Abortion: A Rational Look at An Emotional Issue

by R.C. Sproul

• A series of negative public-relations campaigns launched by the well-heeled abortion lobby—against cultural conservatives in general and Christian conservatives in particular—has highlighted the industry’s immoderate aims and set the standard for the increasingly shrill rhetoric and hysterical extremism of the pro-abortion movement.28

abortion is against the law of God, against the laws of nature, and against reason.

Women, who have struggled for decades to secure equal rights under the law and equitable treatment in the business world, fear that a reversal of the abortion laws would signal a serious loss of the gains they have achieved.

Do the unborn have basic rights that should be protected by constitutional law?

the right to freedom of choice,

At the heart of the abortion issue rests one overarching question: Is abortion a form of murder? In other words, does abortion involve the willful destruction of a living human person?

The abortion debate is not over whether or not murder should be legalized; it is a debate over whether or not abortion is a kind of murder.

There is something wrong, however, with even using the word murder in this discussion. The word itself is highly charged.

All three of these terms—murder, homicide, and manslaughter—are used for the killing of human beings. All are deemed to be serious offenses and crimes against humanity, but their gradations indicate that they are not considered to be crimes of equal severity.

premeditation. It involves malice aforethought. Thus, not only the act of killing a human person is in view, but the motive and intent are also important considerations.

pro-abortion and pro-choice activists are not necessarily advocating murder. They are not endorsing the premeditated, willful destruction of human beings with malice aforethought. Almost universally, the proponents of abortion act on the conviction that what is being aborted is less than a human being.

The question is objective, not subjective.

What I think the fetus is does not determine which of these it actually is.

If a fetus is a living person but I do not believe or think that it is a living person, my thoughts have no bearing on what the fetus actually is.

When does life begin?

If one group determines its position exclusively from the Bible or church teaching, what is the effect for people who do not embrace the authority of the Bible or of the church?

The irony of the United States debate on abortion is that it is a battle over “rights” in a nation that is sharply divided over how to determine what is right about anything.

Once a man ceases to recognize the infinite value of the human soul . . . then all he can recognize is that man is something to be used. But then he will also have to go further and recognize that some men can no longer be utilized and he arrives at the concept that there are some lives that have no value at all. —Helmut Thielicke

Even if we have difficulty precisely defining the concept of dignity, we all understand what it means to lose it.

In biblical terms, the sanctity of human life is rooted and grounded in creation. Mankind is not viewed as a cosmic accident but as the product of a carefully executed creation by an eternal God. Human dignity is derived from God. Man as a finite, dependent, contingent creature is assigned a high value by his Creator.

We may no longer be worthy, but we still have worth. This is the resounding biblical message of redemption.

Even if it cannot be proven that a fetus is an actual living human person, there is no doubt that it is a potential living human person. In other words, a fetus is a developing person. It is not in a frozen state of potentiality. The fetus is in dynamic process—without interference or unforeseen calamity, it surely will become a fully actualized living human person.

the production of a healthy living baby is one of nature’s most amazing feats.

Abortion—whatever else it may be—is an act against nature.

Many people do not consider fetuses to be people at all, or at least they are not sure whether fetuses are people. The unborn remain anonymous “things” that are discarded. Fetuses have no names. They have no personal biographies. They tend to be presented to the public mind as abstract entities.

if a fetus is a living person, or even if it is merely perceived to be, the emotional response should not be considered irrational.

Though the sanctity of life in general may be seen as an integral part of the laws of nations, the question of the beginning of life is not settled by law.