On Infanticide

“Out of sight, out of mind.”  You’ve heard it before, and it’s typically true.  That which we don’t see is that we usually ignore.  For example, most people don’t know how hot dogs are made.  If they did, there’d be a lot more people who didn’t eat hot dogs.

Similarly, most of us don’t come into contact with someone having an abortion.  Despite the fact that there were 1,060,000 abortions in the U.S. in 2011 (the latest figures from the Guttmacher Institute), most of us live our lives completely unaware that over a million babies are murdered every single year right here in our own back yard.  Compare this to the fact that there were 13,716 murders in the U.S. in 2013, according to the FBI.  Surely, we’d act differently if every night the news reported that there were 2,900 people murdered today.  Instead, it’s “out of sight, out of mind.”

As bad as it is, the acceptance of abortion among many young people is actually becoming more extreme.  Rather than believing that abortion is okay up to a certain point in the pregnancy, many are now agreeing that a woman has the right to murder their baby once it’s born.  Some think it’s okay to murder one’s child up to age 4 or 5, simply because they are not yet “self aware”, whatever that means.  This is infanticide, pure and simple.

In an article by The College Fix, they report on college student abortion viewpoints gleaned from interviews, and the results are chilling.  Kristina Garza, spokeswoman for Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust, a pro-life organization, said, “For those who are firmly for abortion, because they understand it kills a human being, it’s very easy for them to accept killing a human being after birth.  There is this notion that is common on campus, that it’s OK to kill babies because somehow we don’t become human until we are self aware.”

Why is this happening?  It’s due in part to college students being taught that this is okay.  One of the early proponents of murdering babies outside the womb is Peter Singer, who is, ironically, an “ethics” professor at Princeton University.  As long ago as 1979, Singer wrote, “Human babies are not born self-aware, or capable of grasping that they exist over time.  They are not persons”; therefore, “the life of a newborn is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee.”  College professors are having their students read this type of garbage, from Singer and others.  As a result, the view that murdering one’s baby outside the womb is growing among college students.

You might think, just because they’re being taught this doesn’t mean they should accept it, and you’d be correct.  However, I think one of the main reasons why college students accept this (and even why it’s being taught) is due to the crumbling of morality in the U.S.  Churches, by and large, do not clearly teach the word of God.  Instead, churches have catered to the culture so as to be “relevant”, so they can increase their membership.  While we shouldn’t expect the world to be moral, Christians who are not growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ are simply going to be more susceptible to such views.  Thus, when Christians do see such evil, they tend to accept it because the world accepts it.

Of course, the world does not like hearing about other people’s morals.  Indeed, a member of a pro-abortion organization put it this way:  “As for post-birth abortion, I would imagine that my colleagues would think the ‘post-birth’ part was largely irrelevant, as we believe very strongly in abortion on demand, without apology, and it’s plain and simple that we should look to the woman’s morals and not shove our opinions where they, frankly, don’t belong,” said Devin Deitsch, leader of VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood at Ohio State University.

Of course, if this same person was assaulted and robbed of his belongings, I’m quite certain imposing our morals on the robber would very quickly come into play.  That’s why we have laws, because robbing someone is wrong, and that’s a moral statement.  Somehow, though, murdering babies doesn’t merit such morality.

As Christians, we should not be surprised by unbelievers’ views.  Romans 1 plainly tells us why we see things such as this:  “28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

While it’s obvious that abortion is murder and that it’s inherently wrong, perhaps what drives many to support abortion is the desire to have unbridled sex without any responsibility.  Did you get your girlfriend pregnant, and now you have to become a dad, taking care of your wife and baby?  Have an abortion instead.  Why take on such responsibility, when a simple abortion solves the problem, and allows you to continue in your immoral lifestyle?  Of course, this is not how the pro-abortion movement puts it; rather, they paint this as a “woman’s choice”, and who are you to say it’s wrong?

So, as Christians, what can we do to stem this tide?  First and foremost, pray that the Lord would cause the law to be changed so that abortion would rightly be considered murder, no matter what the age of the baby, in or out of the womb.  Laws can never legislate morality, and that is not why we have them.  Laws are meant to protect people by punishing those who seek to harm others, especially those who cannot protect themselves.  Abortion fits this description well, because an unborn baby is the most defenseless human being there is.

Second, preach the gospel.  As mentioned, laws can’t cause one to be moral, including the Mosaic Law.  The only thing that can cause a person to be moral is to be born again from above.  Only by believing in Jesus is anyone going to change their morality.  It happens on the inside, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  And of course, this only happens by the hearing of the word.  As Romans 10 says, “9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”… 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”  So, preach the gospel to misguided college students, to pregnant women considering abortion, and to those who are pro-choice.

Finally, we can support pro-life organizations.  Most of them work to change the law to restrict the ability of a woman to have an abortion.  Such laws help reduce abortions until the law is changed to make abortion murder.  I recommend supporting those who combine their work with the preaching of the gospel.

About 2,900 babies were murdered in the U.S. today.  Remember that.  Pray, preach the gospel, support pro-life organizations.  Let’s not allow murderous abortion to remain out of sight, out of mind.  Even so, come Lord Jesus!