Discussions with those who favor abortions can be difficult. While we do believe the Bible and allow it to influence our lives, many times they do not. Listed below are some Biblical and logical talking points for having a loving conversation with someone about this subject.
Answering the Beliefs of those Who Favor Abortions*:
Remember these general truths. Abortion is not an eraser. When a woman is pregnant she is already a mother; she is not “becoming a mother.” A baby is not “on the way;” it is already here when the pregnancy starts. Pregnancy is not a disease to be “cured” by abortion. The cure for pregnancy is birth.
- But it is only a fetus and has not yet reached viability.
- The title of fetus is the name of a stage of human development like that of infant, child, adolescent, or teen. All titles describe humans, they are just at various stages of development.
- Human life begins at conception, for the genetic makeup of the child is complete at that time. The gender, height, hair, and eye and skin colors are all decided. They simply need time to grow. Human beings cannot be justly and accurately labeled as “non-persons.’
- If human life does not begin at conception, then biological fatherhood is a myth.
- God is said to be involved in the conception of life (1 Sam. 1:19-20). He knows the children even before conception (Jer. 1:5) and is actively involved in their life in the womb (Ps. 139:13-16). If God has His hand in the conception of every child, He has already made the choice to give life. No one has the right to take that choice away.
- What if the child is unwanted?
Some would say that it is better to kill a child than raise a child that no one wants. It misleads people into thinking that this will make every child a wanted child. Here are some objections:
- There is always a family that wants a child. Children of any race and even of any sickness are wanted by other people. Many, many couples cannot have children and would yearn to have your child.
- This is selfishness of the parents, and Scripture teaches us to get our focus off of ourselves.
- We do not apply this to others, so why to unborn babies? Just because we do not want a toddler, does not mean we can kill him. Just because we do not want someone who is sick or elderly does not mean we can get rid of them. This is hardly a reason to kill unborn children.
- What if your parents did not want you?
- The child should not be punished for someone else’s actions.
- This means that a child only has a right to exist if a child is wanted more than other things like a career or finances. Thus, aborted children are victims not of their own failures but of the selfishness of others.
- What if I cannot afford the child?
- There are more crisis pregnancy centers than abortion centers to help with these challenges.
- This truly is not the case. Very few people could truly state this. The problem is that we do not want to give up our standard of living, our toys, and our technology.
- God does provide for our needs! He answers prayer. He works through the local church to help out. We cannot disregard God’s promises to provide; we must trust Him!
- What if the child is deformed?
- God still made the child, even the deaf, dumb, and blind (Ex. 4:11).
- God will be glorified through the deformity (John 9:1-3).
- 93% of abortions are on healthy women with healthy babies.
- Doctors and tests claiming that babies are deformed have very often been proven wrong at birth.
- What if the Mother is addicted to Drugs?
- Medical procedures are available to wean a baby off of drugs.
- Is it right to kill the child due to the wrong choices of the mother?
- We do not kill adults simply because they are addicts and have harmed themselves; why should we be entitled to kill children who are addicted?
- What if the Mother was raped?
- Less than 1% of all abortions fall in this category, so it is not nearly as big as it is made out to be.
- Children do not always grow up to be exactly like their fathers.
- It is not the fault of the child that the mother was mistreated, so why should the child have to pay for it?
- Rape is an act of violence against a woman, and abortion is an act of violence against a child, this time the woman using her power to get what she wants – freedom from pregnancy.
- These abortions victimize the woman all over again.
- But it is a woman’s own body.
- If the person is truly a Christian, then her body is not her own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) but rather belongs to God. We are to present our bodies a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2).
- Actually, there are two bodies here. There are two heartbeats, two sets of DNA, sometimes two different genders, two different blood types, etc. At no time from conception onward is the baby simply a part of the woman’s body; it is constantly separate.
- The female children who are aborted are women too, and they have rights to their bodies.
- One person’s rights end where they infringe on the rights of another.
- The woman should have controlled her own body to prevent pregnancy, instead of now trying to control the body of the baby in her womb.
*Special thanks to the Sunday School class which inspired and began this article, as well as the input from others in further developing it.