Sanctity of Human Life Presentation
An explanation of abortion including procedures, risks, and complications. The current laws on abortion. The grace offered in the Gospel, and how we can love women who are pregnant. Personal testimonies from men and women of what led to an abortion decision and the outcomes they experienced.
Handouts
Abortion Statistics
Resource Sheet
Local Resources
Pregnancy Resource Center
Deeper Still Post Abortion Recovery
Message from Pastor Scott
Answering four key questions: Why should the church examine the sanctity of human life issue and not other social or political issues? What does the Bible say? What is the biological evidence for the sanctity of human life, and what are the implications of denial of the sanctity of human life? How do we answer common objections?
Detailed Message Summary
1) Why should the church examine the sanctity of human life issue and not other social or political issues?
Answer: There are some issues where the church is best to be quiet to remain on mission of creating worshipers, maturing in Christ. There are some issues where the church cannot remain quiet. The sanctity of human life is the most important social issue.
2) What does the Bible say?
Answer: God cares for each person from the moment of conception. God is the Maker of the baby in the womb. God appoints His servants while they are fetuses. God calls “fetuses,” “babies.” God the Creator declares that human beings begin at conception. Therefore, abortion is the killing of a human being. This has been the historic position of the church for centuries.
3) What is the biological evidence for the sanctity of human life, and what are the implications of denial of the sanctity of human life?
Answer: The evidence that a baby, from the moment of conception, is in fact a baby is undeniable. In fact, even pro-abortion people are now coming to this conclusion and are changing their arguments. Denying the sanctity of human life from conception has horrific consequences in: 1) denial of women’s rights through sex selection abortion, 2) creating designer babies (and killing the rest) through preimplantation genetic diagnosis, 3) killing the lives of those in the womb who have a series of genetically carried illnesses, 4) denial of the human rights of black people by aborting at significantly higher rates than other races, 5) increasing the acceptance of infanticide; and 6) increasing the acceptance and demand for euthanasia.
4) “Yes, buts”—How do we answer common objections?
What about after the baby is born? What about financial and future considerations? Answer: Pro-life people do care about after birth care of both babies and their parents. Just because a person does not agree with YOUR solution to a problem does not mean that they are uncaring or do not have solutions to problems.
Men have no right to offer an opinion on abortion. This all about women and the right to their own bodies. Answer: Feminists make birth sound like the hardest thing and abortion the easiest most convenient thing in the world. They assert that a baby has no right to live in your body. Abortion is not a feminist issue any more than slavery was a slave owner issue.
Aren’t there more important issues? Like economic fairness, income equality, racial and gender equality, and environmental harms? Answer: No. There is no issue if the sanctity of life is not upheld. Life precedes liberty and pursuit of happiness. Does this mean that we should ignore these other issues? Of course not, but if we are talking about priorities here, the issue of life is wayyy more important.
What about cases of rape and incest? Answer: Deuteronomy 24:16 speaks directly that children should not be killed for the sins of their fathers. The people born from rape and incest are people, not “hard cases.”
The world is vastly overpopulated, and people are destroying the planet. Shouldn’t abortion be a minor concern and our attention paid to making contraception easily available? Answer: The world is far from overpopulated; people are producers, not drains on the flourishing of either humanity or the planet. China, India, Japan, and Russia are all finding this out as they have discovered likely too late for their civilizations that government promotion of population control, largely through abortion, has destroyed their future.
Why does the Bible give less punishment for causing miscarriage that for causing the death of a person outside the womb? Answer: This idea is based on a mistranslation of Exodus 21:22-24. The text actually affirms that the baby in the womb is a person with the same judicial rights as for others.
What about politicians who use abortion as a fund raising lever? Answer: Most politicians really don’t care about life issues, except as a way to fund raise against the other side.
Is there hope in the Supreme Court? Answer: Despite many on all sides of the abortion debate believing that the court will strike down Roe v. Wade, I do not anticipate that happening. I think that there are 5 votes to keep Roe largely intact.
What is our only hope? Answer: Our only hope is the recovery of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a revival of earnest interest in the glory of God. Only the Gospel can change our view that sex is a right and that it can be exercised without consequence. It is this idea of sex as a right without consequence that is why the LGBT community, the feminists, the hedonistic playboy males, and the government are all agreed on being pro-abortion. It is because they believe that sex without consequence is not only possible, it is a right. And, this is why many young people abandon the faith of their parents; they have bought this lie. Only the Gospel can change that. Only the Gospel can forgive. Only the Gospel can change hearts. Only the Gospel can make individual change. Only the Gospel can transform societies toward God’s priorities. Only the Gospel can bring recovery of the authority of scripture in all of life.
