In our last two sessions we have been looking at “issues of life.” We saw that life is a gift of God and that the fact that men and animals were set apart from plants by the fact that we have blood. We also learned that shedding of another human’s blood is forbidden because we are made in God’s image, and saw that “life is in the blood.” We read where Scripture called the intentional taking of life murder and those that committed this sin were called murderers.
We saw that there was grace for those that accidentally took a life and that intentional killing could be justified if it was authorized directly or indirectly by God. We saw in Romans 13 that indirect authority could be given through the use of Government. Using that logic,we determined that soldiers that are instructed by their governments to kill are not condemned.
We also saw that suicide is indeed self-murder and is sinful. We noted though that people who are suicidal feel no hope in their lives and that even Christians can get to feeling hopeless and take their own lives. Finally we discussed the fact that suicide is not an unpardonable sin.
In this sessionwe are going to extend this thinking a little further and then we are going to disc uss assisted suicide. Assuming we make it through this topic we’ll at least begin our discussion of abortion.
We said that we were going to base each discussion on three Scriptures.
Philipians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Ephesians 4:2-5
2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Galations 3:28
8There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Let's look at a couple of Scriptures.
We saw that there was grace for those that accidentally took a life and that intentional killing could be justified if it was authorized directly or indirectly by God. We saw in Romans 13 that indirect authority could be given through the use of Government. Using that logic,we determined that soldiers that are instructed by their governments to kill are not condemned.
We also saw that suicide is indeed self-murder and is sinful. We noted though that people who are suicidal feel no hope in their lives and that even Christians can get to feeling hopeless and take their own lives. Finally we discussed the fact that suicide is not an unpardonable sin.
In this sessionwe are going to extend this thinking a little further and then we are going to disc uss assisted suicide. Assuming we make it through this topic we’ll at least begin our discussion of abortion.
We said that we were going to base each discussion on three Scriptures.
Philipians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Ephesians 4:2-5
2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Galations 3:28
8There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Let's look at a couple of Scriptures.
1 Samuel 31:1-6
Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. 3The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically.
4Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me."
But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. 6So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.
Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. 3The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically.
4Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me."
But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. 5When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. 6So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.
What did Saul ask his armor-bearer to do?
Kill him.
Saul was going to die and didn’t want to go out the way he was headed, so he asked for help in committing suicide.
Let’s look at another example.
Judges 9:50-55
50Next Abimelech went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it. 51Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women--all the people of the city--fled. They locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof. 52Abimelech went to the tower and stormed it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire, 53a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull.
54Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that they can't say, ‘a woman killed him.' " So his servant ran him through, and he died. 55When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home.
Is assisted suicide a sin?
For the patient?
For the doctor
What if it’s allowed by the government that God has appointed?
Let’s take a minute to examine Washington State’s new law on this topic.
On May 5th 2009 Washington state legalized assisted suicide.
Washington's new law requires that any patient asking for a lethal prescription must be a resident of the state, be at least 18 years old, declared mentally competent to make the request, and two doctors have to certify that he or she has six months or less to live, reported the Seattle Times.
The patient's request must be put into writing and witnessed by two people, and they must also make two oral requests 15 days apart, the so-called "15 day waiting period".
Washington's new law requires that any patient asking for a lethal prescription must be a resident of the state, be at least 18 years old, declared mentally competent to make the request, and two doctors have to certify that he or she has six months or less to live, reported the Seattle Times.
The patient's request must be put into writing and witnessed by two people, and they must also make two oral requests 15 days apart, the so-called "15 day waiting period".
I struggle with this topic a little bit because of my father. He died of emphysema. Essentially he suffocated over about a 10 year period. The last years of his life he was constantly grasping for a breath. The last months of his life he hardly went out of the house. The last days of his life he asked repeatedly why it was taking him so long to die. He suffered. His quality of life was gone and assisted suicide would have brought a quicker end to a story that had no chance of changing.
But just like we discussed before, intentionally taking a life is murder, regardless of the quality of that life.
So, if you take a lethal dose of pills, you commit suicide and it is a sin.
But what if you give another person a lethal dose of pills to help him or her take their own life?
Let's look at a couple of Scriptures.
Romans 14:13
13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.
13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.
1 Corinthians 8:9-13
9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
9Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? 11So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. 12When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. 13Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.
I know that these verses don't have to do with suicide, or even an issue of life at aoo, but I do believe that they show a general idea that encouraging someone to sin is a sin itself.
According to the two passages we just read, is the Doctor that gives out the pills enabling or encouraging sin?
I believe He is.
In the verse in 1st Corinthians Paul calls it “sinning against your brother” and “sinning against Christ.”
I believe that assisted suicide is sinful for both the patient and the Doctor.
To this point we have looked at murder, police, military, capitol punishment, suicide, and assisted suicide. Now we are to begin what may be the most sensitive part of our study, the study of abortion.
What are the major questions that arise in the controversy about abortion?
Is it murder? Is it sin? When does life begin?
What is the opposite of Pro-Life? Is it Pro-Choice?
That never made sense to me. It’s not comparing apples to apples. The opposite of Pro-Life is Pro-Abortion. The opposite of Pro-Choice is No Choice.
Can you be both Pro-Life and Pro-Choice at the same time? I think you can.
Before we can answer these questions we need to define the term.
What is abortion?
Dictionary.com defines it as, “The voluntary removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to terminate a pregnancy.”
What is a synonym for uterus?
Womb.
And murder is defined as the intentional taking of a human life.
The real question boils down to is abortion taking a life. Is it murder?
So again we will start with logic:
- Does a one day old baby look like a baby? Yes.
- Is it recognized as a human being or an individual? Yes.
- Would it be murder if we killed it? Yes.
- Does a baby one minute before its born look like a baby? Yes.
- Is it recognized as a human being or an individual? Yes.
- Would it be murder if we killed it? Yes.
So following this logic we just have to go back to the point before they are not recognizable as a living human being and we know when life begins.
This is not such a trivial task.
Certianly I would say that if God recognizes life at some point it must be life because God gives the gift of life. Make sense?
Psalm 58:3
3Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.
So what can we surmise from this passage about God’s recognition of life?
Is it a stretch that God is saying that even in the womb fetuses can have characteristics that make them individual?
A question for the mothers…. Did your babies exhibit any personality traits or preferences or obvious signs of choice before they were born?
Psalm 139:13
13For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
Does this tell us anything about when life begins? David says he was created in his mother’s womb.
Keep this in mind as it will be important when we talk about stem cells.
Jeremiah 1:5
5"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
Here we see that not only did God create Jeremiah in the womb, he identified him specifically for a purpose.
Isaiah 49:5
5And now the LORD says--
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD
and my God has been my strength—
Again we see formation and identification are apparent in the womb.
Exodus 21:2 2-25
2"If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. 23But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
5And now the LORD says--
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD
and my God has been my strength—
Again we see formation and identification are apparent in the womb.
Exodus 21:2 2-25
2"If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. 23But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
This also seems to indicate that God believes that a baby in a womb has life.
(Amplified is poor translation – miscarries).
Luke 1:23-27
23When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25"The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people." 26In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary.
Luke 1:39-45
39At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
39At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 41When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"
Here we see that Elizabeth was around 6 months pregnant and the baby John, inside her, recognized Mary’s voice and “leaped in her womb.”
I think there is ample Scriptural evidence to support the argument that a baby in the womb is a life and voluntary aborting it is taking a life and God would consider it the sin of murder.
But that is still not a tight enough definition because there is this vague period between when you might be pregnant and when you are verified to be pregnant.
This is where we get in the deepest water. But before we go there I want us to consider the mothers that are getting abortions.
What do you know or think you know about them?
- Are the mostly promiscuous?
- Are they using abortion as birth control?
- Are they mostly teens?
- Are the poor?
- Are they from broken homes?
- Are they mostly minorities?
Warning – adult content below!
These figures are from May 2010 – Guttmacher Institute
• Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in 10 of these (unintended) are terminated by abortion.
• Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.
• Forty percent of pregnancies among white women, 69% among blacks and 54% among Hispanics are unintended.
• Each year, two percent of women aged 15-44 have an abortion; half have had at least one previous abortion.
• At least half of American women will experience an unintended pregnancy by age 45, and, at current rates, about one-third will have had an abortion.
• Age
o Eighteen percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are teenagers; those aged 15-17 obtain 6% of all abortions, teens aged 18-19 obtain 11%, and teens under age 15 obtain 0.4%.
o Women in their twenties account for more than half of all abortions; women aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and women aged 25-29 obtain 24%.
o Thirty percent of abortions occur to non-Hispanic black women, 36% to non-Hispanic white women, 25% to Hispanic women and 9% to women of other races.
o Eighteen percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are teenagers; those aged 15-17 obtain 6% of all abortions, teens aged 18-19 obtain 11%, and teens under age 15 obtain 0.4%.
o Women in their twenties account for more than half of all abortions; women aged 20–24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and women aged 25-29 obtain 24%.
o Thirty percent of abortions occur to non-Hispanic black women, 36% to non-Hispanic white women, 25% to Hispanic women and 9% to women of other races.
• 57% of women who have abortions have some level of college education.
• Thirty-seven percent of women obtaining abortions identify as Protestant and 28% as Catholic.
• Family Status
o Women who have never married and are not cohabiting account for 45% of all abortions.
o About 61% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children.
o Women who have never married and are not cohabiting account for 45% of all abortions.
o About 61% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children.
• Income
o Forty-two percent of women obtaining abortions have incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level ($10,830 for a single woman with no children). Twenty-seven percent of women obtaining abortions have incomes between 100-199% of the federal poverty level.
o Forty-two percent of women obtaining abortions have incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level ($10,830 for a single woman with no children). Twenty-seven percent of women obtaining abortions have incomes between 100-199% of the federal poverty level.
• Justification
o The reasons women give for having an abortion underscore their understanding of the responsibilities of parenthood and family life. Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.
o Of the roughly 1.3 million abortions performed in the US annually, roughly 13,000 say they became pregnant because of rape or incest.
o The reasons women give for having an abortion underscore their understanding of the responsibilities of parenthood and family life. Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner.
o Of the roughly 1.3 million abortions performed in the US annually, roughly 13,000 say they became pregnant because of rape or incest.
• CONTRACEPTIVE USE
o Fifty-four percent of women who have abortions had used a contraceptive method (usually the condom or the pill) during the month they became pregnant. Among those women, 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users report having used their method inconsistently, while 13% of pill users and 14% of condom users report correct use.
o Forty-six percent of women who have abortions had not used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant. Of these women, 33% had perceived themselves to be at low risk for pregnancy, 32% had had concerns about contraceptive methods, 26% had had unexpected sex and 1% had been forced to have sex.
o Eight percent of women who have abortions have never used a method of birth control; nonuse is greatest among those who are young, poor, black, Hispanic or less educated.
o About half of unintended pregnancies occur among the 11% of women who are at risk for unintended pregnancy but are not using contraceptives. Most of these women have practiced contraception in the past.
o Fifty-four percent of women who have abortions had used a contraceptive method (usually the condom or the pill) during the month they became pregnant. Among those women, 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users report having used their method inconsistently, while 13% of pill users and 14% of condom users report correct use.
o Forty-six percent of women who have abortions had not used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant. Of these women, 33% had perceived themselves to be at low risk for pregnancy, 32% had had concerns about contraceptive methods, 26% had had unexpected sex and 1% had been forced to have sex.
o Eight percent of women who have abortions have never used a method of birth control; nonuse is greatest among those who are young, poor, black, Hispanic or less educated.
o About half of unintended pregnancies occur among the 11% of women who are at risk for unintended pregnancy but are not using contraceptives. Most of these women have practiced contraception in the past.
When asked about their emotional state, their feelings, after an abortion few expressed regret or sorrow. The majority expressed relief.
When we talk about people behaving in opposition to what we believe God is instructing us in Scripture I try to always be empathetic and look for ways we can reach out to them. For example when we talked about suicide I tried to express that we needed to help people find the hope we have in Christ.
I’m having more difficulty finding that strain of compassion for women who have abortions. It seems like the reasons they are having abortions are because they were a bit irresponsible in the first place and don’t want to step up to the responsibility that they find themselves facing.
The hope that I do have is that I believe we can scripturally evangelize the fact that the unborn are indeed people, and represent a life.
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