticide, as we have in this country to a great degree already . . .” Dr. Gerster added, “The killing of the Jews selectively followed, along with, the extermination of the mentally retarded, the physically disadvantaged.”
Germany’s New Ethics of the early 1940’s was based on a stance that only persons whose lives do not inconvenience others deserve to live. These were precursor steps before 11 million Jews were determined “inconvenient.”
There are signs of encouragement that indicate the number of abortions have somewhat slowed down. Hooray! Yet, do we want to align ourselves—in any way—with Germany’s New Ethics of the early 1940’s? We have abhorred the thinking of Adolf Hitler. Still, with abortion still in full swing, the “frog is in the kettle” and the heat is being turned up.
Abortion is barbaric and inhumane. We need to bring an end to legalized abortion before slipping further, taking it upon ourselves to decide who in our citizenry is “inconveniencing others . . . not deserving to live.” God help the disabled and the elderly! For, the ideology of Hitler that included infanticide seems to be returning. In February, 2019, Virginia State Delegate Kathy Tran (D), testified in favor of infanticide through her legislation allowing abortions up to the moment of birth. Folks, we had best speak up!
This is so right! A woman does have a right to choose what she does with her own body, but the choice is when she decides to engage in the process that makes a baby.
Yes, birth control precautions sometimes fail, so, it’s a woman’s right to be sexually active, but with rights come responsibility. There is good reason that moral and religious teachings say to wait until marriage to have sexual relations to insure a strong, committed family bond for a child’s well-being.
Yes, a woman can choose to have recreational sex, but if abortion isn’t so easy to obtain she will give thought to the possibility she might have another life to consider besides her own.
Easy abortion has also made girls and boy’s too young to effectively parent a child, engage in sex with no thought of responsibility.
Many years ago, I would show the film, “The Silent Scream.” to students. After viewing the film that showed a baby trying to move away from the abortion knife, the high school age girls would be horrified. One time I attended a Planned Parenthood meeting with a doctor friend. At that meeting another doctor was there explaining that pregnant ladies just had a piece of tissue inside. My doctor friend challenged him by asking about DNA. His question was ignored. It makes me sick to my stomach to think of thousands of innocent little babies being cut to pieces in the womb, or killed first, then suctioned out. Scientists have proven that they feel the pain. I would ask people who encourage this: “Would you like someone to take a knife and cut you to pieces, or kill you first, then suction you.?”
I have worked in organizations that encourage girls to carry their babies to term and then adopt them out if they couldn’t keep them. And, also to comfort girls who have been brainwashed and went ahead with abortions and later were so sorry. I pray that all girls will know the truth. My own ten children are the greatest gifts God has given me (and my husband) on this earth —each one bringing joy to others and doing their part in making this world a better place.
Linda Konkol