Answering Questions About Abortion
 What Are the Real Issues?
No matter what you discuss with anyone regarding the issue of Abortion, the REAL issue is one simple question: “WHAT IS IT?” If the fetus IS human, then abortion is murder. If it is NOT human before it is born… then what is it? Any medical doctor looking at the unborn fetus, recognizes it is an unborn HUMAN fetus rather than animal, vegetable, etc…. Often, and atheist/pro-choice person/man on the street won’t even take a position on this issue at all. They will tell you that no one knows when the fetus becomes human. They will argue that we can’t really know this answer, therefore the decision must be left to the mother as to what happens to her body. If you can only ask them ONE question:
Ask them if they honestly feel that there is ANY doubt regarding when life begins, is it really their best decision to fault on the side of possibly taking a life?
If you get more time with them, following are some common discussion points to understand.
 “An Embryo/Fetus is nothing and therefore does not possess any rights to life.”
Yes, it is a medical fact that a sperm, with just its 23 chromosomes, is not a human being; nor is an ovum, with its 23 chromosomes. But when they unite into one entity with 46 chromosomes, the result is a human being. Genetically, the fertilized ovum is a human being, with its own UNIQUE, lifelong, characteristic code. From this point on, it is simply a matter of its location, and growth, not of its kind. Don’t you think that if all human beings have a right to life, so, too, does an unborn baby? Around the 3rd week, the blood cells and the heart are formed. By the 4th week, there is a heartbeat. By 6 weeks, it has a nervous system. Around this time, it has its own brain waves, which it will keep for life. By 7 weeks, it has all the internal organs of an adult (even though it is less than one inch long.) By 8 weeks, all external organs are formed. Before it is born, it can suck its thumb, and recognize its mother's voice and heartbeat. Tiny, yes, but definitely human.
 "The mother has the right to control her own body."
Are you saying this really a matter of Women’s Rights? As noted above, with its full genetic code, the unborn baby is an individual human being, with full genetic code at conception and its own separate body. Yes, the mother is sheltering and "feeding" the unborn baby, but does a mother have the right to stop sheltering and feeding her baby after it is born? We know this would be a crime. Should cutting off the source of life for a pre-born baby be seen any differently? Second, even if one sees the unborn baby as part of its mother's body, would it really be true that she has a right to do just anything she wants to her own body? For example, does she have a moral right to mutilate her own body by cutting off a hand or a foot? Should we agree that one has the right to kill one’s own body (commit suicide)? And, as the unborn baby is a human being, then the so-called right of the mother to kill the unborn baby must be a "right" to do a wrong: to murder.
 "The unborn baby is not really human until it is born."
Again, if it is not human before it is born, then what is it? It is not a mineral or a vegetable. And it is definitely not an animal. Cows give birth to cows; horses give birth to horses, etc…. No medical person has any difficulty identifying an unborn dog as a dog, or an unborn pig as a pig. Why should there be any question about an unborn human? Does this statement mean they are human only when they move outside the womb? Since when does where one lives determine one's humanity? The difference between babies that are born and those that are unborn is not their essential nature; it is simply a matter of size and location.
 "Unborn babies are not conscious beings."
Does this mean that one must have consciousness in order to be human? But if consciousness determines humanness, then sleeping adults are not human. Is it NOT murder to kill an unconscious person? Or, does a killer need only to knock out their victim before shooting them in order to escape murder charges! How do you know that babies in the womb are not conscious? By six weeks after conception, they have their own brain waves, which they will keep for life. The absence of a brain wave is considered a sign of death; why, then, is the presence of a brainwave not considered a sign of life? And as early as three months after conception, babies react to stimuli, sensing pressure. Finally, it is NOT consciousness that distinguishes a human being from an animal, but rather self-consciousness. Higher animals are conscious. However, self-consciousness does not occur until a child is about 18 months old. So by an abortionist's logic, the killing of anyone under the age of 18 months could be considered justifiable "abortion."
 "Every child has a right to a meaningful life."
What are the criteria for a “meaningful life”, and who decides whether or not a life is meaningful? Would that include NOT being handicapped/deaf/blind/mentally challenged, too? If you go on-line you can find lists and list of famous people with disabilities of all kinds. Do you not agree that these individuals might NOT agree with YOUR concept of a meaningful life? If this were true, would there not be greater logical justification for taking the life of someone already known to be deformed than one which prenatal tests have simply indicated might be?
 "It is better to have an aborted child than to have an abused one."
First, this assumes that NOT aborting an unwanted baby may lead to abuse of that unwanted baby. However, statistics show that child abuse cases have actually increased as the number of abortions has gone up. Disregard for the lives of human unborn or born children is just that - disregard. Second, if you are not sure the unborn baby is human or conscious, then how can you be sure that abortion is not, in and of itself, abuse? Whether by suction, or scraping, or replacement of the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby with salt water (which results in the baby being destroyed from the inside out), the abortion process has the goal of killing the unborn. Are any of these processes "responsible parenthood”? Not only is the baby abused in the way it dies, it is abused in losing the privilege of life itself. Denying the right to live,: How is that NOT abuse? Finally, we need to really consider this logic. If we are allowed to murder the unborn because we should be able to take all measures to prevent potential abuse, then why not murder the born who are undergoing actual abuse? Or, to put it the other way, if we protect the born who are undergoing child abuse, then should not we all the more protect the unborn, who are even more defenseless?
 "We must stop overpopulation, or we will all starve."
Are you saying we must choose between abortion and overpopulation? The real choice is whether to control population by killing the innocent or without killing them. Hunger and poverty still exist in the US, despite all our affluence and agricultural productivity and abundance of farmable land. Starvation is not a simple problem which would automatically disappear if only there were fewer people. Studies have shown that the farmable land of the world CAN sustain a world population many times the present one. The real problems are social and political, not numerical. Does it make sense to take the lives of people that we think might turn out to be poor? If this were acceptable, then why do we not recommend that we kill all our welfare recipients/visibly poor, because we KNOW they cannot earn the food that they need?
 "We cannot legislate morality." We should not project our morality on others."
We DO legislate morality, every day. We have laws against murder, cruelty, theft, child abuse, incest and rape, etc….. All of these are cases of morals being legislated. If this is wrong, they should be abolished. We could also eliminate antislavery laws, along with all civil rights laws, for these also legislate moral behavior. If all these are “right”, then why should we not have laws to protect the moral rights of the unborn humans? By legislating abortion, the system is saying that it is morally right to take the life of an unborn human being. Can it be deemed “right” to take away an innocent human being's right to life? The right to life is the door to all other rights. Without life there is no right to anything else. If their view is not to project morality on others, why are the pro-abortionists projecting their morality on the unborn? They are saying, in effect, "It is my moral belief that someone else may choose if you should or should not live." Is this a projection of morality, or, of immorality? And, do we not all agree that people need, for example, to project moral concern on others who are drinking and then want to drive? In fact, if those who drink would not drive, this would be a greatly appreciated “projection of morality” for the 25,000 people who will otherwise fall victim to drunk drivers EVERY year. The pro-choice person (and atheists as well) may then note that this type of legislation is really not legislating morality but common sense or a standard that all really know, inherently, whereas the view on abortion is not common sense and therefore should not be legislated. Let’s think about it. If it is just a common sense or inherent standard then we should not have to teach children right and wrong and the folks who drove the planes into the World Trade Center’s view of “right” may be reasonable. In other words, we have laws precisely because people do NOT all have the same common sense or standard. If the atheist cannot know where the moral law came from, they at least must admit that they do NOT wish to live without it (freedom of speech) and that some moral values are absolute (incest and rape are wrong). And, if these are true, there is the need for not only for a projected moral law but also legislating it. Abortion takes away the moral right of the innocent to live. All our existing laws are engineered to protect the innocent – and yet this does not apply to an unborn human being?
 "No mentally retarded/potentially deaf/blind/handicapped child should be brought into the world when it can be so easily avoided."
I think we can agree that retarded children are human, and killing them is killing humans. Just because the unborn are smaller, defenseless, and possibly retarded is killing them justified? As well, one should ask handicapped persons if they wish they had been aborted rather than live their lives? Let's take a classic example of two babies born in Austria a number of years ago. One was a healthy boy for which the mother was glad. The other was a girl. She had Downs Syndrome. Nevertheless, this mother loved the little girl and taught her to care for herself. One day the mother had a stroke, which left her helpless. Her retarded daughter took over her care for the rest of her life. The boy grew up just fine. The whole world later heard of him. His name was Adolf Hitler. Which of these babies would the abortionist have done away with? A professor once posed this medical situation -- and ethical problem -- to his students: "Here's the family history: The father has syphilis. The mother has TB. They already have had four children. The first is blind. The second had died. The third is deaf. The fourth has TB. Now the mother is pregnant again. They are willing to have an abortion, if you decide they should. What do you say?" The professor asked the students to break into small groups for "consultation." All of the groups came back to report that they would recommend abortion. "Congratulations," the professor said, "You just took the life of Beethoven!"
 "Why should a rape victim be forced to bear a child she did not will to have?"
Rape is one of the worst indignities a person can suffer. One must have great compassion for rape victims. However, several things must be kept in mind. First, there is no way to become "unraped." Becoming "unpregnant" (via abortion) cannot make one "unraped." It is noteworthy that the percentage of babies born of rape is actually quite small. But the few babies who are conceived by rape also have a right to live. Second, justice cannot be obtained for the rape victim by punishing the unborn baby resulting from the rape. Two wrongs do not make a right. And should the mother change her mind, she will be further burdened with the guilt of taking the child’s life. Ethel Waters is a wonderful gospel singer. Yet her mother was, at the age of thirteen, a rape victim. Should she have aborted Ethel and missed out on the wonderful music of her life? Why should we punish the innocent product of a rape?
 "People are going to have abortions anyway, so we might as well legalize them."
This one is really quite simple. Are you saying we should we also legalize rape and child abuse, since people are going to do them anyway? Should we add incest and cruelty to the legal list because people persist in doing them? Legalizing an evil does not make it morally right.
 “Anti-abortion laws are as wrong as the anti-drinking laws of the past.”
Legalized abortion does not fit into the same category as legalized drinking. Legalized drinking does not always result in a crime against another innocent person, nor does it necessarily take the life of another human being. Abortion always takes the life of another person. Further, legalizing an activity does not necessarily curb its abuse. Sometimes it promotes it. Such has been the case with abortion in the United States. On the other hand, changing the law can help change the general attitude toward an activity, as the laws abolishing slavery have shown. Laws cannot in themselves force people to be good, but enforcing good laws can help restrain people from doing evil.
 "Abortion is the solution to unwanted pregnancies."
Did you know that a CBS program on black-market babies revealed that some people were willing to pay up to $40,000 for a baby? Is this an indication that unwanted babies are a burden? Adoption is a better solution, although still not easy. Would you not agree that our Nation’s efforts could be better spent in helping the scared mothers, many of whom might keep their child if they were not afraid of family anger and peer opinions and financial problems, rather than killing babies? Most women with unwanted pregnancies only need counseling. Counseling clinics are the solution, not abortion clinics.
 "No unwanted baby should ever be born."
Do you believe that all unwanted pregnancies have resulted in unwanted babies? There are many examples of unwanted pregnancies that have resulted in babies who have been the joy of their parent’s lives. Further, even if the mother does not want to keep the baby, there are at present more people who want children than there are children to want. Finally, just because we do not want someone else around does not mean we have a right to kill them. We should never place our wishes ahead of others' rights, especially their right to life.
 "All you folks do is blockade abortion clinics and harass abortion practioners, and sometimes stalk them, in the name of what is right!?”
Offering and finding counseling resources for troubled females who have been given mis-information regarding abortion, who are scared of being disowned by family, who have no idea how they would raise a child, and, perhaps, no job that will support another person, is FAR more helpful than picketing a clinic, yelling at scared and mis-informed persons, and/or stalking abortion practioners. As for the folks who might target practioners, how is it fine to save an innocent life by jeopardizing the life of another person? Some noted abortion practioners are now ardent pro-life speakers. God forgives all who repent.
What Does the Bible Say?
The Scriptures have so much to say about the origin and value of human life. According to the Bible, should an unborn fetus be seen as anything at all?
 Psalm 139:13-16
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. You 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.
Isaiah 49:1
Listen to me, O islands, and pay attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb; from the body of my mother He named me.
Jeremiah 1:5
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.
Galations 1:15
But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and had called me through his grace, ...
Isaiah 44:24
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, and spreading out the earth all alone...."
Job 31:15
Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?
Genesis 1:27
And God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female He created them.
Colossians 1:16
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things have been created by Him and for Him.
Isaiah 64:8
But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father, we are the clay, and Thou our potter; And all of us are the work of Thy hand.
Isaiah 49:16
Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me.
Ephesians 1:3-4
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for giving us through Christ every possible spiritual benefit as citizens of Heaven! For consider what He has done -- before the foundation of the world he chose us to become, in Christ, his holy and blameless children living with his constant care.
Matthew 18:14
Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Matthew 18:20
Never despise one of these little ones; I tell you, they have their guardian angels in heaven, who look continually on the face of my heavenly Father.
Should a child conceived as a result of rape or incest be aborted?
Deuteronomy 24:16
Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.
Romans 8:28
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Ephesians 5:20
Thank God at all times for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Should a child who might be born deformed or retarded be aborted?
Exodus 4:11
So the Lord said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?
Isaiah 45:9-11
Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, "What are you making?" Does your work say, "He has no hands."? Woe to him who says to his father, "What have you begotten?" or to his mother, "What have you brought to birth?" This is what the Lord says - the Holy one of Israel, and its Maker: concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?
Romans 9:20-21
On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this?," will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use?
2 Corinthians 12:7-9
So tremendous, however, were the revelations that God gave me that, in order to prevent me from becoming absurdly conceited, I was given a physical handicap - one of Satan's angels to harass me and effectually stop any conceit. Three times I begged the Lord for it to leave me, but his reply has been, "My grace is enough for you: for where there is weakness, my power is shown the more completely." Therefore, I have cheerfully made up my mind to be proud of my weaknesses, because they mean a deeper experience of the power of Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:27
Yet, to shame the wise, God has chosen what the world counts folly, and to shame what is strong, God has chosen what the world counts weakness.
Should a woman have control over her the life in her own body?
Psalm 127:3
Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.
Ezekiel 18:4
Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
Does God forgive those who have had abortions?
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Ephesians 1:7
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace...
Isaiah 43:25
I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
Hebrews 4:13
Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
What are the responsibilities of His people, the body of Jesus Christ, His Church?
1 John 3:16-18
We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with toungue, but in deed and in truth.
Matthew 5:13-14
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Revelation 4:11
You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.
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