A strong majority of Americans want some limits on abortion, but where do you draw the line? A consensus has settled around the 15-week mark. Why 15 weeks? That’s typically when a fetus is capable of feeling pain. Some would argue that’s when it has also developed to the point of viability outside the womb. Yet, it’s still arbitrary since nothing magical makes a “fetus” into a “baby” at 15 weeks, 39 weeks, or 1 week. It’s undeniably a human being from the moment of conception.
Since the Supreme Court removed federal protections for abortion nearly 2 years ago, abortions have actually increased nationwide, even as 14 states passed total bans. Why? Abortion pills (Mifepristone) now make up 63% of all U.S. abortions. A few weeks ago that same Court heard arguments on whether to restrict access to abortion pills. Pill providers have been making them available by mail across state lines to those places where it has been made illegal. While the Court hasn’t given a decision yet, it’s been noted that the Justices seem to be against ending this practice.
Following a rule change from the FDA last year, even chain drug stores like CVS & Walgreens will soon begin selling baby murder pills. That may sound like harsh language, but over the past few years, there’s been growing acknowledgment from even “pro-choice” proponents that abortion actually is murder–the killing of innocent human life. It’s fact regardless of feelings.
Atheist comedian & pundit, Bill Maher, the most-listened-to liberal commentator, last week conceded on his “Real Time” program that abortion is indeed murder. He said the quiet part out loud: “I scold the left on when they say: ‘Oh, you know what, they [pro-lifers] just hate women….’ People who aren’t pro-life…don’t hate women. They just made that up. They think it’s murder and it kind of is. I’m just OK with that. …Is that not your position if you’re pro-choice?”
That’s why making 15-weeks the legal cut-off point was nonsensical to him. It’s inconsistent to say a baby should be protected at 14 weeks but can be murdered after 15 weeks. By the way, all abortion bans already include exceptions for a mother’s life. A legal case can also be made for the extremely rare exception of rape when the woman had no choice to conceive. Still from a consistent (& Christian) viewpoint, the innocent child should not be put to death for the crime of the “father.”
As recently as 2 years ago, Maher was saying, “…If you like babies, then you’re pro-life, and if you like women, you’re pro-choice. I like women. …When people talk about a woman’s right, murder isn’t a right. If you think it’s murder — I don’t — again, crazy me.” See how he wouldn’t admit it was murder then, but he brazenly does now. What’s changed?
Pro-lifers have always been calling for the decision of 7 Supreme Court Justices to be overturned so that abortion at least would no longer be a national issue, but a states issue. “Let the people decide!” Then we finally got what we wanted & prayed for when Roe v. Wade was overturned! Pro-lifers have thought, “If we can just get people to understand that these are truly babies in the womb, abortion will be outlawed like all other murders.” But that hasn’t happened. People have still voted for the right to murder babies. There still is no real pro-life mandate. We’ve underestimated the wickedness of the human heart (Jer. 17:9, Rom. 1:21, 1 Tim. 4:2).
Some pro-life politicians nevertheless pressed for a federal abortion ban, while others began feeling the heat & making calculations about what would be necessary to win elections. They concluded that outlawing abortion is not a winning issue. Yet it still comes back to the main issue–is it a baby or not? If it is, then the 14th Amendment of the Constitution applies: “No State…shall…deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law….”
This is where democracy becomes a true evil. Instead of an ancient Pharaoh ordering the murder of all newborn baby boys, citizen majorities can now vote to allow the same thing to take place. Abortion should not be up for a vote any more than slavery should be up for a vote. So while we may currently not have the support to pass a federal ban or a Constitutional Amendment to protect babies in the womb, a 15-week ban is probably the best we can get for now (God help & spare us from His due judgment).
Christianity drove the slavery abolitionist movement. I’m an abortion abolitionist. Right is right & wrong is wrong regardless of what the populace, politicians, or courts say. Whether it’s ever made illegal again or not, we will not shut up or go away (Prov. 24:11). Even if we can’t get the laws changed, we will strive to help change hearts & save babies.