Of all the horribly sick mantras in our world today, i firmly believe that the one that tops the list goes something like this: “It’s a woman’s body, so it’s her choice.”

And yes, this refers to the view commonly propounded by political activists that not only is it a woman’s choice to choose to have an abortion, but in reality it is her right to do so as well.

One of the common arguments for this viewpoint is that if the child is going to be born into poor living conditions, or be born with a defect, or even be detrimental to the mother’s health, then it follows that the child should be terminated to keep it from such a life or to protect the health of the mother. (I recognize that those who argue this way refer to a fetus as a clump of cells and not as a child, but if you call a sheep’s tail a leg it doesn’t change the fact that a sheep only has 4 legs. The “clump of cells” is, in reality, a child.)

In a lengthy section of Leviticus written against pagan practices of Canaan, Moses records the following command from God: “You are not to make any of your children pass through the fire to Molech. Do not profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh” (Leviticus‬ ‭18:21‬).

Molech was a Canaanite deity. In other words, it was a false god that ultimately had no right to claim human sacrifices. Only Yahweh has the right to lay claim to peoples’ lives, and in Leviticus 18:21 He clearly proves that He loves children and never wants to see them sacrificed.

When people have abortions, they are ultimately sacrificing to the god of Comfort. This false deity promises peace, happiness, ease of life. But because it is a false god, and because it commands people to sin to achieve a supposed peace, happiness, and ease of life, the result is guilt, sadness, and depression.

This is not at all what the true God of the universe desires: “Let the little children come to Me,” He cries out (Matthew 19:14, ESV).

In Exodus 1:17 fearing God is connecting with valuing the life of the unborn/newborn: “The Hebrew midwives, however, feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live” (HCSB).

To claim to truly believe in the God of the Bible requires that one believe that life is valuable even if this must come at the expense of comfort and ease. We must not sacrifice our children on the altar of comfort and ease. (For one, where do we draw the line? In reality, all children negatively affect our comfort and ease: sleep gets lost, money gets spent, time gets used.)

With all that in mind, it is very interesting that both a television program and a movie i have watched recently militate against the common notion that it is the woman’s choice and that comfort is to be had at the expense of everything else.

Dying for Life!

The first example comes in seasons 2-3 of the AMC television show The Walking Dead.

!!!SPOILER POTENTIAL!!!

To put it simply, the survivors of the zombie apocalypse are attempting to survive without getting bit or scratched by zombies. PSYCH–by the time season 2 ends, even dying naturally will result in a person becoming a zombie.

Into this mess we find out halfway through season 2 that one of the characters is pregnant. (This is before they discover that zombification results even from a natural death.) In a moment of weakness, the pregnant woman asks someone to travel to the abandoned drugstore in town and pick up some birth-control pills. When they return, she pops a bunch of them in her mouth and is halfway through swallowing them when she realizes that that is not the best decision. She induces vomiting in herself, and throws up the pills before they can wreak havoc upon her unborn child.

Fast-forward to the next season. Her due date arrives. Zombies are upon the group. (For some reason things can never be extra-stress free when they are already stress-full.) But, to make a long story short, stuff happens and no medical help is available to assist in her birthing process. As a result, she bleeds out and dies, but the baby is born healthy.

So much for the argument that abortion is allowable when it could save the life of the mother. In addition, what a terrible world to raise a child in! But the producers of the show wanted the character to give birth to her child, because they know that humans are emotionally attached to familial relationships, as much as we pretend to be against and actively fight against these relationships (cf. Romans 1:18-21).

Risking Ease for Life!

The second example comes in the recent horror/thriller movie A Quiet Place.

!!!SPOILER POTENTIAL!!!

To put it simply, a family is living in a post-apocalyptic world where the killing aliens are only attracted to sound. As long as everything remains silent, everyone is safe. If someone makes a sound–even so much as dropping a book–the aliens approach and violently attack.

It is within that setting that the mother in the family is pregnant. Instead of taking the easy way out, and aborting the baby early, the family works together to make their house as soundproof as possible.

Long story short, the baby is born, and a fact of life is that babies cry. In fact, at the time when the baby is born the aliens are already in the house. Safety, comfort, peace, and ease of living are all negative on a scale of 1-10, but the movie still places a premium on human life.

In fact, at one point in the movie the mother whispers to her husband, “Who are we if we can’t protect them? we have to protect them,” speaking of their children.

And that line is humongous! While the moviemakers likely didn’t think through the ramifications of that line, the fact remains that if we cannot love and protect our children, including unborn ones, then who are we?

Are we really human at all?

Do we really have love in our hearts at all if we cannot love and sacrifice for the most vulnerable among us?

THE Human Sacrifice!

Both of the above cited examples of our entertainment industry being more god-fearing than our political system also prove that people–if they are being totally honest with themselves–know that human life is valuable. However, sin, selfishness, and idolatry lead to a suppression of this truth (Romans 1:18).

God commanded in Leviticus 18:21 that none of His people sacrifice their children. The Bible places a high premium on human life. Humanity is created in God’s image, and this includes our children today–from the day of conception. The reason He commanded this is because a human cannot truly claim to love their child but also sacrifice him/her to death (think of a close parallel in Avengers: Infinity War if you’ve seen it).

God desires all glory to go to Him. When we sacrifice children for our comfort and ease, we are glorifying ourselves. God outlawed human sacrifice because there was only going to be one “human” sacrifice in history that would ever be a true sacrifice. For a sacrifice to be a sacrifice, love must be present! Check out these verses (quotes from Jesus).

• John 15:9 (HCSB)
  As the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you. Remain in My love.
• John 10:17 (HCSB)
  This is why the Father loves Me, because I am laying down My life so I may take it up again.

God loved Jesus–His only Son (John 3:16)–but He handed Him over to death because He loved us sinners (Romans 8:32). Because Jesus was truly human but also truly God, His sacrifice was enough to set us right with God.

We must believe this truth!

• If you’ve had an abortion, you MUST believe this truth
• If you know someone who had an abortion, you MUST believe this truth
• If you consider yourself good because you’ve never had an abortion, and you know no one who has had an abortion, you MUST believe this truth

Regardless of the forms your sin has taken, whether pride, murder, adultery, homosexuality, theft, or rebelliousness, you need Jesus! In God’s eyes, all of these sins earn eternal death (Romans 6:23).

However, these sins are exactly the reason why Jesus came to earth and let Himself be sacrificed by His Father. Romans 5:8 says, “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” However, like John 10:17 says above, Christ sacrificed His life so He could “take it up again.” He didn’t stay in the grave.

This means that your sin will stay in the grave, but you can be raised on the last day. God pleads with you to trust Him. Believe Him when He says that your sins are forgiven! Even if you’ve had an abortion, there can be grace!

I love you.

Soli Deo Gloria