Abortion, the Bible, and Government

Should abortion be legal to the moment of birth? Does abortion constitute killing an innocent human individual? Is abortion simply a family matter that should not involve government? What about the rights of the parents of a minor girl or the father of the baby? Should separation of church and state eliminate religious views from consideration?

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Click/tap here to read a more in-depth study of abortion.

The purpose of this study is to examine abortion and pro-abortion legislation.*

If killing an unborn baby constitutes killing innocent human life, then this is fundamentally a question of morality which makes it a Biblical and religious issue, not just a matter of politics. Examining pro-abortion legislation teaches us the following about abortion:

Humanism and the Bible

Introduction:

Few people were aware of, or concerned about, the Humanist philosophy until recently. As it has become more influential, it has become better known. Yet still few people really understand it or realize the depth of its influence on society.

The purposes of this study are to acquaint people with the major doctrines of Humanism, to demonstrate the influence it is having in our society, and to compare its teachings to those of the Bible.

Separation of Religion and ... Everything!

Introduction:

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We often hear people speak of "separation of church and state."

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Many people think this proves that somehow government should never support or encourage anything religious. More recently, this idea is being used to claim that people's religious views should have no influence on the government.

We can easily document that this was never what the Founding Fathers meant when they wrote the Constitution, but what does God think?

The purpose of this lesson is to consider how religious belief is being systematically excluded from daily life.

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The Children's Liberation Movement

Introduction:

In recent decades our society has seen the rise of various "liberation" movements, including Women's Liberation, Animal Liberation, etc.

The purpose of this study is to examine the Children's Liberation movement.

This movement is generally promoted by "child advocates" working through various child welfare and social service agencies. These especially include official government agencies, such as child and family services agencies. In particular, a leading force in promoting the movement has been the United Nations, which sponsored the "International Year of the Child" (IYC). (This occurred some time ago, but we will see that the UN is still implementing its goals.)

Civil Laws and Morality

It has bothered me for a long time to hear people - even those who profess to be Bible believers - say, "You can't legislate morality." As a result, people have been hesitant to present moral arguments as reasons for the government to pass laws that limit immoral acts.

Abortion #4: Why Do Mothers Obtain abortions?

The Bible teaches that abortion violates God's will. Defenders of abortion, however, usually try to open the door by emotional appeals to traumatic cases. If these exceptions are granted, they proceed to argue for abortion on demand.

A close examination of the reasons for abortion, however, will actually strengthen the general conclusion that abortion should be avoided. Consider the following reasons for abortion.

Conception Outside Wedlock
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Abortion defenders use rape and the mother's health to argue for lax abortion laws, but these cases are a microscopic proportion of all abortions.

Fact: More than 3/4 of all abortions occur because the mother is not married to the baby's father!
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Abortion #3: How to Treat an Unborn Child

The Scriptures have established that the unborn life in the mother's womb is a human individual from conception on. Therefore, we will not hesitate to refer to it as a human being or person. How then should we treat this unborn life? May we deliberately kill it? Surely we must be guided by exactly the same rules or principles we should follow in our treatment of any other "child" or "baby." What are these rules?

Stewardship: Love, Train, and Protect a Child.
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In Matthew 5:21,22, Jesus not only condemned murder, He also condemned the underlying attitude that leads people to commit murder. He forbade hatred and disrespect for the worth of a human being (cf. 1 John 3:15).

Abortion #2: Is the Life in the Womb a Human Individual?

Consider now the Bible teaching about abortion. The fundamental question to be answered is whether or not the life conceived in the mother's womb is a human person, separate and distinct as an individual from the mother.

Some Important Preliminary Considerations

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The life in the mother's womb is definitely human.

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There can be no doubt that we are discussing something that is alive. If it were not alive, why would we discuss whether or not it is right to kill it? The question is what kind of life it is.

Abortion #1: Development of the Unborn and Methods of Abortion

Introduction:

In all the wars fought by the USA, a total of over 1.2 million soldiers have died. This study is about the people who have died in a different war: the war on the unborn. Since the United States Supreme Court ruled in 1973 that unborn babies could legally be killed, between 1 and 1.5 million unborn babies have been legally killed in this country every year. The yellow pages of any phone book list several nearby clinics where women can "terminate a pregnancy."

But no human legislature and no human court has final authority over what is morally right or wrong. Nazi law and Communist law allowed the killing of millions of adults. Was that moral? God is the final authority in determining what is morally right or wrong, regardless of what any man may say (Isa. 55:8,9; Luke 16:15; 1 Cor. 1:18-25). We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29).

The purpose of this study is to consider exactly what the Bible teaches about abortion. The Bible is the perfect standard of right and wrong (2 Tim. 3:16,17; 1 Cor. 14:37; John 12:48). Too much has been said about abortion without adequately considering the Bible teaching.