Abortion: Murder of the Masses
By Meredith
Joy Hibbard
(This essay was written for 12th Grade at Mt.Sophia Academy, a home school diploma program,
in May 2004. She entered the University of Delaware
several months later)
The pictures plastered haphazardly between the black ink of printed word packed a punch I wasn’t ready
for.
Vicious pro-abortion protesters lined the streets of D.C.
on April 25th, 2004 carrying flags, banners, and posters – anything to prove their avid allegiance to Planned
Parenthood. One huddled cluster gathered under a large pro-life sign depicting
the mangled ligaments of an aborted baby, using their own signs to obscure its view.
Pink hair, gothic clothing, and nasty attitudes, accompanied by vulgar messages, were all the rage with many a marcher. The particularly offensive sign sported by one woman didn’t shock me nearly
as much as her face. For all her vivacious smiles, she might have been selling
Easter flowers.
I closed WORLD
magazine and laid it aside. If these activists could be passionate enough
to rally all of Washington, D.C. against the cause of life,
I felt the very least I could do was compile a logical argument in its defense. America needs to be brought back to the truth.
Firstly, if we’re going to defend a being’s
right to existence, we must define its worth. A very important distinction to
make is that between a human being and an animal. The Bible has something to
say about this:
“All flesh is not the same flesh, but there
is one kind of flesh of men, another
Flesh of animals, another of fish, and another
of birds” (I Cor. 15:39, NKJV).
Stop with this verse, though, and you’ve only got
half the picture. The reader is left with the idea that people and animals are
different, but neither is necessarily better than the other. With the passage
below, God not only erases the blurry smudges but also introduces a concept even more wonderful:
“Then God said,
‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the
birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth...’
Then God blessed them,
and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the Earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea,
over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:26, 28 NKJV).
The previous understanding is now brilliantly enlightened.
God intended for the animal kingdom to be in humane submission to the authority of man.
It’s obvious now whose status is biblically higher. But not only that – the opening line states that we
are made in God’s image! Below is a statement from the church theologian,
Philip E. Hughes:
"Man, whatever
his affinities with the animal realm, is radically distinguished from all other earthly creatures by the fact that he
alone has been created in the divine image and is intended by constitution to be a godly creature” (WCG .ORG).
It’s obvious from the above quotations that mankind
was set apart from the rest of God’s creation. This fact must be the starting
point for any argument critiquing abortion.
Secondly, we are dealing with a chief idea in the pro-choice
mindset today, namely the fetus’ identity as a human being. Our Constitution
grants the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to all men. I think we can all agree the word “men”
in this statement is a broad term for the human race in general. However, the unborn of our nation are somehow considered
less than human on this scale. Instead, their fate is doomed to hang on the dangerously
capricious desires and feelings of the mother, ultimately ending in whatever she decides is right. Obviously, it’s absurd to base a child’s humanity and right to existence on the personal opinions
and attitudes of its parent. Feelings are set above reality and used to justify
the outcome. An equally preposterous idea is the apparent belief that the fetus
is something other than fully human while still developing in the womb, and only reaches that high attainment after birth. This is simply not possible by any stretch of reasoning. Either the baby was, is, and always will be a completely human, living organism, or it never was and never
will be. How many people would contend that a cow isn’t a cow simply because
it’s not full-grown?
To further understand this, let’s hear some amazing
facts of just what’s going on in Mommy’s tummy. The most crucial
time in the gestation period is the first three months, during which the baby’s organs form. At this time, there is a heightened risk of injury from environmental chemicals and viruses which could
result in birth defects. By 25 days, the heartbeat has a regular pattern. By 28 days, the entire embryo is completely formed: head, elementary eyes, mouth,
ears, and brain, simple kidneys, liver, digestive tract, bloodstream, etc. At
7 weeks, the developing baby can usually be seen in the womb, and the heartbeat tacked by ultrasound examinations. One week later, the face and features commence their development, along with the very first bone cells. Toes and fingers begin forming, and the nails start to grow. The liver also makes its very first bile secretion, allowing for the breaking down of fats, and the freshly-developed
kidneys are already sending urine to the bladder. At this time, the circulatory
and respiratory systems are beginning the functions they will untiringly continue to perform throughout the baby’s lifetime. At 20 weeks, the baby has hiccups, sleep and wake patterns, functioning vocal chords,
and has begun the growth of hair. (Your Medical Source, 2004; also, Flanigan, 1962).
Here also is the breathtaking account of a doctor’s
brush with one of these incredible little creatures we know as unborn babies:
“Eleven years ago while giving an anesthetic
for a ruptured entopic pregnancy (at eight weeks gestation), I was handed
what I believe was the smallest living human ever seen. The embryonic sac was intact and transparent. Within the sac was a
tiny human male swimming extremely vigorously in the amniotic fluid, while attached to the wall by the umbilical cord. This
tiny human was perfectly developed, with long, tapering fingers, feet and toes. It
was almost transparent, as regards the skin, and the delicate arteries and veins were prominent to the ends of the fingers. The baby was extremely alive and swam about the sac approximately one time per second,
with a natural swimmer’s stroke. This tiny human did not look at all like
the photos and drawings and models of embryos which I had seen, nor did it look like a few embryos I have been able to observe
since then, obviously because this one was alive. When the sac was opened, the
tiny human immediately lost his life and took on the appearance of what is accepted as the appearance of an embryo at this
stage of life.”
---Paul Rockwell, M.D., Dir. Of Anesthesiology, Leonard Hospital,
Troy, New
York. Petition
to U.S. Supreme Court, October, 1972. Markle v. Albele, 72-
56, 72-730, p. 11.
I found this account riveting. To come up against a miracle of life such as that should shock anyone speechless. Can we really deny, after hearing these accounts, the validity of the unborn child’s human identity? Science itself defies such an assertion. We
have established, through the infallible word of God, the creation in His image of the human being. Having brought to the
following contention of the unborn child being completely human and thus entitled to all the sacred rights incurred by this,
we are finally ready to embark upon the most direct attack on abortion: its identity as murder.
The American Heritage dictionary defines murder as “the
unlawful killing of one human being by another, especially with malice aforethought.”
A slight difficulty in this area is that our laws do indeed freedom to abortion clinics to practice this grisly deed,
and in good standing too. It’s interesting to note, however, some of the
logical inconsistencies used to justify abortion. I’ll be quoting part
of the California Penal Code, Section 187, as an example:
a. Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus,
with malice
aforethought.
b. This section shall not apply to any person who commits an act
that results in
the death of a fetus if any of the following apply:
1. The act complied with the Therapeutic Abortion Act, Article 2
(commencing with Section 123400) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division
106 of the Health and Safety Code.
2. The act was committed by a holder of a physician’s and
surgeon’s
certificate, as defined in the Business and Professions Code, in a case where,
to a medical certainty, the result of childbirth would be death
of the mother of the fetus or where her death from
childbirth,
although not medically certain, would be substantially certain or more
likely than not.
3. The
act was solicited, aided, abetted, or consented to by the mother of the fetus.
(CA Codes, pen: 187-199)
The first inconsistency you notice is the phrase “death
of the fetus.” Most pro-choice advocates like to picture the fetus as nothing
but a blob of tissue, and yet speaking of its death necessitates that it was once alive, for clearly something cannot die
unless it has first lived. Also, if the fetus really is just a bunch of tissue,
why say “the mother of the fetus”? Can a woman give birth to something
non-living? These discrepancies only serve to testify that abortion promoters
themselves know the truth and cannot escape it. Even a pro-abortion law winds
up shooting itself in the foot. (GOD and SCIENCE .ORG)
Another inconsistency in this law, one people might find
shocking, is that the liberal state of California considers
the deliberate killing of a fetus as murder. A man named Scott Peterson was charge
with double homicide for the killing of his wife, Laci, and son, Connor. What’s
intriguing is that baby Connor still inhabited his mother’s womb as an 8 month old fetus. Naturally, the implication that a fetus could be murdered caused some serious hullabaloo in the pro-abortion
circles. Mavra Stark, head of the National Organization for Women’s Morris County division
commented, “If this is murder, well, then any time a late-term fetus is aborted, they could call it murder. There’s something about this that bothers me a little bit.
Was it born, or was it unborn? If it was unborn, then I can’t see
charging [Peterson] with a double-murder.” (GOD and SCIENCE .ORG)
So, in a nutshell, this law condemns as murderers those
who would intentionally kill an unborn child. However, once the mother’s selfish personal desires enter the picture
and culminate in the abortion of her baby, it’s seen not only as a perfectly legal procedure, as an exercise of her
sacred rights. The God & Science website sums up the fallacies of the California
Penal Code, Section 187 below:
· The fetus
is granted personhood if wanted by the mother.
· The fetus
can become a non-person at the discretion of the mother.
· However,
a mother may not choose to kill her born child.
· How can
the personhood of a human being be decided by another person?
(GOD and SCIENCE. ORG)
These contradictions speak for themselves. There’s simply no way the laws of our land can hide the fact that the fetus is a living, breathing
human being. It’s wonderful to know we can rely on the Word of God to never fail us with errors or incongruities. And while our laws don’t consider abortion murder, numerous verses in the Bible
make it very clear that God certainly does:
“Whoever sheds
man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man” (Gen. 9:6).
“These six things the LORD hates, yes,
seven are an abomination to
Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that
shed innocent blood…”
(Pro. 6:16).
“For three transgressions of the people
of Ammon, and for four, I will
not turn away its punishment, because they
ripped open the women
with child in Gilead,
that they might enlarge their territory” (Amos 1:13).
“Then Hazael said
[to Elisha], “Why is my lord weeping?” He answered, “Because
I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel:
their
strongholds you will
set on fire, and their young men you will kill with
the sword; and you will
dash their children, and rip open their women with
child” (2 Kings
8:12).
“Thou shalt not
kill” (Deut. 5:17; Ex. 20:13)
“If men fight,
and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth
prematurely, yet no hard
follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly
as the woman’s
husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges
determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life”
(Ex. 21:22-23.
(emphasis mine)
From these inspired passages, we can see that human life,
even during the developmental period inside the womb, remained sacred and deserving of protection. Abortion in the world today is nothing less than the sin of murder, cloaked, costumed, and paraded around
as “a woman’s right.” How tragic!
Now, as the final issue to be dealt with in this essay,
I’d like to talk about life beginning at conception. Easily, this could
be the most debated topic under the label of abortion, and for good reason. If
the child is not alive during the gestation period, aborting it would hardly be murder.
It’s hard to imagine, however, with the wealth of findings out there supporting life during this period, how
anyone could argue it. I’ve discovered the answer is quite simple: pro-choicers
don’t want to believe that life begins at conception. Accepting this would deflate their entire influence and domination, and abortionists would be shown for
what they are: murderers of innocent, tiny, helpless, unborn babies!
Let’s see what the Bible says about life at conception. Any emphasis is mine:
“For he will be great in the sight of the LORD, and shall drink neither
wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even
from his mother’s
womb” (Luke 1:15).
“And Mary arose in those days [while pregnant with Jesus], and went
into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah. And entered into
the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth [the mother of John the
Baptist. John was conceived six months before Jesus.] And it came to
pass, that, when Elizabeth heard the salutation of
Mary, the babe leaped
in her womb, and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. And she spake
out with a loud voice,
and said, Blessed art thou and blessed is the fruit of
thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should
come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine
ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed”
(Luke 1:39-45).
“For you formed
my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise you, for
I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are
Your works, and that my
soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden
from You, when I was made
in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest
parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And
in Your book they all
were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet
there were none of them”
(Psalm 139:13-16).
“And now the LORD
says, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant”
(Isaiah 49:5).
“Lo, children are
a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His
reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the
youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not
be ashamed, but they shall
speak with the enemies in the gate” (Ps. 127:3-5).
In case I be accused of only referring to the Bible, here’s
what the medical communities say:
“Human development begins after the union of male
and female gametes or germ cells during a process known as fertilization (conception). Fertilization is a sequence of events
that begins with the contact of a sperm with a secondary oocyte (ovum) and ends with the fusion of their pronuclei and the
mingling of their chromosomes to form a new cell. This fertilized ovum, known
as a zygote, is a large diploid cell that is the beginning of a human being.”
---K. Moore, M.D., Essentials of Human Embryology, Decker, 1988.
(HUMANLIFE .NET)
“As everyone knows, we each started life as a single
cell. This single cell divided by two, the first generation of cell division;
the four cells divided into eight; the third generation of cell division into 64; and so on.
And how many such generations of cell divisions are required to produce the 30 million million (30 trillion) cells
which make up our adult bodies? The answer is about 45. Of these 45 generations of cell multiplication or replication 8 have occurred by the time we implanted
in the wall of our mother’s uterus; 30 or nearly two-thirds have occurred by eight weeks’ gestation, 41 by the
time we are born, and a remaining tedious 4 occupy the whole of childhood and adolescence.”
---Albert W. Liley, M.D., Fetologist, world famous for his pioneering
Research in the study of the fetus. New
Perspectives on Human
Abortion,
Aletheia Books, University Publications of America, Inc.,
Frederick, MD, 1981. (HUMANLIFE .NET)
“Human life begins at conception and is continuous
whether intra- or
extra-uterine
until death. The very considerably semantic gymnastics
which
are required to rationalize abortion as anything but the taking of
a human
life would be ludicrous if they were not put forth under socially
impeccable
auspices.”
---Editorial advocating legal abortion, “A New Ethic for Medicine and
Society,” California Medicine, Journal of the California Medical
Association, Vol. 113, No. 67, 1970, pp. 66-68.
While there are many more resources for the proof of life
commencing at conception, I believe those compiled carry ample authority by themselves.
Of course, as Christians, we have assurance by faith that the Bible is infallible, and really needs no backing up from
science or any other community. Nonetheless, it is always interesting to note
how scientific studies, if faithfully carried out, consistently agree with what God has already revealed to us in His Word.
And so, to conclude this essay, it is absolutely essential
that before condoning abortion, we see it for what it really is, based on the Bible and true science, and not be swayed by
the lies and surreptitiousness of Planned Parenthood and other pro-death organizations.
With much prayer and activism, the truth can be gotten out, and millions of babies saved to experience life, the precious
gift we are all entitled to enjoy.
In conclusion, my message to the pro-choice movement is
only this: Next time you think of advocating abortion, remember that once a life
is taken it can’t ever be brought back. You change the entire face of a
nation when you nod your head in assent to this act. Not only is our country
irreversibly defamed, but those children you wanted slain might have grown up to lead our country, find a cure for cancer,
or even improve the plumbing system in your house. They would’ve been the
children to climb into your lap and beg for a story, or the friendly young kid next door offering to cut your lawn. They are the daughter you would have given away in marriage, and the son you cheered for at the little
league game. Abortion hacks these precious things from our lives, and hacks our
children’s lives from us.
Don’t allow our freedoms to be taken advantage of. Hold on to life. Protect it, and be thankful
for your own! Millions of souls have died for what you have!
THE END
