Is God Pro-Choice or Pro-Life?

Abortion is often framed by two camps:  Pro-Choice, or Pro-Life.  Where does God stand on this important issue?

Everybody has free will, able to choose how we run our lives.  Christians say God gave humans free will and it is an inalienable right.  Does that include Pro-Choice?

Pro-Choice claims to give every woman the freedom to choose for herself, with no restrictions (or a few reasonable restrictions that can be overcome some way eg. delay, informed consent, affordable fee, licensed facility with all necessary skills and equipment in case something goes wrong, etc.). 

Pro-Choice could have been called "Pro-Death", but its supporters realized it would be an unsavory name, and a tougher sell than the implied freedom of Pro-Choice.

Abortion in USA

Roe Vs. Wade was a famous Texas court case that allowed a woman to get an abortion.  US State of Texas appealed to the US Supreme Court in 1971 (decision released in 1973), where the Court decided the government could not restrict abortions in the first trimester, could have reasonable restrictions in the 2nd trimester, and could ban abortions in the 3rd trimester unless it endangered the mother's life.

In 1992, the US Supreme Court case of Planned Parenthood Vs. Casey amended the Roe Vs. Wade decision from a trimester framework to one based on viability of the unborn baby in womb, and also reduced the Court's ability to intervene on cases filed against Federal or State laws on abortions.

It is estimated that 60 million surgical abortions have occurred in USA since Roe Vs. Wade.

In 2015, CDC reported:

638,169 legal induced abortions were reported to CDC from 49 reporting areas. The abortion rate for 2015 was 11.8 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years, and the abortion ratio was 188 abortions per 1,000 live births.

In addition to surgical abortions, since early 1960's there has been pharmaceutical-based emergency contraception (eg. heavy doses of birth control pills, "Plan B" pill, Morning After Pill, etc.) to stop a fertilized egg from implanting, and the Abortion Pill to abort newly implanted embryos.  In the USA, CDC reported in 2013 that for 2006 to 2010, 5.8 Million sexually active women used pharmaceuticals as an emergency contraception.  Reading between the lines, we can calculate approximately 9.2 Million babies may have been aborted in this 5 year period (ie. 1.84 million babies per year on average).

Abortion in Canada

In 1869, Canada made all abortions illegal. Illegal abortions and deaths of women prompted a relaxing of the law.  In 1969, abortions were permitted provided they were performed at some select hospitals if they were approved by the Therapeutic Abortion Committee at that hospital.  Feeling abortion approvals were too restrictive, Dr. Morgentaler started to focus his medical practice on abortions in 1968 by setting up his own private abortion clinic in Quebec.  He was repeatedly charged under Section 251 (4) of Canadian Criminal Code for performing illegal abortions in Quebec.  Juries of his peers continued to acquit him under the defense of necessity due to the plight of the women who sought an abortion but couldn't obtain one through the approved governmental system.  After 3 trials and 3 acquittal (and an Appeal Court overturning one of the jury acquittals, substituting a conviction for which Morgentaler spent 10 months in jail), the government gave up.  In 1976, the Quebec government announced there would be no further prosecution of bonafide doctors for illegal abortions in Quebec.

Morgentaler and other doctors spread the abortion movement to other provinces beginning in 1983, and were quickly charged for illegal abortions in Ontario.  In 1988, Canadian Supreme Court finally ruled that the Criminal Code was unconstitutional under Section 7 of the Charter of Rights (installed in 1982 at the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution).  No subsequent legislation on abortion has passed, so there is currently no enforceable federal laws against abortions in Canada.  Each individual Province or Territory have regulations controlling abortions.

In 2017, CIHI and ARCC reported there were 94,030 surgical abortions in Canada.  ARCC calculated there were 7.167 Million Canadian women of childbearing age (15 - 44), so the abortion rate was 13.1 per 1000 woman; 11% higher than the USA incidence rate for abortion.

Based on a study in British Columbia in 2005 for 1.4 million women of child bearing age (10 - 59 years old, total BC population of 3.9 million people), emergency contraception drugs were used 4 or more times per year by 0.9% of the women, 3 times per year for 2.1% of the women, twice per year by 10.4% of women, and only once per year by 86.6% of the women.   During the study, the 20 to 24 age group had the greatest use of EC's, at 38.9 treatments per 1000 women per year.  By making EC's available as over-the-counter drugs from pharmacists without prescription, there was up to a 47% increase in the use of EC's (45 - 49 age group).  It is estimated that 1,362 pregnancies were prevented by EC's in this 2 year study period in BC.  Extrapolating to all of Canada, we estimate 6,471 babies per year are killed by EC's.

Adding EC deaths to surgical abortions, we obtain a total death rate of 100,501 babies per year in Canada.

Today in Ontario (similar to other jurisdictions in Canada), emergency contraception prescriptions can be obtained at a doctor's clinic or pharmacy without doctor's prescription.  The Abortion Pill requires a doctor's examination, proof of pregnancy, and a doctor's prescription, then the cost of the pills are free (ie. paid for by Ontario's medical insurance program, OHIP).

Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood, & Abortion

Margaret Sanger was the USA-born woman who was the atheist, communist, neo-Malthusian, and eugenicist who founded Planned Parenthood.  Sanger was a strong proponent of negative eugenics, which aimed to improve human hereditary traits through social intervention by reducing the reproduction of those who were considered unfit (similar to the Nazi government).  Sanger published her eugenics book Women and the New Race in 1920.  She wanted to use birth control methods so as to "assist the race toward the elimination of the unfit".

Somehow, Margaret Sanger obtained the endorsement of Black community leaders, proposing birth control clinics in black communities, building the first one in Harlem, New York City in 1929.  Although Sanger was never reported as openly racist, she had close ties and sought support of the Klu Klux Klan and other racist individuals and groups, likely so as to maximize her personal mission of birth control by all available means.

In spite of all this, Margaret Sanger was strongly against abortion.  In 1916, when she opened her first birth control clinic, she was employing harsh rhetoric against abortion. Flyers she distributed to women exhorted them in all capitals:

"DO NOT KILL,   DO NOT TAKE LIFE,   BUT PREVENT"

and

"Abortion was the wrong way—no matter how early it was performed it was taking life; that contraception was the better way, the safer way—it took a little time, a little trouble, but it was well worth while in the long run, because life had not yet begun."

In spite of its founder's strong stance against abortion, today Planned Parenthood ("PP") is the #1 advocate for abortion throughout the world.

Abortion in the World

The first government to legalize abortion was in 1920 under the Communist Bolshevik government of the Soviet Union.

The Guttmacher Institute was founded by Planned Parenthood in 1968, and continues to have a close relationship with them.

The 2017 Guttmacher Institute study for WHO found that on a world-wide basis 55.6 Million abortions are performed every year, 45% of which were deemed unsafe (25 million unsafe abortions per year).  The incidence rate (abortions per 1000 women aged 15-44 years old) varied from 36 in developed countries, to 27 in developed countries.

WHO estimates 758 Million women are using contraceptive methods (non-abortion such as rythmn, condom, IUD, injection, implant, etc.) as of 2015, representing on average 64% of married or in-union women (as high as 84% for China, 75% for N. America, to as low as 17% for Eastern Africa).

Is Abortion OK at a Certain Stage of Pregnancy?

In all things, we should be logical and consistent.

When conception occurs, the DNA of the man mingles with the DNA of the woman so as to produce a unique individual; different, separate, distinct from both parents.  Once fertilized, the egg is no longer part of the mother; it is its own unique form of life.

We cut our hair and trim our toenails.  We surgically remove cancers from our bodies.  Hair has the same DNA as the body from which it was cut; same for toenails, and for most cancer tumors.  However, a fertilized egg is clearly different, as its DNA is different from the mother's DNA.  A fertilized egg cannot be dismissed as a "clump of cells".

Is a Fertilized Egg a Parasite in the Mother's Body?

Some misguided people think that a fertilized egg is like a parasite in the mother's body.  A parasite is defined as:

an organism living in, with, or on another organism in parasitism (an intimate association between organisms of two or more kinds especially : one in which a parasite obtains benefits from a host which it usually injures).

Parasitism is one species attacking a different species.  A fertilized egg is a different person, but is not a different species.  Therefore a fertilized egg inside its mother's body fails to meet the definition of parasitism.   Symbiosis is defined as the living together in a more or less intimate association or close union of two dissimilar organisms.  Symbiosis can be:

• Mutualism (where the organisms are mutually beneficial to one another)
• Commensalism (where only one organism benefits but the other is not injured or physically harmed)
• Parasitism (where one organism benefits to the injury of the other)

Clearly, an unborn baby can be Mutualism or Commensalism, but not Parasitism.  Steve James provides 10 reasons that contrast a pre-born baby from a parasite:

1. A parasite is an organism of one species that lives in or on an organism of another species and receives nourishment from the host.
2. Parasites are invasive organism that come from an outside or external source. A fetus comes from an inside or internal source (ie fertilized egg)
3. Parasites are generally harmful to the hosts, fetuses may make a pregnant woman experience adverse health effects, but not nearly to the same level that a parasite generally does.
4. A parasite makes direct contact with the host's living tissues. A fetus lives in the placenta, fed by the umbilical cord, both of which are fetal tissue (ie the cells come from the baby).
5. When a parasite invades a host, the host tissue will usually respond by encapsulating the parasite in order to cut it off from other surrounding tissue. In the case of a fetus, the mother’s tissue will create a lining tissue that connects, rather than cuts off contact with other tissues (placenta lining).
6. Parasites usually elicit a surge of antibodies as an immunological response. With the fetus, however, a mother’s trophoblast (the shell of cells surrounding the embryo) will naturally block these antibodies so as not to reject the fetus. This reaction is only found in the embryo-mother relationship.
7. A parasite will generally weaken the cellular reproductive capacity of the host.For a fetus, the effect is the opposite.
8. Parasites generally stay with the host for life, a fetus leaves upon birth.
9. Parasitical relationships are mostly harmful and unnecessary to the host, generally damaging the host in a variety of ways. A newborn (fetus post-birth) is very healthy for the mother, bringing benefits of an emotional, cognitive and chemical nature.
10. The most obvious one, a fetus is a human being in development. It will never become anything other than human. Even a first trimester fetus will have fully developed arms, legs, ears, facial features, sex organs and a functioning heart, as well as sufficient neurological development to feel pain. A parasite is not a human and never will be.

SLED:   Size, Level of development, Environment, Dependency

Abortionists and Pro-Choice supporters try to unjustly discriminate against, and rationalize away the inalienable rights & value of a pre-born baby by false logic.

SLED is an acronym for the 4 strongest arguments in favor of life and human rights for pre-born babies.

Size      There is a continuum of growth from the moment of fertilization to human adulthood (approx. age of 19 years of age).  Some people  are only 4 ft. tall, while others are 7 ft. tall.  There is no logic for choosing an arbitrary point at which we become human.

Level of Development      Similar to size, our capabilities (strength, intelligence, knowledge, awareness, emotional maturity, wisdom, etc.) grow on a continuum from fertilization through all our life.  There is no logic for choosing an arbitrary point at which we become human.

Environment      The fertilized egg or pre-born baby is inside a special environment of the mother's womb for its first 9 months, separated from the "real world" by the 7" of the birth canal.  During this 9 months, the baby continuously breathes in & out its amniotic fluid.  An astronaut, sky diver, scuba diver, swimmer, cave explorer, hard rock miner, and others are in special environments too; but are not eligible to be killed nor lose their humanity while in those special environments.

Dependency     A fertilized egg and pre-born baby are dependent upon its mother to protect and provide for them during the 9 month pregnancy.  By having sex, the mother has responsibility for the pregnancy she caused, aided, or acquiesced towards.  A guardian cannot turn a blind eye to a life threatening situation of its ward; a duty of care is owed. Senior citizens, accident victims, the sick, infants, and toddlers are all dependent upon 1 or more caregivers; and cannot be arbitrary killed nor have their human rights taken away.  Civilized society must protect the weak.

For more info, see SLED

Final Arguments

Finally, pregnancy is a temporary inconvenience for the mother at worst, as she can put her baby up for adoption after the birth of the baby.  Do we allow parents to kill or abandon their children because its difficult, the child will have a difficult life, or parents change their mind about being a parent?  For similar reasons, a pre-born baby must be allowed to continue.

The man contributed half of the genetic material that formed the baby, so it isn't just the woman's decision about what happens to a pre-born baby.  If rape or incest caused the pregnancy, by all means punish the perpetrator, but the pre-born baby that may result is innocent of all crimes, and should not be punished for the crimes of its parent.

A few facts on a Pre-Born baby:

• At Day 1 after egg fertilization, a pre-born baby's brain begins to develop.
• At Day 14, any monozygotic twins have already formed, so we have 1 or more unique individuals hereinafter.
• After 16 days the neural tube (precursor of spinal cord and brain) has formed.
• At 22 days, a pre-born baby's heart begins to beat.
• By Week 5, the first spinal nerve synapses begin to form.
• At Week 8, the heart is completely formed.
• By 12 weeks, the baby can display muscle reflexes, and respond to environmental stimuli.
• A healthy baby begins sucking their thumb at 12 weeks after fertilization.
• Pre-born babies of 21 weeks gestation have survived birth and are now healthy toddlers.
• Somewhere around Week 20 to 24, pain is felt and responded to by pre-born baby.
• Late trimester babies can respond to familiar sounds (eg. mother's heartbeat) and smells (ie. its own amniotic fluid). 
• Anthony Kenny argues that a pre-born baby individualism can be derived from everyday beliefs and language and one can legitimately say "if my mother had had an abortion six months into her pregnancy, she would have killed me" then one can reasonably infer that at six months the "me" in question would have been an existing person with a valid claim to life. Since division of the zygote into twins through the process of monozygotic twinning can occur until the fourteenth day of pregnancy, Kenny argues that individual identity is obtained at this point and thus abortion is not permissible after two weeks.
• Some argue that human life is only unique and obtains personhood based upon consciousness, capacity to feel pain, ability to communicate, reasoning, self-motivation, self-awareness, brain waves or higher brain functions, rationality, and autonomy.  All or most of these proposed criteria fail to contrast a pre-born baby from a 1 yr old baby, senior citizen, or similar (ie. if those reasons are alleged to be adequate to prevent the killing of a newly born infant,  2 yr old toddler, senior citizen, accident victim in a reversible coma, etc.; then those same reasons should be adequate to prevent the killing of a pre-born baby).
• Pregnancies that threaten the mother's life, or involved incest, or rape represent less than 2% of all abortions.

Alexander Tsiaras helped develop the technology of micro-photography via endoscope, and micro-MRI visualization.  He has applied these techniques to the entire 9 months of a baby's development inside the mother's body, producing the following 10 minute video of that 9 month process.  Watch & learn about God.

What Does God Say About All This?

Before the first abortion occurred, God knew that wicked humans would dream up a wicked solution to solve or hide his sexual sin.

God is all about life and truth.

Satan is all about death and sin. Guess where abortion originated from, and who constantly supports abortion?

God's objection to abortion is demonstrated by the Bible.  The key verses are as follows:

 [James 4:17 KJV] 17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth [it] not, to him it is sin.

In other word, we sin if we know and turn a blind eye towards the sin, rather than rebuke it and fight against it.

[Psa 138:8 KJV] 8 The LORD will perfect [that which] concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, [endureth] for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

God made us at conception, then turned over His handiwork to our moher's womb.

[Psa 139:13-16 NIV] 13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

God created each of us, and our entire lives were written about in God's Book of Life before we were born.

[Jhn 10:10 KJV] 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly.

God creates life and truth.  The thief (ie. Satan) comes to steal, lie, & kill.

[Jer 1:5 KJV] 5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, [and] I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

God knew all about us, each and every one of us, before He created us with His spark of life at conception.

[Gal 1:15 KJV] 15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called [me] by his grace,

God created each of us for a purpose in this world.  When the baby is killed, the world loses the planned benefits from that baby, and God's good works are stymied.

[Exo 20:13 KJV] 13 Thou shalt not kill.

This includes babies and the un-born.

[Exo 21:22 KJV] 22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart [from her], and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges [determine].

If a man injures a pregnant woman, and the un-born baby dies but the woman lives, then the husband of the pregnant woman may punish the negligent man as he sees fit, and the Court may fine the accused man also.

[Exo 21:23 KJV] 23 And if [any] mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,

If the pregnant woman dies or is seriously injured from the incident [Exodus 21:22, see above], then the accused man is punished on an equal basis.

[Luk 1:15 KJV] 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

God and the Holy Ghost is involved in conception from conception.

[Gen 25:21-23 KJV] 21 And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she [was] barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If [it be] so, why [am] I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations [are] in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and [the one] people shall be stronger than [the other] people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

God knows what is going on inside every womb.

[Mat 1:18 KJV] 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

God can conceive a child inside a woman's womb without a man's involvement.

Conclusion

We therefore conclude that abortion is wrong, and needs to stop.