On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court of the United States issued their ruling in the Roe v. Wade case challenging anti-abortion laws in the state of Texas.  In a 7-2 decision the Court ruled that abortion on demand was a right guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.  Since that time, more than 56 million unborn babies have been killed in the United States.  There is perhaps no other single issue that has so deeply divided our nation, or evoked such strong passions among advocates on both sides of the argument.

The irony in this debate is that many of those who advocate abortion on demand without restrictions are also the most outspoken advocates of the protection of so-called endangered animals.  Many of them are also among the most vigorous opponents of capital punishment.  Thus, they propose and endorse hundreds of regulations and laws to protect unborn animals, but unborn humans may be literally torn limb from limb in the womb on the whim of the mother.  They demonstrate and protest against the execution of convicted criminals, but support and fund the wholesale slaughter of innocent babies.

We could not have arrived at this sad circumstance if we had remained obedient to the directions of God’s word.  Even a cursory reading of the scriptures reveals that human life is sacred to God and should therefore be treated as such.  In Gen. 1:26, 27 the scripture tells us that God created mankind in His image.  This means that human beings are different from the animals.  God endued humans with a spirit that will live forever.  This means that we are more important in God’s sight than the animals.

When Noah emerged from the Ark after the flood, God emphasized the sanctity of human life by decreeing the principle of capital punishment.  In Gen. 9:6 God said, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man.”  God underscored this principle in the Ten Commandments by declaring, “You shall not murder” (Ex. 20:13).  In addition to this, God made provision in the Law of Moses for harm done to an unborn child.  In Ex. 21:22-25 God commanded that a man who caused harm or death to an unborn child should be punished, “life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

To these commandments the wise man Solomon added this declaration:  “There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers” (Prov. 6:16-19).  Murderers obviously fall under “hands that shed innocent blood,” and how much more so those who murder unborn babies?  Theirs is the most innocent blood of all.

Sometimes abortion advocates try to justify this action by suggesting that an unborn child is not actually human until it draws its first breath outside the womb.  This is one reason why they refer to the unborn child as a “fetus.”  In Jer. 1:5, however, God told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”  God knew Jeremiah the person, even before he was born.  Jeremiah’s life was sacred, even in the womb, and so is every unborn child’s life today.  May God help us to recognize that human life is sacred, and treat it as such at every stage of life, from the womb to the tomb.

(The photo above is of an unborn child’s feet at ten weeks after conception.  Note that they are definitely human feet, complete with toes.  These “precious feet” are the symbol of the national Right to Life movement.)