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Last week, the Supreme Court upheld the Partial-Birth Abortion
Ban Act that congress passed and President Bush signed into
law in 2003.
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 prohibits the
procedure commonly known as partial-birth abortion. In the
act, partial-birth abortion is described as, "an abortion
in which a physician delivers an unborn child's body until
only the head remains inside the womb, punctures the back
of the child's skull with a sharp instrument, and sucks
the child's brains out before completing delivery of the
dead infant." The act states that this procedure "is a gruesome
and inhumane procedure that is never medically necessary
and should be prohibited."
In the act, the case is set forth that partial-birth abortion
is illegal based on Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v.
Casey. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act states:
Partial-birth abortions involve the killing of a child
that is in the process, in fact mere inches away from,
becoming a "person". Thus, the government has a heightened
interest in protecting the life of the partially-born
child.
Later the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act notes that the
fetus is killed outside the womb during a partial-birth
abortion:
. . . partial-birth abortions are "ethically different
from other destructive abortion techniques because the
fetus, normally twenty weeks or longer in gestation,
is killed outside of the womb". According to this medical
association, the "'partial birth' gives the fetus an
autonomy which separates it from the right of the woman
to choose treatments for her own body".
The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act also notes that partial-birth
abortion seeks to kill the child, and destroys a partially-born
child:
Thus, by aborting a child in the manner that purposefully
seeks to kill the child after he or she has begun the
process of birth, partial-birth abortion undermines
the public's perception of the appropriate role of a
physician during the delivery process, and perverts
a process during which life is brought into the world,
in order to destroy a partially-born child.
To the inhumane brutality of partial-birth abortion, congress
found that:
Implicitly approving such a brutal and inhumane procedure
by choosing not to prohibit it will further coarsen
society to the humanity of not only newborns, but all
vulnerable and innocent human life, making it increasingly
difficult to protect such life. Thus, Congress has a
compelling interest in acting -- indeed it must act
-- to prohibit this inhumane procedure.
Congress concluded that partial-birth abortion is never
necessary to save a mother's life and blurs the line between
abortion and infanticide in the killing of a partially-born
child:
For these reasons, Congress finds that partial-birth
abortion is never medically indicated to preserve the
health of the mother; is in fact unrecognized as a valid
abortion procedure by the mainstream medical community;
poses additional health risks to the mother; blurs the
line between abortion and infanticide in the killing
of a partially-born child just inches from birth; and
confuses the role of the physician in childbirth and
should, therefore, be banned.
Statistics on Abortion
Abortion is more common than many of us may realize.
The Guttmacher Institute is a research group with which
I disagree in some respects. But they provide some very
enlightening statistics -- see below. (Facts
on Induced Abortion In the United States, Guttmacher Institute,
120 Wall Street, 21st floor New York, NY 10005)
- Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are
unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by
abortion. Twenty-four percent of all pregnancies (excluding
miscarriages) end in abortion.
- In 2002, 1.29 million abortions took place, down from
1.36 million in 1996. From 1973 through 2002, more than
42 million legal abortions occurred.
- Each year, two out of every 100 women aged 15-44 have
an abortion; 48% of them have had at least one previous
abortion.
- About half of American women have experienced an unintended
pregnancy, and at current rates more than one-third will
have had an abortion by age 45.
God's Word and Abortion
In past articles, we've explored God's word and found that
a fetus is a living human being. Some of the Scriptures
we looked at were:
- Luke 1:15 John the Baptist was filled with the Holy
Spirit while in the womb; therefore, John was a living
person while in the womb. A mass of tissue could not be
filled with the Holy Spirit.
- Luke 1:41, 44 The babe leaped in her womb for joy.
A baby in the womb can leap for joy -- a mass of tissue
cannot leap. If a mass of tissue could leap in the womb,
it could leap outside of the womb. Have you seen a mass
of tissue leap?
- Matt. 1:23 Mary, while pregnant with Jesus, is said
to have a child before birth.
- Matt. 2:1 "Now after Jesus was born" considers that
Jesus was Jesus before birth, while still in Mary's womb.
What can we do?
Woman who had abortions, and doctors who perform abortions
can be forgiven and go to heaven -- we've all sinned and
need forgiveness (Rom. 6:23). But what can we do to help?
We can teach, encourage, and support women with unwanted
pregnancies. We can show them God's love by the way we reach
out to them and help, showing them God's will regarding
their unborn child.
We can pray:
- We can pray that people will realize abortion is wrong,
and that law will be enacted prohibiting abortion.
- We can pray for pregnant women, that they'll not choose
abortion.
- We can pray for unborn children, their health, and
safe delivery.
- We can be pray that infants about to be aborted will
be spared.
- We can pray that infants experiencing abortion won't
feel pain during the procedure.
We can educate ourselves and discuss the topic with others:
- We need to be familiar with Scriptures that teach abortion
is a sin.
- We need to be familiar with abortion procedures and
alternatives, so we can help mothers make good decisions.
We can love women who had an abortion, and help them. Many
of them regret their decision and seek forgiveness from
a loving Savior. As Christians, we can show them Jesus'
love and lead them to forgiveness through His word.
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