What About the Children?
By Hal Lindsey
One of the problems with idolatry is that it does not sit still. It grows. Satan always wants more. Eventually, he even demands the children. Deuteronomy 12:31 explains where idol worship leads. “They burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.” Do you get what that’s saying? Those ancient idol-worshipers burned their own babies alive!
God’s command is firm. In Leviticus 18:21, He said, “You shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech.”
In this enlightened 21st century, we would never do anything like that, right? Wrong. We kill kids, too. The difference is that we do it while they are still in the womb.
Until recently, anti-abortion sentiments had been growing in the United States. That may be because improved ultrasounds allow us to look into the faces of the unborn. But in the aftermath of the Supreme Court striking down Roe versus Wade, the tide turned. Marchers, politicians, celebrities, and reporters yelled to women, “They’re taking away your constitutional rights!” And that’s what many of them believed.
I despise it when government encroaches on rights — mine or those of someone else. But abortion was never a constitutional right. The Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution specifically forbids the federal government from taking over areas of law not given to it by the Constitution. And the Constitution does not give the federal government rule over matters such as abortion. It’s one of the many areas that the Constitution leaves up to the states.
But that’s just a legal argument. The abortion issue is more than that. It is moral. It boils down to three questions. Is the fetus alive? Is it a part of the mother like her thumb or her foot? What species is the child?
The unborn child is dependent on the mother, but he or she is not an appendage. The mother’s thumb has the same DNA she has. The unborn is a unique life. His or her DNA is different from the mother’s. If the unborn child were just another part of the mother, then she would have two heads, two hearts, four kidneys, and twenty toes. The unborn is a unique person. The other two answers are even simpler. The unborn baby is alive — and its species is human.
Therefore, abortion kills a unique human being.
If you have ever had an abortion, please don’t feel condemned. If you have turned to Christ, He has completely forgiven you. If you have not, then ask Him and He will forgive. According to Jesus in John 8:36, the person Jesus makes free, is “free indeed.”
Christians and others in the pro-life movement must remember that the answer to abortion is not violence or rage. It is loving persuasion. Listen to what the other side has to say, then present your side with kindness. Be civil. But do not hide from this issue. Tell the truth.
Christians should exhibit the fruit of the Spirit as we attempt to persuade. Galatians 5:22-23 says, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
