Abortion Part 5

Question #4 in our abortion series: Is man permitted by God to end life before birth? First let me say that I’m thrilled with those of you who have commented on this blog series and I’m further impressed with those of you who have engaged in dialogue with other readers! This has been my prayer since the inception of this blog – to facilitate healthy dialogue and discussion among the readers! So, let’s continue:

In Exodus 21, we find a very interesting and important passage for our discussion. God is defining penalties for severe crimes among the Israelites:
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. But if there is serious injury you are to take life for life, (Exodus 21:22-23)
Here we find that an individual is punished in exactly the same manner for killing an unborn child as if they are killing an adult! This is a strong indicator of how God feels toward unborn children.

I want to make the case that we are not permitted to end life before birth by also using a common-sense example to hopefully force the question: What’s the difference? You’ll see what I mean as you read on:

Scenario: Mother A and Mother B become pregnant at exactly the same time. Mother A has her child prematurely but was planning to have an abortion a in only a few days. Three weeks later both mothers decide to end the life of their respective babies. Yet, mother A cannot legally end her child’s life because the child is now outside the womb. Mother B however can end her baby’s life legally for one reason only – the child happens to still be in the womb! Here we have the exact same circumstances, the exact same developmental stage of the child, yet one can be killed and the other cannot. One mother will walk out of the abortion clinic a free woman; the other will be tried for murder.

I want to get you thinking about the next blog as well. I’ll address the issues of rape and incest as well as look at the question of severely disabled babies in the womb. These three issues are often broached in a discussion on abortion and I’ll address them in my next post.

Until then…
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)

Todd Phillips
www.frontline.to
www.toddphillips.net