Life Here and There

Argue with me if you want. It won’t do any good. I’m pro-life and always will be so. I’ve heard every defense of the pro-choice philosophy. None stand under the weight of the need to defend the dying innocent. Abortion is America’s modern holocaust. Given enough time, I feel America will look back on this atrocity with horror.

Abby Johnson knows this. She was the Director of a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. She has repented after seeing an abortion procedure take place. She’s had an experience most pro-choice advocates never have. In fact, most women who have had abortions have never seen what she saw (and if you are reading, I love you and my heart breaks for you). If everyone in America saw it, we’d repent.

Here’s her interview with Mike Huckabee

I’ve argued for quite some time that abortion is not just a religious issue. Don’t misunderstand – for me – it is first and foremost religious in the sense that I believe God creates every unique human being with dignity and value at conception, and He alone has the authority to give and take life. But that’s not the only argument in favor of being pro-life.

Consider the statements made by David Harsanyi, a self-avowed atheist who practices moral relativism, in a recent opinion piece in the Denver Post in which he states, “…it’s difficult to understand how those who harp about the importance of ’science’ in public policy can draw an arbitrary timeline in the pregnancy, defining when human life is worth saving and when it can be terminated.”

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I know that there are readers of this blog from every perspective. I’m as pro-life and conservative as they come. If you’re not, I still love you, but I think we can all agree that when rising abortion rates correlate to an economic downturn, it’s tragic! The San Francisco Chronicle reports this story about the rising demand for abortion among those who wanted their pregnancies but have lost jobs or otherwise fallen on hard financial times.

I cannot stress how tragic this is to me. I normally try not to “blog on emotion” but my wife and I dedicated an entire day this week to research, prayer, and discussion about our infertility issue. It’s on our minds all the time. We’d lose everything financially to have another child. Meanwhile, children are being aborted because of economic hard times. In our church family are a half dozen homes (minimum) that wold love and nurture those children, people who have suffered and prayed and wept for a pregnancy and can’t have one.

The society in which we live is becoming more twisted every day. I’ve had my fill of the idea that having kids is somehow financially irresponsible. And like it or not, agree or not, we’ll pay for this. We will pay for our “choices” and the abuses of our “freedoms.” If you’re tempted to throw a life away because of the economy… call me!

By the way, at the end of my righteous indignation always remains a heart of compassion for every woman who has made this tragic choice. Even if you’ve had an abortion, I love you, God loves you, and God offers His forgiveness freely on the basis of His Son’s death on the cross for you. Turn to Him and simply ask.

And if you’re considering an abortion… start here.

Feel free to comment on this post, but please don’t argue with me about politics here – this issue is far more personal to me than political, argue your political point on some related post, but not here please.

People should not be required to participate in abortion procedures. Period. In any sensible culture, that would make sense. But we’re currently living in times when social liberals have gone mad and many conservatives who beat around the bush a few months ago have helped them along.

If you haven’t heard, the Department of Health and Human Services is considering repealing a policy instated by the Bush administration protecting the right of healthcare providers to abstain from abortion procedures if they had a moral, religious, or conscientious objection. So we want women to have the freedom to choose abortion, but those who disagree will not be granted the freedom to abstain from a non-emergency procedure. And how does this make any sense?

The Bible speaks of people having their “consciences seared with a hot iron.” We’re there! And Cal Thomas has done a good job of writing about it. Listen to this…

Carried to its logical conclusion, repealing the “conscience rule” would allow hospitals to require pro-life doctors and nurses to participate in abortions. The Catholic Church teaches that elective abortion is a mortal sin, so the government is considering a requirement that would have a Catholic risk excommunication and the eternal damnation of his or her soul. Evangelical Christians regard abortion as equally offensive. Where is the separation of church and state when you really need it?… To repeal the conscience rule is an affront to every American who believes government ought to be under God, not play God.

What is even more shocking is the thought of where our nation will go in the future as our conscience continues to die. Thomas makes a bold assertion that doesn’t seem too far off base to me…

If you are a resident in an assisted-living center, you might consider putting an extra lock on the door, because you are next. By the time our consciences have been reprogrammed, the bureaucrat who decides you have outlived your usefulness will have forgotten how to feel guilty about anything.

It seems that our freedoms are expanding… unless we’re talking about the freedom to do no harm. God, I fear, based on history, what You will do with a people who refuse to feel guilty.

John Piper has written a post with 4 of the most powerful and difficult questions any President could potentially have to answer in defense of abortion. I know that many Christians are struggling with this question and I wanted to pass on the link here on my blog. So check out his brief article.

I primarily wanted to comment on the significance of these three days.

• Sunday – Sanctity of human life Sunday, a rememberance of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.
• Monday – Martin Luther King, Jr. day, a celebration of tremendous advances in civil rights at tremendous costs.
• Tuesday – Our farewell to George W. Bush and our welcoming of Barack Obama.

My thoughts… (random, but worth hearing, or at least worth saying)

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ONE GREAT TRUTH: There are NO throw-away lives!

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In this presidential election, moreso than others in the past, those who vote on the basis of the issue of the sanctity of life have been increasingly classified as “narrow-minded” and “single-issue obsessive.” Yep, that’s me. Well, I appreciate this well-worded post from Denny Burk. I don’t know that I’ve heard my own opinion on the issue clarified as well. No matter what happens tomorrow, Christians ought to be confronted with these words…

Denny Burk » My Closing Argument for Life on Election Eve.

Al Mohler published a blog article today entitled Is the Abortion Argument Changing?. It’s excellent. At the end, he references a sermon by Russell Moore that makes the argument that Joseph (Jesus’ step-father) was a “single-issue evangelical.”

I’m fairly progressive. I’m quite forward-thinking. But when it comes to the issue of life in relationship to politics, elections, legislation, etc., abortion is still a deal-breaker for me. Am I a narrow-minded single-issue evangelical? Absolutely. Why? Because the whole time we’re focused on…

• The environment.
• Unemployment.
• Taxes.
• Welfare.
• Healthcare.
• The war.
• Foreign relations.
• The economy.
• Defense.
• New energy sources.

God is focused on the innocent. He always has been. He always will be. We can say “just look beyond this one issue.” As far as I’m concerned, that’s like asking the guy who is having a heart attack to focus on his runny nose. We have a problem for which God will surely pour out His wrath. They are ultimately his babies, after all.

And here’s another point: Abortion IS Racism! Read or watch…

Between Two Worlds: Executive VP of Ottawa’s Society of Obstetricians & Gynecologists: Worried That Palin’s Example Will Mean Less Downs Babies Killed.

Now here is a witness and a testimony. Some are upset that Sarah Palin’s choice to keep her baby in spite of advance warning of Down’s Syndrome. The philosophy of the pro-choice movement never ceases to baffle me. Shame on those who do right for tempting others to do the same??