No Regard For Life - Part I
Reprinted from Rape Of A Nation by Jimmy Swaggart
August 2021 |
While the blood of more than *1.5 million aborted babies cries out to God in America each year, the Christian community remains virtually silent. The silence is horrifying! We, as Americans, and even more appallingly, as Christian Americans, would seem to have no regard for human life.
A professor at the UCLA Medical School asked his students this question: “Here is a family history. The father has syphilis; the mother has TB. They have already produced four children. The first is blind, the second has died, the third is deaf, the fourth has TB, and now the mother is pregnant again. The parents are willing to have an abortion if you decide they should. What do you think?”
The majority of students decided on the abortion.
“Congratulations,” said the professor, “you have just murdered Beethoven!”
The professor’s disclosure to his students is chilling. You may conclude that if Beethoven’s parents had lived today, he would likely not have been born. The same could apply to literally thousands of other great men and women who, by living out their productive lives, have made the world a better place in which to live.
Regardless of how ignorant anyone may be to the true facts of abortion, abortion is sin. I will go even beyond that and say without qualification that abortion is premeditated murder — the murder of an innocent infant with a body, soul, and spirit that needs only the protection of its mother’s womb to survive and mature.
For long centuries no decent person (and certainly no respected Christian) has advocated or condoned the killing of unborn children. Like any other act of wanton killing, it is murder. Nonabortion is the law of all civilized nations — and more importantly, it is the law of God.
Without question, abortion is the primary issue facing America today, and the Christian community can’t hide behind a false claim of ignorance. Yet God’s people slumber, offering no true resistance to this wanton slaughter of human life. And all the time, Satan feverishly inspires evil men to pursue their course of destruction.
In all honesty, the present-day slaughter seems somehow unreal, and, of course, those who advocate abortion go to great lengths to direct our attention away from the victims themselves. In an age that boasts of enlightenment and humanity, it is ironic indeed that it promotes — and then hides — the reality of an issue of such abject corruption.
America is being weighed in the balance, and the pivotal point of that balance is the issue of abortion. Abortion actually challenges the inherent sanctity of all human life. We can recoil with good Christian horror as we recall Roman mothers clutching their babies to protect them from the terror of Hannibal. Hannibal’s god was Baal, who insatiably demanded infant sacrifice. But how do we react when Baal takes up residence in our fair land? Baal has many names. Moloch, the god of the ancient Phoenicians (who demanded the sacrifice of children by burning) is one of them. Here in America, his name is self — and the religion of his followers is secular humanism.
Secular humanistic thinking is responsible for the millions of babies who have been deprived of life because they did not appear, as they resided in their mothers’ wombs, to offer an advantage to their parents. They are the innocent victims of this evil, ultimately selfish, religion.
Our “Justice” System
In 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States opened the door to an American holocaust by allowing abortion-on-demand. Since then, nearly *1.5 million babies a year have been murdered in their mothers’ wombs — that’s over 10 times the number of Americans lost in all of our nation’s wars.
Then, in June 1983, the Supreme Court chose to provide even greater convenience (and less stigma) to the pregnant female and to the medical profession as well. As a result, we should see an annual increase in these already appalling statistics.
The new, less-restrictive laws now basically state:
- The mother-to-be no longer has to have a 24-hour “cooling off” period before making the irreversible decision to end the life of her unborn baby.
- Abortions for women more than three months pregnant no longer have to be performed in hospitals but can now be performed in abortion clinics — even up to the ninth month!
- Doctors no longer have to inform those seeking abortions about possible alternatives to preserve life, the medical and psychological risks of abortion, or even the simple fact that the “fetus” is indeed a human life.
- It is no longer necessary that aborted fetuses be disposed of in a “humane and sanitary manner.”
- Pregnant, unwed girls under 15 are no longer required to obtain the consent of either a parent or a judge before having an abortion — if the physician considers her “mature.”
Planned Unparenthood
The confirmation of an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy can create panic, whether due to a real crisis — such as rape (though rare) or illness — or as a result of teenage experimentation, a threat to the family finances, or just pure selfishness on the mother’s part. However, after the initial panic and shock, the pregnant female may search for help and possible alternatives — from keeping the baby, to child care, to putting the baby up for adoption.
Although several alternatives may be available, abortion-on-demand seems to provide an easy way out, a way that is progressively easier as its social acceptance increases. It is all too convenient today for a woman to go to an abortion clinic where she pays a few dollars to have a doctor kill her unborn baby. How does she stifle the pangs of conscience? Apparently her selfishness overrides any guilt she may experience — at least temporarily.
Of course, advertisements and posters such as those put out by Planned Parenthood (“Abortion Should Be Between You and a Doctor”) help to soothe her conscience and aid her in seeking a quick escape from her dilemma. In the midst of a personal crisis, a woman’s mind becomes a fertile field for planting suggestions that may lead to abortion as the solution. Planned Parenthood, a world leader in arranging and promoting abortions, presents its message with great clarity and diabolical cleverness.
Such pro-abortion literature focuses on emotions in a situation that should involve moral and logical reasoning to reach a wise decision. In this business of making the unthinkable acceptable, emotions play a big role. Language, therefore, becomes critical. Could it have been a factor in the Supreme Court’s decision in 1973 when the victim of abortion was referred to as a “fetus” rather than as a “human being” or “baby”? By using this term, they resorted to the common humanistic practice of employing a “euphemism.” A euphemism is an inoffensive word substituted for a more commonly used, but more disturbing, word. “Fetus” is an impersonal word — one that allows the hearer to think of the unborn baby as a mere “blob” of flesh. Consequently, abortion becomes abstract and impersonal (and less murderous) — at least, it certainly seems to be that way in the thinking of those who promote and support this crime.
In September 1948, the World Medical Association (with the United States as a founding member) adopted the Declaration of Geneva, which states, “I will maintain the utmost respect for human life from the time of its conception.” The committee that drew up that code thus said that abortionists stood condemned, and this was reaffirmed in 1979 by the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Oslo, which restated the Declaration of Geneva’s call for respect for life from conception.
Apparently the United States Supreme Court set aside the scientific evidence behind these opinions and said that it couldn’t decide just when human life begins. It thus opted for abortion-on-demand during the earlier stages of pregnancy. In June 1983, however, it set aside all restraints and made it clear that it holds no regard for human life.
President Reagan cast aside all smoke screens when he made the statement, “The real question today is not when human life begins, but what is the value of human life?”
Is The Unborn Child A Human Being?
I believe the unborn child (the “fetus”) is a human being, a person, or an individual from the moment of conception. Some have foolishly stated that the unborn child, up to the sixth or seventh month, is little more than a “blob of tissue.” That just isn’t so.
The tiny, unborn baby is not “just a part of the woman’s body” as supporters of abortion like to claim, nor is it a “mass of undifferentiated tissue.” It is a distinct and separate life. All of the child’s traits have been charted in its genes. The sex of the child, the color of its eyes and hair, its physical features, and its special talents and gifts are determined at the moment of conception. At that point, the mother and father have contributed all they will contribute to the genetic characteristics of their offspring.
Within three weeks of conception, the human heart of the unborn child begins to beat.
By six or seven weeks, all vital organs are present and fingers, feet, and toes develop. The first movements of body, arms, and legs occur. Even at that early age, sex can be determined. The buds of the little milk teeth appear and brain waves can be recorded.
By eight weeks the child is able to grasp an object and make a fist.
By ten weeks the hands and feet are formed. In fact, the fingerprints and footprints are already engraved on the skin. Even though in the mother’s womb, the child can suck its thumb, fingers, or toes.
At eleven or twelve weeks, the baby is very sensitive to touch, heat, sound, discomfort, and pain. (It is often at this stage that abortion is accomplished through the extremely painful injection of saline solution.) During this stage, the vocal cords are forming and the baby goes through the motions of crying. His face now shows the features inherited from his parents.
By sixteen weeks, fingernails, eyebrows, and eyelashes appear to enhance the natural beauty of the tiny being. He also becomes more active as he kicks his feet and curls his toes, or rests while sucking his thumb.
Here we are presenting known medical facts. Does the “fetus” sound like a formless blob, or is it clear that life begins at conception? The tiny being needs only food and time to grow into an adult life.
*This statistic is from 1985, when Rape Of A Nation was written. Current statisic for the U.S. is approximately 62.5 million babies aborted since 1973. (National Right to Life Committee)
This article will continue in the September issue of The Evangelist.
To purchase Rape Of A Nation (09-131) visit www.shopjsm.org.
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