Jeremiah 1:5 — Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

There are some things I simply don’t want to write about. Abortion is close to the top of the list. My position is not likely to sit well with people I know and love — in either camp. There is, I fear, something for everyone to disagree with!

But, like many, I have been appalled by the recent revelations related to “Planned Parenthood” and I will get no peace until I say something.

First, let me be clear. Despite a lot of what has been said, I believe there are very few pure “convenience” abortions. Many women are forced into abortion by weight of circumstance, family pressures, and sheer necessity. To deal with them with anything other than the deepest love and care would be cruelly to worsen pain and suffering. Condemnation cannot be a Christian response.

Second, however, the specious argument that “the Bible doesn’t ban abortions” cannot stand. It is true that there is no explicit statement — but Exodus 21:22-23 makes it clear that a baby in the womb is a child, and to kill that child carries a death penalty:
If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, (Exodus 21:22-23 KJV)
I understand, and sympathize with the “hard cases”. A woman pregnant as a result of rape or incest deserves all our sympathy — but it is hard to see that the child deserves a death penalty. The other case is far harder for me — when the health of the mother is at risk the trade off must be nearly unbearable. 

To be clear — the Bible does not directly address the issue, but the early church certainly did. In its little discipleship manual, the Didache (“The Teaching of the Lord Given to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles”) it is written, “You shall not kill a child in the womb nor expose infants“. There is no ambiguity.

So much for the issue of abortion itself. But what of the issue that has brought me to the point where I have to speak? What of the activities of the awfully misnamed “Planned Parenthood” Federation of America? There can be no excuse for selling off, as spare parts for research, the tissue of aborted babies. It comes, of course, from a worldview that does not see each child as a miracle made in God’s image. The ancient Israelites knew better!
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalms 139:13-16 KJV)
I am praying that Planned Parenthood will be destroyed by the revealed evidence of their horrifying practices. I have heard the claims that abortion is only one of their services and that they do much of value for women. I am convinced that there must be a better way to provide those services. I am praying for that better way to be found. Will you please join me?