Thursday – April 21, 2016
Recently the leading Republican contender for the Presidency of the United States, Billionaire Donald Trump was asked a hypothetical question during an interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC on the 30th of March. He was asked that if in the setting of abortion being illegal in the United States did he, Donald Trump, believe the woman should be punished for abortion. Here is a transcript of the questions that followed.
MATTHEWS: Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no as a principle?
TRUMP: The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment.
MATTHEWS: For the woman?
TRUMP: Yes, there has to be some form.
Senator Ted Cruz also a Republican Presidential contender responded to Trumps comments as follows: “Once again Donald Trump has demonstrated that he hasn’t seriously thought through the issues, and he’ll say anything just to get attention,” he said. “On the important issue of the sanctity of life, what’s far too often neglected is that being pro-life is not simply about the unborn child; it’s also about the mother—and creating a culture that respects her and embraces life.” … “Of course we shouldn’t be talking about punishing women,” Cruz continued. “[W]e should affirm their dignity and the incredible gift they have to bring life into the world.”
In response to Trumps comments Candidate Hilary Clinton tweeted the following: “Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse. Horrific and telling.”
Now let us consider, which answer is according to Scripture. The responses by Senator Cruz and Secretary Clinton are both incorrect. The initial answer given by Donald Trump was correct. Since then he has back peddled to be I suspect more politically correct at least in Republican circles. Should we be more concerned about righteousness or wickedness? This is a critical issue for Christians to be very familiar and to have God’s ideas firmly entrenched in our thinking and speech. With regard to an unborn human living being made in the image and likeness of God when would it be right to kill that person? Many terms and ideas are thrown around in this debate over abortion. The process of killing the unborn person in the womb of the mother is even referred to as healthcare or womens’ health. Give me a break! We are told it is the womans’ right to control her body. Many say it is fine to abort (kill) the child right up to and just before he/she takes their first breath. Others talk about survivability outside the womb as a criteria, other say it is okay until the unborn person can feel pain (about 20 weeks). Others say abortion is fine in the case of pregnancy as a result of rape, incest, or when the mothers’ life is imperiled by the child. Still others and the correct view is that it is never right or righteous to kill the unborn person except in the extremely rare circumstance when the mothers’ life is in imminent jeopardy.
To refer to abortion as a womens’ health issue or as healthcare is absurd. However millions entertain this concept and embrace it showing how dark it has become in America. The murder of an innocent person is never healthcare. In the case of abortion one person dies 100% of the time and the other is left with all sorts of spiritual scars and sometimes physical scars. There is the argument that the woman has the right to control her own body however the flaw with that argument is that the body of the child is not her body (see the following graphic). The body of the child is within the mother and dependent upon the mother but is a distinct and separate person (spirit, soul, and body).
Using a criteria of survivability apart from the mother is a very slippery slope. Yes, the unborn child is 100% dependent upon the mother to a certain point of physical maturation but so is the born child completely dependent upon others for years. This is true for the disabled and for the elderly. This is what assisted suicide which is but one step removed euthanasia is all about. This is creeping into our country and gaining traction. This brings us to the question of rape and incest. Is the child conceived in these circumstances less valuable to society or more importantly to God? Seems like He bought us all with the same precious blood. And of course there are many people born from these circumstances that were valuable to society and to the Kingdom of God. Consider the following example. Let’s say a couple want to start a gold mining company so they get all the permits and get the applicable equipment in place and lo and behold they strike gold. Another couple are riding down the road and careen off the road causing damage not only to the car but each other. The wrecking company comes and in the process of removing the car from the ditch the digging up of the ground exposes gold nuggets. Let me ask; is the gold discovered on purpose more valuable than the gold discovered under bad circumstances? Of course not and neither is the unborn child! Listen to what God said to the Prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 1:4-5 (KJV)
4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
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.
It does not appear that the phrase “Before I formed thee” is implying that God knew Jeremiah before conception in his mothers’ womb. Once conception takes place God has put in place all that is necessary spiritually and physically for the forming of the whole person. Many make much of the fact that a human embryo does not appear much different than a snake or some other species. The life that is in other living beings is the same as a man/womans but we are in the image and likeness of God (Father, The Word, and Holy Spirit [now Father, Son, and Holy Spirit]), however, we have been breathed upon by God Himself, not so with other created beings. When Jeremiah’s father and mother came together creating a unique person spirit and body God considered him a person and had a wonderful plan and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Finally, this is what God says about the shedding of innocent blood.
Deuteronomy 19:13 (KJV)
13 Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
By Pastor David R. Wood
