The doctor leans on her desk, clears her voice, and gently says to the nervous young woman sitting across from her, "You are pregnant." The young woman is shocked, and before she knows it she blurts out the words, "There is no way, I can’t be pregnant." The doctor has heard it before, but the tests leave no doubt. "I assure you that you are, indeed, expecting a child. You are seven weeks into the pregnancy."

So, a baby is on the way. Not just a baby, but a human baby. For most, that is a cause of great joy. For others, though, it is a mental burden to know that they are expecting a child. For a wide variety of reasons, expecting parents sometimes do not want the child that has been conceived. Some decide to have an abortion performed. Some pregnant women make that choice on their own. Some make a joint decision with the father of the child. Some get an abortion, despite the objections of a physician. Others, however, decide to get an abortion because a physician has recommended such action.

After conception takes place, there is a fetus in the womb of the woman. When we speak of "abortion," we are not talking about a miscarriage. Nor are we talking about an accidental death. No, when we say "abortion," we have in mind the process of willfully killing the fetus that is in the expecting mother’s womb. Is abortion something that a Christian should support, or oppose? Please consider some simple questions to help us analyze abortion.

(1) The fetus in the womb of the mother – Is It A Human Being, or not? Remember, the Bible says that after Eve conceived she bore Cain. Was Cain a human? Yes. Was he a human only after he came forth from the body of his mother? No. What was he while he was inside her? A human. Vegetation brings forth "after his kind" (Genesis 1:11), as do living creatures of the sea and birds of the air (Genesis 1:21). What about humans? The same holds true. When the sperm of a human male unites with the egg of a human female, that which is conceived can only be human! Humans produce humans. They are humans from the moment of conception.

Two Bible examples will help show this to be the case. First, there is the example involving Rebekah. Notice these three facts in the order that the Bible gives them: ". . . and Rebekah his [Isaac’s, rdc] wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her . . . behold, there were twins in her womb" (Genesis 25:21,22,24). What were the unborn Esau and Jacob called, while still inside their mother’s womb? "Children" and "twins." They were not just a blob or material. They were human kids. Where? Inside Rebekah! The Hebrew word "bane," which is translated as "children" in this instance, is used again in Genesis 37:3, where we read, "Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children . . ." So, the same Hebrew word was used in the Old Testament to refer to a human offspring, regardless of whether the child was inside the mother’s womb (as when Jacob and Esau were inside Rebekah), or living outside the womb (as when Joseph was the child whom his father greatly loved).

There is also a plain New Testament case to consider. This one involves John the Baptizer and Jesus. While John was still in the womb of his mother Elizabeth, he was called a "babe" (Luke 1:41,44). The Greek word used here for "babe" is "brephos." But, low and behold, after Jesus was born, the same word "brephos" is used to describe Him: ". . . the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger" (Luke 2:12, 16). What does this mean? John was a "babe/brephos" inside the womb, and Jesus was a "babe/brephos" outside the womb. Had Herod been successful in killing the young child Jesus, he would have been killing a HUMAN child. And, by the same reasoning, if Herod or someone else had killed John while he was yet unborn, that person would have been killing a HUMAN boy. Yes. YES! The fetus within the expecting mother IS a human.

(2) The fetus in the mother’s womb that is aborted – Is It Alive? Of course. If it were not alive, then there would be no consideration of performing an abortion. Don’t forget: just what does an abortion do? It takes the life of the unborn child – it kills it.

(3) The fetus in the mother’s womb – Is It Sinful/Morally Corrupt? No. It is innocent of any wrongdoing. Sin is transgression of God’s law, lawlessness, or unrighteousness (1 John 3:4; 5:17). Because the unborn child is incapable of violating the law of God, it is sinless. It is pure and innocent before God.

(4) When an abortion is performed to take the life of the unborn fetus – Is This Act Accidental or Intentional? It is, indeed, a willful, intentional act. It is done on purpose.

Let us now "tie up" this matter by reviewing the answers to our four question, going in reverse order. What is it that happens when an abortion is performed? Someone purposely or intentionally kills an innocent, human being. What do we call it when people intentionally put to death an innocent human being? Answer: murder!

Don’t be deceived by slogans or shouting celebrities. Abortion is the murder of helpless humans. "Pro-choice" equals pro-abortion, which equals pro-murder. Those that perform abortions carry out the act of murder. One that murders is a murderer. The Bible teaches that murderers will be lost (Galatians 5:20,21; Revelation 21:8). Murder is serious business. Come to think of it, so is lending support to those that perform abortions, whether that support is given directly or indirectly.

The rightness or wrongness of abortion is not determined by polls, politicians, past policies, popularity, present-day judges, presidential pleas, or parents. The Bible alone is our moral standard. Abortion is sinful because it violates the teaching of the Bible. That, friends, is the bottom line. To abortion, we say, "Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting" (Daniel 5:27).

-- Roger D. Campbell