THE SANCTITY OF LIFE: ANSWERING OBJECTIONS

My Body, My Choice

Scripture unequivocally teaches that each person is created in God’s image from the womb. (Genesis 1:27, Psalm 139:13-14)

Science teaches without reservation that life begins at fertilization (conception). It is a scientific fact that an organism exists after fertilization that did not exist before. This new organism has its own DNA distinct from the mother and father, meaning that it is a unique person. As the embryo grows, it develops a heartbeat (22 days after fertilization), its own circulatory system, and its own organs. From fertilization, it is a new organism that is alive and will continue to grow and develop as long as nutrition is provided and its life is not ended through violence or illness. It is indisputably human, as it has human DNA. The offspring of two members of a species is always the same type of creature as the parents. No two dogs will ever conceive and give birth to a cat; no fish egg will ever produce a snake. According to all the laws of nature, the preborn baby is human. — Sarah Terzo (Science is clear: Each new human life begins at fertilization)

God’s Word affirms the personhood of the unborn baby and also gives equal rights and protection to the child.

In light of these truths, abortion isn’t healthcare. It is murder.

Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

Personhood is not determined by your dependence on another person.

It’s Just a Clump of Cells, Not a Baby

Personhood is not determined by size or level of development.

“I am no more prepared to say that these early stages represent an incomplete human being than I would be to say that the child prior to the dramatic effects of puberty … is not a human being. … I have learned from my earliest medical education that human life begins at the time of conception.” — Dr. Alfred Bongiovanni, professor of pediatrics and obstetrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

“To accept the fact that after fertilization has taken place a new human has come into being is no longer a matter of taste or opinion … it is plain experimental evidence. Each individual has a very neat beginning, at conception.” — “Father of Modern Genetics” Dr. Jerome Lejeune

Without exception, every time the Bible mentions the unborn, they are referenced as an actual person. They are regarded as a living human already in existence. It is clear when reading Scripture that God considers the unborn to be people. The text always describes them in personal terms.

Genesis 25:22 “The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.”

Luke 1:41 “And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,”

Personhood is not a matter of location. We see Scripture gives equal rights and protections in the womb and after birth.

Personhood is not decided based on the desires of the mother or father. Personhood is decided by our Creator.

Personhood is not a matter of consciousness. Murder is not permitted just because someone isn’t conscious.

Ecclesiastes 11:5 “As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.”

We must not take a precious gift from the Lord and treat it as disposable trash.

Psalm 127:3 “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.”

What About Cases of Rape and Incest?

Abortion for the cases of rape and incest make up less than 3 percent of total abortions.

Rape is a vile abomination in God’s sight. We must give love and support to victims of this wicked act and seek justice for them.

Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

Isaiah 1:17 “learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”

Ecclesiastes 8:11 “Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.”

Rape is such an abomination in God’s sight that the punishment prescribed by Scripture is death.

See Deuteronomy 22:25-27…

Scripture teaches that children shouldn’t be put to death for the sins of their fathers.

Deuteronomy 24:16 ““Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.” (See Ezekiel 18:20)

Abortion in cases of rape punishes the child for the sins of the father. It is condemning the innocent and justifying the wicked.

Proverbs 17:15 “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.”

The exact same arguments apply to cases of incest. As a matter of fact, in the vast majority of cases of incest, rape is involved.

See Leviticus 18:6-18 and Leviticus 20:11-17...

We must protect the lives of the innocent and seek justice for those who have been wronged.

Proverbs 24:11–12 “Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?”

Psalm 82:3–4 “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.””