In the recent debacle over funding government operations, it was reported that one of the final points of contention was whether to use government funding to subsidize Planned Parenthood which among their varied activities provides abortion services. The argument was so intense that the government of the United States was nearly shut down for lack of agreement on the issue of abortion, specifically if subsidized by the government of the people.
It is disturbing that an issue so clearly spelled out in the Bible as an abomination to God remains a litmus test defining one’s ideology. Firstly, the Biblical role of government is primarily to protect its citizens and maintain order. Taxes are to be assessed to fund that primary purpose.
Secondly, the issue of abortion is likewise addressed in the scriptures. Consider the following passage referring to an unborn child. The context is that Mary, the mother of Jesus, visited her cousin Elizabeth who was in her sixth month of pregnancy carrying John the Baptist.
“Now Mary arose in those days and went…and entered the house…and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb…Then she (Elizabeth) spoke out with a loud voice… ‘For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.’” Luke 1:39-44
The term ‘babe’ is translated from the Greek brephos which means an unborn child, a newborn child or an older infant. Babe is used synonymously with the term ‘child’ in the scriptures. Child is from the Greek nepios meaning infant; baby without any definite limitation of age.
The word babe as used in the Scripture above is also found in the following:
“And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger…And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.” Luke 2:12, 16
“Then they also brought infants to Him that He might touch them; but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to Him and said, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.’”
Luke 18:15-17
Therefore, the Bible does not differentiate between children in the womb or out of the womb. That being the case, according to the Bible, aborting or destroying a ‘fetus’ is no different than taking the life of a child after being born. And God has much to say about that.
“…because of all the evil of the children of Israel…which they have done to provoke Me to anger…though I taught them…yet they have not listened to receive instruction…and they built the high places of Baal…to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination…” Jeremiah 32:32-35
Killing one’s children was not only an abomination; such a practice had not even entered the mind of God. And remember that Paul in the New Testament taught that God’s dealings with Israel in the Old Testament were examples for the Church age.
The contemporary argument that a woman has the right to choose the fate of her unborn child is not Biblically substantiated. It appears that Americans are obsessed with ‘rights’. Bible students are still attempting to find the Biblical source of ‘certain inalienable rights’ endowed by their Creator as stated in the constitution. If one were to write a book describing the rights of individuals per the Bible, the book would be very short because the Bible presents mankind with only one right, or perhaps the better term would be choice, and that is the freedom to choose one’s own destination. Beginning with Adam and Eve, mankind had the freedom to choose whether to obey or disobey God’s commands. That freedom was subsequently given to Israel and is given to all mankind yet today.
“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments…that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you…I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live…But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear…I announce to you today that you shall surely perish…” Deuteronomy 30:15-20
The ‘right’ or freedom to choose life or death has clearly ‘intended’ consequences. Accordingly many would say the recent argument over whether to federally fund the right (or choice) of abortion services is really an indication of the depth of depravation to which America has slipped and clearly shows just how deadly our fiscal policy has become.