What I think God would say about abortion
On the topic of abortion,this is the sort of message I think that God would have us spread: in a truly good, loving world that was running as God intended it to, no woman would have cause to seek an elective abortion. I think that even people who support abortion rights would agree that it would be better if no woman ever found herself in a situation where the best solution she can find is to subject herself to a physically and often emotionally invasive procedure like the termination of a pregnancy. The fact that we do not live in that world should be taken as a sign that something is wrong. The fact that we live in a country where more than one out of three women will make use of this procedure at least once in her lifetime should be taken as a sign that something is very wrong.
I think that the moral arguments against abortion have been made to death and don’t need to be repeated. But more important for this moment in time is offering some real advice and reality for each of us as individuals. First of all, we need to understand that when a woman becomes pregnant it is not only a physical being that is created – there is a soul involved. When a soul enters into this world, God already knows the days of its life, its beginning and its end. The purpose of this life for each soul is to grow and learn as much as they can or need to during their time as physical beings. Which means that God is sending a lot of souls into this physical existence whose time is extremely truncated and whose chances to learn from this existence are very limited. I believe that those souls who are placed into forming human bodies with the knowledge that their existence will be measured in weeks rather than years are offering their lives for the women who conceive them.
Jesus said that there is no greater love that a person can have than to give up their lives for another. Each of these souls is offering the ultimate expression of love – a willingness to exist in a body which will be sacrificed so that a woman can find a way forward in the event of an unplanned and potentially life-altering pregnancy. This is a serious thing that is going on and should not be taken lightly. We are a long way from living in a world where few or no women will make this decision, but if we are ever to find our way towards living in that sort of world, we need to start taking this mass love sacrifice of our children seriously. If we are going to put a soul in the position to give their life like this, we need to honor their sacrifice. We need to realize that each time this sacrifice is made, it should be so that a man and woman will stop and take a serious look at the way they are living their lives and making their decisions.
Almost always an abortion should serve as a wake-up call for the people involved. Rather than wasting time either experiencing or trying to inflict shame, the sacrifice that these loving souls are making should compel each of us ask ourselves some serious questions about our attitudes and choices. Are we making choices that are not in line with where we are trying to go? Are we trying to get someplace that doesn’t actually line up with what we believe is important in life? Is there something about me or my life that is crying out to be changed?
A large percentage of women who have abortions are already mothers. I cannot imagine that any parent would want their child to deal with the sort of situation which leads a woman to seek an abortion. Is there something that can be done differently in order to make it more likely that our own children will not face similar situations in their future?
Even those who do will never be involved in an actual abortion should be asking ourselves some tough questions. Do we use our money, power and influence, to the extent that we have any, to help make being a parent more manageable? Are we parenting our own children in such a way that we are leaving them vulnerable to making choices which may one day lead their involvement in seeking an abortion? A lack of love, understanding and patient instruction will do just that.
Everything in life has a lesson to teach to those who are willing to look. If abortion is ever to become less common, much less be eliminated, it will require us to start learning the lessons we need to learn. It will require us to be willing to make changes in our lives and attitude and in what and how we teach our children. The many souls which have made the ultimate sacrifice – giving up their own lives so that another might live – deserve at least that from us.