Jeremiah 1:5a “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.”
Psalm 22:10 “From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.”
Yesterday, Cincinnati’s Life Forward ministry held their annual Strides for Hope walk to raise awareness and support for women and families experiencing unplanned pregnancy. I’ve participated the past two years and, both times, have found myself among joyous and generous people who gather to celebrate and support life. We walked not just to raise money for life, but to oppose a culture of death that coldly and routinely butchers vast numbers of helpless and innocent human beings.
Without pausing to consider what really happens, abortion can seem an abstract, almost anodyne procedure like removing impacted wisdom teeth or an inflamed appendix. Yet the “mass of tissue” is indisputably – scientifically and morally – a human life. No woman has ever given birth to a lung or a spleen. And though in the earliest weeks of pregnancy a developing human embryo “looks something like a newt or a tadpole” (to quote the atheist Carl Sagan), no woman has ever given birth to a salamander or a toad. This is plain common sense. Only willful ignorance, an embrace of the irrational, or outright wickedness can render abortion an acceptable choice.
We rightly recoil in horror upon reading of a paranoid king ordering the slaughter of all males in Bethlehem two years old and under (Matthew 2:16). I have two toddler grandsons and cannot imagine them being torn from their mothers and murdered, wiped off the earth. Two verses later, Matthew quotes Jeremiah’s prophecy of “Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15). We do well to condemn this monstrous, diabolical act from ancient history.
Yet in our culture things are far worse, unimaginably so. Today, the mother herself willingly consents to hand over her child to Herod’s executioners. And how many others are complicit? The baby’s father, the woman’s parents, friends, and abortion industry propaganda urge her off the cliff. Yet there is no shortcut to peace and happiness by “getting rid of the problem.” Forever after these would-be mothers and their cohorts are haunted by the deed. It comes out in all kinds of pathologies. No wonder our culture chokes with rage and a craving to shame others. No wonder people so fervently try to smother the inner nightmare by publicly signaling their virtue, yearning to appear righteous in the eyes of others.
I’ve heard it said that pro-lifers should not be “one issue voters.” But abortion, my friends, is such a core issue that it contaminates the very DNA of society. And, as the Old Testament prophets repeatedly taught, this sin defiles the land itself.
What, then, to do with guilt of such magnitude? There is only one way to find healing: lay your burden at the foot of the Cross. Only there will you find mercy and true forgiveness, along with a new chance at peace and happiness. Only Jesus can set you free.
Father, thank you that your forgiveness is available to anyone who will come and receive it. We no longer impossibly bear our own sins. You did not spare your own Son but gave him up for us all. No one can condemn us any longer, not even our own consciences. Nothing can separate us from your love.
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This week: If you haven’t yet watched these three movies, make plans now to watch all of them: Gosnell, Unplanned, and Bella. They are all different and extremely well done (and it’s probably best to watch them in the order I’ve listed – from shocking to uplifting). Dawn and I are making plans to participate in the 2021 March for Life on January 29 in Washington, D.C. Let me know if you’re interested in joining us!
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