Postings from the John Ankerburg Show. This contains a lot of information on why abortion is wrong. It talks about when life begins, how abortions are done, and what are the current arguments on both sides of the story.
In His Love,
Michael A. Kline, Sr. SSE VDH, Technical Support (804)786-1559 XVDHMAK at VCUVM1 Richmond, Virginia
Part 10
04/01/90
John Ankerberg -------------- Abortion 10 ----- 04/01/90-FAM-10:30PM
This is the first of X parts to the "next to the last(?)" of the John Ankerberg's shows on abortions. There will be other postings from his book, some data from CHARISMA, and what ever comes about. I've decided to "split" this one up for those of you with smaller disk space and the like. If anyone would like a single copy of the whole thing before it becomes part of "ABORTION PART2" at UCF1VM, let me know and I'll send it to you. I'm hoping that the smaller parts will generate more discussion as there will be less to absorb in one posting.
Some general comments. I've been told that I post from Ankerberg as though it is the gospel truth. Some of it maybe. Some of it to generate the "thinking" conversation it has. I have appreciated the "tons" of personal "thank you"s that the "Pro Choice" side are so sure "just can't be happening".
One of the comments from Ankerberg's book that I think could be asked of the Pro-Choice side is from page 66-67.
"Anyone who has examined only a few dozen of the 300 studies conducted on the psychological aftermath of abortion cannot doubt that abortions cause psychological problems to women (42, 58, 82). What is DIFFICULT TO BELIEF is the IRRESPONSIBILITY of those who CLAIM that it has been "PROVEN" there are NO PSYCHOLOGICAL DANGERS. (Such a study was just posted to BELIEF-L, refuting John Wilke and others.) "If so, why are there now TENS OF THOUSANDS of women in groups such as American Victims of Abortion(AVA), Victims of Choice, Women Exploited By Abortion(WEBA), Post Abortion Counseling and Education(PACE), Healing Visions Network and others? Why do HUNDREDS of health care workers attend annual conferences at the University of Notra Dame on Post-Abortion counseling when there is NO NEED(42:4)? (Yes, WHY????) 42. Vincent M. Rue; "A Report on the Psychological Aftermath of Abortion" (presented to C. Everett Koop by the National Right to Life Committee) 09/15/87, Washington, DC; National Right to Life Committee, 1987. Appendix One summarizes 90 studies. (Pro-Choice will tell you that since Pro Life put this out, you can't trust it) 58. Wanda Franz, Testimony, US congress, "Medical and Psychological Impact of Abortion" 101st Congress, "The Hatch Hearings", Vol 1; "The Psycho-Social Stress Following Aboriton", Sheed and Ward, "Post Abortion Trauma", David Mall and Walter F. Watts, "Psychological Aspects of Abortion", Frederick MD, University Publications of American, 1979. 82. The Rutherford Institute, "Major Articles and Books Concerning the Detrimental Effects of Abortion" (Summary report from hundreds of scientific studies published in medical and psychological journals), Manassas, VA (PO Box 510), The Rutherford Institute.
Ok, as an exercise, what do you thing should be the answers to the three women on the John Ankerberg show faced with the decision of an abortion. Their stories are very much like the ones told by Pro Choice camps. I'll try and post the "answers" that these women chose tomorrow.
This program deals with "the difficult decisions a woman faces in an unwanted pregnancy." What are the options if an unplanned pregnancy interrupts your life, your career, your education? What about rape or incest? What about abortion? To begin with I want you to hear the stories of 3 women who had unwanted pregnancies. I'd like you to hear the problems they faced. Perhaps, right now, you or someone you know is in a similar situation, and you're faced with making some really difficult decisions about a crisis pregnancy.
Woman 1(about 25-35): Just before I got pregnant, I was single and I was seeking a career in the US government. My family... I was ashamed to come to them and say I was pregnant. That's something that just doesn't happen in my family. I was really considering abortion. But, I didn't want to put that mark on my family. Another reason was that just everybody was, just on my case, you could say. That "This is the way to do it, Anna Marie, you've got a new job, you can go places in this job. You've got good money, you can make better money. And why do you want to have a baby hanging on?" I still felt very lost, very lonely, very confused. And I just didn't know where to go or where to do. I was just frightened.
Girl 1: (about 15) : before I found out I was pregnant I was involved in school and I had a lot of friends and I went to all the football games and basically had a normal teenage life. My parents pressured me to get an abortion at the beginning. I faced pressures from some kids at school to go and keep the baby. They thought that would be right. I never felt abortion was right, but once you're in a crisis situation you begin to think about it, seriously. I mean, it would be an easy way out, and I began to think, "Well no one will know.", and I'll be able to go on with life normally, and it won't affect any part of my life. I can continue playing softball, continue going to school, and my family will feel better and the more I thought about both sides, I got confused. You know, I just kept going round and round in my mind and it was real hard to nail down what should happen and make some important and final decisions.
Woman 2 (Black, early 20s, raped): I was brutally beaten up, and I was raped and I was pulled into a condemned building, and left there to die. I found out I had contracted some other diseases that was curable, and then I found out also that I was pregnant, and that was devastating. At that particular time everything was going beautiful for me, going to college, I was working. This is no time for a baby. And I was getting sick all the time. I was miserable. I was like hating this child. I was saying "Why me?". Why did I have to be pregnant? Especially by someone who raped me. I hated the baby. My thoughts was "Oh, I'm going to get an abortion. I'm going to get an abortion."
John Ankerburg -- (Part 2) -- Abortion 10 ----- 04/01/90-FAM-10:30PM
Part 2, John's comments and others on Rape, incest, deformity of the child and life of the mother.
We are told we will hear the conclusion. Then, "How would you answer the hard questions surrounding the issue of abortion, such as rape, Incest." Let's examine.
First, some argue that society must permit abortions for all women, for any reason, for any time, during their pregnancy. And if you say, you are against abortion. They immediately bring up the question, "Well what about all the women who have been raped?"
Now there are two answers that can be given to this question. 1)Laws prohibiting abortion except for rape, incest and the life of the mother would eliminate 95% to 98% of all abortions. According to the general social surveys taken from 1972 to 1985, and published by the National Opinion Research Center, "Approximately 98% of all abortions are performed for social, non-medical reasons. But 77% of the American public opposes permitting abortion for these reasons."
2)People bringing up the question of rape make it sound like the majority of women having abortions are having them because they were raped. But that is just not true. You know that only 6/10 of 1% or about 900 per year are due to rape. "98% or 1,470,000 for convenience". For incest "Less than 1% of all abortions are because of incest". How many abortions are performed because of deformity of the child? "2% of all abortions are because of possible deformity" and of these many are correctable. How many abortions are performed for the life of the mother. "6/10ths of 1% to 1% are because of a threat to the life of the mother." Even if you add all of the "hard cases" together, that is rape, incest, chance of deformity of the child, and threat to the life of the mother, all 4 of these categories only total 3% to 5% of all the abortion cases in America.
What this means is that a law prohibiting all abortions except these "hard cases" would still prohibit 95-96% of all abortions. But then let's examine the moral question itself. Is it morally justifiable for a raped woman to have an abortion? The answer is, the rape of the mother does not justify the murder of the child. If the unborn is a human, then intentionally taking an innocent life is murder.
Now once again, the real issue is the human status of the unborn. Science tells us that human life begins at conception. If so, that innocent human life must be protected. Abortion does not take away the evil of the rape, it just adds another evil to it. The rape problem is not solved by killing the baby. After all, the child himself is not responsible for being brought into existence. Why punish the child for what his father did? We should punish the guilty rapist and not the innocent baby.
Now you know that due to understandable physical and physiological circumstances, few pregnancies ever occur from rape. It's also interesting that, in those cases where pregnancy does occur about 1/2 of the rape victims want to have the baby. Now should the mother not want the baby, there are lines of people ready to adopt babies. Adoption, not abortion is the better alternative. You know I agree with Dr. Bernard Nathenson's observation when he said, "Even the terrible emotional turmoil of a rape cannot justify the taking of a human life. Neither the intent behind intercourse nor its moral status can change the value of life. Even degradation, shame and emotional disruption are not the moral equivalent of life, only life is." I asked Dr. D. James Kennedy, Senior Minister of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, for his perspective on this issue. This is what he told me.
MAKS: Dr. Nathenson is a Jewish Atheist. He did a TON of abortions, and his conscience got the better of him. He is now a hard line Pro Lifer.
Dr. Bernard N. Nathenson, MD spoke to some extent on this show. He was Co-Founder of National Abortion Right Action League, and was the director of the nation's largest abortion clinic for 2 years. He bears ultimate responsibility for 75,000 abortions. "But over the past 10 years, I've changed my mind on the acceptability of abortions, owing to the immense technological advances which have been made in the field of obstetrics and fetology, Advances such as ultra sound imaging, fetal heart monitoring, and fetoscophy which have allowed us now to perceive, without question, the unmistakable humanity of the unborn child."
Dr. Kennedy: We often hear about the cases of rape or incest, and those indeed are very touching to the human heart, and yet even there, as terrible of a burden as that may be, it doesn't give us the right to take a life. And if that were the only problem, only a tiny percentage of abortions are performed because of rape. One study done in Czechoslovakia of 86,000 abortions, showed that only 22 of them were performed because of rape, and even less because of incest. Now that's 3/100ths of 1%. So you can see that this is simply a smoke screen which the Pro-Abortion, Pro-Death forces(MAKS> Please, his words..) which like to say they're Pro Choice except the "choice" ALWAYS seems to be death for the baby.
MAKS: Well here's a bit more to think over. Tell me. Are there any "Pro Choice" advocates that would be willing to outlaw just "sex selection" abortions?
John Ankerburg
Abortion 10 ----- 04/01/90-FAM-10:30PM
John: Now I want you to hear the decisions the there women made in their crisis pregnancies.
Woman 1, Anna Marie: I called my ex-husband in Arizona, and he decided to come over, and when he got here, we discussed quite a few things. He let me just air out all my feelings, and cry a lot, and just listened to me. And, the advice that he gave me, the suggestions he gave me was that I could put my baby up for adoption, I could keep my baby, but to abort the baby would not be the solution. It was murder. So, (starting to cry, smiling) I decided to keep Joseph, that's his name Joseph. (MAKS> Funny how the product of conception became male and has a name. I hear people do the same with any "blob of tissue". <MAKS) And I haven't regretted it. He's been such a joy, and such a blessing, and I just couldn't imagine life without him. He just really fulfilled my life to the extreme. And I love him to death.
The young girl: Finally though I came to terms with what I'd done, and I thought "No, an abortion is wrong, and I'm not going to have one. I'm just not." and I decided that an adoption would be best for the baby, and I went to Bethany Christian Services (MAKS> One of the agencies supported by the Richmond Crisis Pregnancy Center. <MAKS) and there they helped me to make this decision, and they helped arrange the adoption. They allowed for me to pick the parents from a file, and I was assured that these parents were good Christian families and that I knew that the baby was going to be well taken care of then because I had the reassurance that I was going to get reports every so often,(a picture of a letter to Debbie talking about finally getting a "letter" of to her.) I could have pictures, I soon gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, (Picture of the girl holding her baby on a hospital bed in the hospital, darker hair, more weight, looking quite happy and pleased with herself.) and a few days later, her parents, that I had chosen myself, came to pick her up, and that's when I met them. (Picture of girl looking much more like "herself" standing with the new parents, all smiling standing in front of a large building.) It was a very nice, and joyous time for them, yet sad, but happy for me. But it was good, I knew that was the best, and it was a good decision, the right one for me, and the baby.
Woman 2: I was being swayed to and fro. One way I was wanting to get an abortion then another I didn't want to do it because I knew in my heart that abortion was wrong. IN MY OPINION ABORTION IS WRONG BECAUSE IT'S A HUMAN BEING, IT'S A LIFE, and I could feel that baby inside of me. You know even at 2 or 3 months. I could feel you know that something's there. After I decided not to have an abortion, I got DEEP PEACE and I felt this was the right thing to do. And about a week ago I had given birth to a baby boy, and I'm so happy. I took one look at him and I just fell in love. And I completely forgot, almost, what happened to me. I mean just joy looking at him, and him looking at me. I love him very, very much. Very much, and I know he loves me, and he shows it, and I have no regrets.
John Ankerburg -------------- Abortion 10 ----- 04/01/90-FAM-10:30PM
This is a wrap up to the women's decisions and the effects of two women that "chose" abortion but were not given an informed choice. One woman was injured, one found her "Product of Conception" floating in a bucket of blood after the abortion and has not been the same since.
A couple of other questions lately on the radio. A girl must have her parents permission to get her ears pierced, but not for an abortion. If however, the abortion is botched, who pays? The parents.
John: Perhaps right now, you're facing your own crisis pregnancy. You have difficult decisions to make. I want you to know abortion is not the answer. And I also want you to know your unborn child may not be the only victim. You too could be a victim. Did you know that there are approximately 7,500 serious complications a year from abortion? (MAKS> That's a pretty good safety record and after all (speaking for the Pro Choice side) what's another woman or two, it was her choice) Major hemorrhage, perforated uterus, serious infection, and hysterectomy are just a few. What follows is the testimony of 2 young woman who have irreparably injured by abortion. One physically, the other physiologically. They too, are in every sense, innocent causalities in this on going tragedy of abortion. Now because they have suffered so grievously, their faces have been shadowed to preserve their privacy.
Victim 1: If the doctor would have told me that I was four months pregnant I don't think that I would have had an abortion. I would have considered that murder at that point, the baby's heart was beatin', the baby's developed really, and I would have never had an abortion. The doctor did not tell me anything about a D & E being dangerous. The doctor didn't discuss anything to me about any risks. I WASN'T TOLD *ONE WORD*(her emphasis, some anger in her voice). Nothing about, you know, my uterus being burst through, and all these things happened.
Victim 2(from Bernard Nathensan, "This young woman is a practicing physiologist"): When I was examined, the doctor said that he had been mistaken, the baby was far more advanced than he had thought, and that it was 15 weeks, and I was really just in shock. Within a minute, I was aborted, waited a few minutes, and I got up to get dressed. And when I went over to the dressing room, I saw a bucket of blood. And, my baby was in the bucket of blood(she's beginning to cry at this point), and the baby was not an inch big, the baby was as big as my hand, and it was a real baby. All I could think of was that I had murdered my baby. (MAKS> For the Pro Choice side, there is no mention of her seeking counseling. Shouldn't she have had an "informed choice"? <MAKS) I started deteriorating emotionally that night. Over the next month, I cried, not normal cries, I cried from the bellows of the earth. I remember just leaning at the top of my staircase just wishing I could throw myself down to the bottom. I remember thinking of jumping on the roof and jumping off. I thought of every method of suicide, I tried to consider doing. And, I cried so deeply, so constantly, and so deeply, it was like the wail of a newborn baby when they cry and their fists are clenched and they just can not control the crying, and somehow I thought I must, it was the most extraordinary crying I could see myself doing.
Victim 1: Now, to my knowledge, I find out that if I do have another baby, that it could probably kill me. I would never have had an abortion if I knew these horrible things could happen to me, cause that's the only way to explain it. It's not worth going through.
Victim 2: I have seen either through referrals, or in my practice, more through referrals since my abortion, people who have had as serious an initial reaction as I had. It seems to me that almost no attention is paid to the psychological disaster that happens to so many people through abortion. Abortion is not something that was developed or invented by the woman's movement, I think the woman's movement has been terribly deceived about, and has misunderstood what abortion is.
Victim 1: Sometimes I could sit back and I could think about what happened, and all I could do is just cry.
John: Now if you had an abortion, let me be quick to say, that God can forgive you of that sin. Since God is the final court in the universe, if God forgives you once and for all, then you are irreversibly and unchangeably forgiven forever. And only this knowledge, the fact of absolute complete forgiveness can set in motion, the emotional healing process that will bring you real freedom from the past. Is God willing to forgive you? Yes. Freely and abundantly if you admit to Him that you have broken His moral laws. How do we know that He will forgive? Because God has said so in the Bible. I'd like you to consider the following scriptural promises:
"But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate; slow to anger and abounding in love." - Nehemiah 9:17. "You are kind and forgiving, O, Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you." - Psalm 86:5. "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our trangressions from us." - Psalm 103:12. "He who conceals his transgressions does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy." - Proverbs 28:13.
I'm sure you know that abortion is just one wrong, one sin, among many. But all of our sins need to be forgiven. You also know that's why Jesus Christ, God's Son, came into this world. He was born to die for us, to freely pay the divine penalty for the wrongs and the sins which each of us has done, which separated us from God.
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." - Ephesians 1:7.
If you want to have God's forgiveness, according to this verse, you may have it right now, by praying to Jesus, acknowledging your sins, and placing all of your trust in Him. Just believe that by his death on the cross, your sins have been paid for in full. Could I suggest if you would really like to know Him, and experience His forgiveness, that you say the following prayer with me to Him? Here it is:
"Dear Jesus, I believe that you are God, that you died on the cross to pay the divine penalty for all my sins, that You rose from the dead, You're living right now, and You're willing to give forgiveness of sins, and eternal life as a gift to all those who turn from their sins and believe in You. I now place my faith in You and receive Your gift of eternal life that You promised in the Bible. I know my abortion was wrong, and I now ask you to forgive me, and cleanse me of that sin, and not just that sin, but also forgive me of all the sins in my life. Please, come into my life, and make me a Christian, lift the guilt that I feel, and empower me to live for you. I thank You and I ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen."
End of program.
John Ankerburg -------------- Abortion 11 ----- 04/08/90-FAM-10:30PM
This show deals with what the Bible has to say about the unborn child. This is the last of the series. I can hear many breathing a sigh of relief. Many had asked about this, and I had a couple of lists of scripture that talked about the child in the womb, but this series was good on that. The best, not included in tonight's post(these things take time, you know), but talks that the murder of the unborn is the same as the murder of an adult. Hopefully I'll get more done tomorrow. I've promised my Linda to spend only 1 hour a night on BITNET and give more time to my family...
What does the Bible say about the unborn? This show addresses the Biblical stand on the following 6 arguments.
1. A child in the womb is referred to in the same terms as a child that is already born. 2. The unborn child in the womb is always a human person, never an embryo, a fetus, or a thing. 3. God values the life of the unborn child as highly as He does the life of an adult. If an unborn child is murdered, in God's eyes it's the same as if an adult is murdered. 4. From the moment of conception, God is intimately involved in the creation and development of the unborn child. 5. The Lord Jesus Christ was both God and man from the point of conception, not birth. This means that all others must be human persons from the moment of conception. 6. Anyone who willfully destroys human life commits murder.
Now taken together, these 6 Biblical arguments leave no doubt as to what the Bible teaches about abortion, and what value God places upon the life of the unborn child. Now let's examine the Biblical evidence for these 6 arguments.
1. According, to the Bible, from the moment of conception, A child in the womb, is referred to in the same terms as a child already born. This shows that the child in the womb is not less valuable than a child that is already born. One of the many Biblical passages that shows this is Genesis 4:1 which states "Now, the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, I have gotten a man child with the help of the Lord."
This passage throws interesting and significant light on the question of "What is in the mother's womb in the first place?". The Hebrew text is important here. Grammatically, we have two verbs "conceived" and "gave birth", connected by the conjunction "and", followed by the sign of the direct object, and then the direct object itself, which is "Cain". When the Hebrew wishes to focus on the direct object of a verb or verbs, it sometimes uses a device that points to the object of the verb or verbs. It is called the "sign of the direct object", and as such is not translated, but never the less is important. The point made here by its presence, is this: "Cain" was "conceived" and "Cain" was born ("gave birth"). The text does not say, Eve "conceived" a "fetus" and delivered a "Cain". The child delivered is treated as identical to the child conceived.
Why? The Bible does not have a different word or a unique word to describe the unborn child. What the child is in the womb is what the child is upon delivery and after birth.
Another example of this is the Hebrew word "YELED". It is usually used of children already born, such as a child or boy. But in Genesis 25:22, this word is used of the children in the womb. The word "YELADIM", plural for children is used here, and it reads, "And his wife Rebecca became pregnant, but the CHILDREN(YELADIM) struggled together within her. And the Lord said to her, "two nations are in your womb, and two people shall be separated from your body." ... When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold there were twins in her womb." This shows that the two fetuses, in Rebecca's womb, were referred to as children BEFORE they were born.
----------- Argument 2 ----------------------------------------------- Now this brings us to our second Biblical argument, that the unborn child in the womb is always a human person, never an embryo, a fetus, or a thing. Proof of this in the old testament is the Hebrew word "GEBER", usually translated boy, man or husband. But Job uses this word to refer to himself when he was conceived.
Job 3:3, 11, 16 reads this way - "Let the day perish on which I was to be born and the night which said a boy is conceived." Notice the unborn child is described as a boy. Also, the verse does not say "A boy was born", it says "A boy was conceived". Here it's obvious that Job is saying that the unborn is to be understood to be a person from the moment of conception, just as much as a boy is to be understood to be a person.
Further, in Job 3:11, Job says, "Why did I not die at birth, come forth from the womb and expire?" Now think about what Job has just said. Isn't it true that a person cannot die who has not first lived? When Job speaks of death at birth we must conclude that he views his existence from the womb as a life, even though it's a life of short duration. He says after he lived it, he then dies at birth.
He goes on to say (3:16) "Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be, as infants that never saw light." Here Job describes the unborn child as an infant, one who perished before birth, one that never saw the light. Once again, the same word that is used to describe a child in the womb is used to describe a child outside of the womb.
Now here are some examples from the New Testament showing the same thing. First the Greek word for baby is BREPHOS. Notice how the word is used in Luke 1:41 where it says of Elizabeth who is pregnant "... the BABY(BREPHOS) leaped in her womb.". Here the baby, or BREPHOS is located in the womb. But in Luke 2:12, an angel appears to the shepherds in the fields and tells them, that in the city of David, "... you would find a baby (BREPHOS) wrapped in clothes lying in a manger." In just two chapters we have a BREPHOS in the womb, and a BREPHOS in the manger. In each case, only the location of the baby is different. In Luke 1:41, and 44, BREPHOS is used of John the Baptist while he was yet a fetus in the womb. The Biblical writer also informs us in Luke 1:15 "... and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, while yet in his mother's womb.", indicating PERSONHOOD of the unborn child. WHY? Because the Holy Spirit is ONLY given to persons, not things.
MAKS> I've heard people taking about Holy xxxx, but this is God's Holy Spirit here, and not some of the other Holy things talked about by the secular world. Your car does not have the Holy Spirit. Maybe you think it has a demon, but that's another story. <MAKS
In conclusion, it is clear from these scriptural passages that unborn children in the womb are spoken of in the same terms, as children already born. The ARE persons.
----------------------------- 3 -------------------------------------- And that brings us to the third Biblical argument. Which is according to the Bible, God values the life of the unborn child as highly as He does the life of an adult. If an unborn child is murdered, in God's eyes it's the same as if someone murdered an adult.
MAKS> Talk about guilt trips. Yes, maybe Christians DO tell others about God, and maybe it does lay on guilt trips if one does not accept, but EVEN if one has murdered their unborn child with an abortion, GOD FORGIVES, and helps that person find that forgiveness.
Why does the guilt seem to be so hard to bear? Because, sin sooner or later will come back to haunt you. God ALWAYS forgives the sinner. We attempt to witness, attempt to share the good news, yet some will continue in their ways. Even the Bible says so...
"How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you. But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, Since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you - When calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me. Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord, Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, They will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. For the waywordness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them, But whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm." Proverbs 1:22-33 NIV
I feel this is from the Lord to all of us (Christians especially). It will be curious how many will make some type of flame because of it. Yet, some will continue to have abortions as long as they are alive. They will use the 0.6 percent done for rape to justify 1.5 million and more a year, or 26 million since this all began. They will claim abortions are not done past the 18-20 weeks and in every way they can hide their faces from the truth. Yes, the Kline family feels deeply for this subject.
This coming Friday, April 13, my Linda starts counseling at the Richmond Crisis Pregnancy Center, leaving her "break" from having Joel almost a year and half ago on November 10 at the age of 40. There's a chance a child or two or more will live this year. Gives one far more satisfaction than knowing 1.5 million will die if I just turn my back and do nothing.
----------------------------- 3 -------------------------------------- And that brings us to the third Biblical argument. Which is according to the Bible, God values the life of the unborn child as highly as He does the life of an adult. If an unborn child is murdered, in God's eyes it's the same as if someone murdered an adult.
Now this can be proven by the important passage found in Exodus 21:21-23. I've asked my good friend Dr. Gleason Archer, one of the most respected and honored Hebrew scholars in our country, to translate and interpret the words in this passage for you.
MAKS> Not knowing Hebrew, I left this out. What I can say is that through this whole thing they would highlight the English, explain it, go to a Hebrew scripture and highlight the Hebrew words involved. Still, I'm sure some are going to say, "one of the most respected and honored Hebrew scholars in our country" and say, "Who does he think he is?". Basically what we have that follows is that Exodus 21-21-23-25 equates abortion with murder and in Old Testament times the abortionist might have paid with his life for what he did. Pro Choice doesn't want to hear this. <MAKS
Dr. Gleason Archer: "In earlier years of the current abortion controversy, it used to be said, even by some evangelical scholars that Exodus 21:22-25 implied that the killing of an unborn fetus involved a lesser degree of culpability than the slaughter of a child already born. But this was based upon an unfortunate mistranslation of the Hebrew original. Even the text rendering of the New American Standard perpetuates this misunderstanding quite as much as the King James Version, for it renders, "(22)And if men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman's husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. (23)But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, (24)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,". Now in the margin (on 22 "so that(1) she has a miscarriage") the New American Standard acknowledges that (Hebrew ya-sa-oul ow-wal-a-day-hi) which they render "so that she has a miscarriage" literally means "her children come out".
The same term used for a child from infancy to the age of 12 is the term which is used here, YELED in the singular, YELADIM in the plural. The plural happens to be used here, because the woman might be pregnant with twins when this injury befalls her. The result of this blow to her womb is that her child or children will be aborted from her womb, and if she is fortunate, they will come forth alive. The second important observation was that the "further" inserted by the New American Standard in italics, indicated by parenthesis here, does not appear in the Hebrew, nor in the opinion of this writer, is it even implied in the Hebrew at all. The New International Version correctly renders in its text by saying simply "but there is no serious injury". The Hebrew as it stands for the third clause is perfectly clear, and there is no injury (Hebrew given), thus the whole sentence really should be translated as follows. "(Hebrew) AND WHEN MEN STRUGGLE TOGETHER (Hebrew given) AND THEY STRIKE A WOMAN WHO IS PREGNANT (Hebrew given) AND HER CHILDREN COME FORTH (Hebrew) BUT THERE IS NO INJURY, (Hebrew) THE HUSBAND OF THE WOMAN SHALL CERTAINLY LEVY A FINE ACCORDING AS HE SHALL APPOINT FOR HIM. (Hebrew) AND HE SHALL PAY IT TO THE JUDGES."
Thus the whole sentence really implies that there is the possibility of injury to the mother and her children, but it may not be a fatal injury. However it goes on to say, "BUT IF THERE SHALL BE AN INJURY THEN THOU SHALL PAY LIFE FOR LIFE..." There's no ambiguity here what ever. What is required is that if there should be an injury either to the mother or to her children, the injury shall be avenged by a like injury to the assailant. If it involves the life, the NEFESH(sp) of the premature baby, then the assailant shall pay for it with his life. There is no second class status attached to the fetus under this rule. The fetus is just as valuable as the mother. It is as if he were a normally delivered child, or an older person. The penalty is life for life.
MAKS> I think we get more conversation on this when we cut it short like this. For those that think some of this side is harsh, I'm sorry. So often, even the Christians gloss over different things in favor of not getting involved and the like.
I got John Ankerberg's newsletter. This series I'm posting is going to be marketed by a motion picture organization for $200 per series or $50 per half hour show. The full series would be $400 for the general shows, and I don't know if they are going to offer the one on the "Meet the Providers" or not. As a 30/30 club member I've managed to get them all and share them with you. Some have enjoyed it.
----------------------------- 4 -------------------------------------- The fourth Biblical argument is, according to the Bible, from conception it is God who is intimately involved in the creation and the development of the unborn child. Job 10:8 declares "Thy hands fashioned and made me all together." Job 10:10-12 says, "Didst thou not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese, clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews?"
Psalm 119:73: "Thy hands made me and fashioned me."
Psalms 139:13-16: "For thou didst form my inward parts. Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb. I will give thinks to Thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Thy works and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from Thee when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance and in Thy book they were all written."
Notice that David first of all focuses or attention on God. "THOU DIDST FORM MY INWARD PARTS". The verb translated "DIDST FORM" comes from a word whose usual meaning is "to originate something and thus to own it". Here it means that God forms the unborn child in the womb of the mother, and therefore owns it. The unborn child in the womb of the mother is God's property, and in this sense, belongs to neither the Father nor the Mother, however in other scripture such as Genesis 4:1 we find that conception, birth, the ongoing days of life, are a creative process that God graciously allows man and woman to be involved in with Him.
Eve states "and she said, I have created a man child with the help of the Lord." She was certainly not implying that Adam had nothing to do Cain's birth, Genesis 4:1A makes that clear. "Now, Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived."
But God is still the primary force in the creative process. Back in Psalms 139:13, the words "INWARD PARTS" translate to a single Hebrew word that means kidney, and is used metaphorically for the innermost part of man. Again, God is the one Who forms those parts. "THOU DIDST WEAVE" is similar to Job 10:11 where we find "... clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews?" The idea of weaving or knitting is a metaphor that expresses purpose, orderly development, and ultimately a beautifully finished product. Is it any wonder that David says, "I will give thanks to Thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Thy works and my soul knows it very well."(PS 139:13). And finally David says in Psalms 139:15 and 16, "My frame was not hidden from thee when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance."
The word translated "FRAME" here is literally bones. David is pointing specifically to God's awareness of the development of the child's skeletal structure. The verb "MADE" places emphasis on the orderly fashioning of something. It refers to the fact that God is near and working and moving about. His work is all done in secret, that is within the womb of the mother.
Another word David uses to describe the activity of God in the development of the child is the verb "SKILLFULLY WROUGHT". It points to the various parts of the body being carefully assembled together. The expression "UNFORMED SUBSTANCE" refers to the unborn child when he is still unfinished. That period of time between the first and fifth week of pregnancy. David said it is at this time the all seeing eye of God rests on the child before it is ready for the eyes of men. This also happens to be the period of time when the majority of women have their abortions. The reference to the "eyes of God" here expresses the idea of God's omnipresence and omniscience.
These verses make God very personal. Men have plans and purposes, but according to these verses so does God. Those plans include the unborn child He is creating. How then does God feel when someone tampers with His creation, the human being He is forming? Well, let me ask you. How do you think a human artist would feel if he were working on a masterpiece and someone came up and destroyed his art work.
You know I heard of an artist who had his paintings on display. And someone disliked him very much, and they came up and they used a can of spray paint, and destroyed his artwork. The artist was understandably crushed. This deliberate destruction of an art object expressed a lack of respect for both the artist and his art.
You know the same attitude is expressed to God when man indiscriminately destroys human children in the womb that God is forming.
----------------------------- 5 -------------------------------------- The fifth Biblical argument we want to examine is that, according to the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ was both God and man from the point of conception, not birth. This means that all others must be human persons from the moment of conception.
Look at Luke 1:31,35. The Bible explicitly states that Christ's personal history on earth began not when He was born of the virgin, but when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. ("And behold you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.") It is significant that God chose to begin the process of incarnation at the point of conception rather than at some other point.
Then according to Hebrews 2:17, Christ had to be made like His brothers in all things. ("Therefore, He had to be made like his brethren in all things...") Therefore, if Christ was like us in all things, and His human history began at conception, then our human history also begins at conception.
----------------------------- 6 -------------------------------------- The sixth Biblical argument is this, anyone who willfully destroys human life is committing murder.
God says in Genesis 9:6, "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed. For in the image of God He made man." The Bible says that man is made in the image of God. Therefore life, by definition, is sacred and not to be destroyed. The capital punishment prescribed in Genesis 9:6 is based on this fact. God's workmanship gives man divine value and importance.
We've also seen in Exodus 21:20-22 that the unborn child in the womb is valued by God as full human life. We've seen from scripture God's workmanship, His masterpiece, is the growing, developing child in the womb, and it's not to be destroyed. Therefore, when someone decides to perform an abortion, to have an abortion, or to encourage someone to have an abortion. Biblically, abortion is the taking of innocent human life. It's murder.
Now, if you have had an abortion, let me be quick to say, that God can forgive you of that sin....
This program had the same ending as the other. I'll exclude it for brevity. =======================================================================> ========= End of ABORTION PART3 =======================================> =======================================================================>