On Abortion...

I wrote this paper for one of my classes, enjoy!

Abortion is a hot topic among Christians and non-Christians today, but in an argument as to whether abortion is murder or not, it all comes down to this one question: is a fetus a human being? If you answer “yes”, you must be able to say why. There are three main categories of arguments why a fetus is a human being, Biblical proof, proof in science, and common sense.

Let us start with Biblical proof. The story of Mary and Elizabeth is a great one to use as an example, and it is found in Luke 1:39-45. “³⁹In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, ⁴⁰and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴²and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."(Luke 1:39-45, ESV). Here, we see Mary going to visit her cousin, who was pregnant with John the Baptist. John was able to sense that Mary was pregnant with Jesus, who was his King, whom he was sent to prepare for, and he leapt in his mother’s womb. This “fetus” was not an unresponsive something-or-other, but a human, who can hear, and has senses.

There is also scientific evidence that a fetus is a human being. First, this “blob of cells”, has DNA. Now DNA is a “code” that each human has, and it is not the same for anyone else in the whole world. Since the fetus has its own DNA, it is not part of its mother, but a separate person, being carried and protected by the mother while it grows. As the baby grows, it has a heartbeat, and human characteristics. An example of this from the Bible, is in Genesis 25:22 which says, “The children struggled together within her…”. Rebekah was pregnant with Jacob and Esau, and they were already showing signs of being able to think (which means they had brains), and tell their bodies what to do. So even though they are still in the womb, they have the ability to think.

Common sense is knowledge that is not very common anymore, especially on the topic of abortion. If you do not know whether or not a fetus is a human, why would you even take the chance? It is not smart, and it is not logical. If you need a real life example to show you, listen to this one. You and your friend Bob went out for a hunt one day. You were in the woods and you stopped to tie your shoe. Bob kept walking and he went far enough away so that he could not see you, and he wasn’t aware of your absence. You happened to be behind a bush, and as you were getting up from tying your shoe, Bob think there is some wild game in the bush, so he gets ready to shoot. Pause the scene for a moment, should Bob shoot or not? Well, the answer for anyone would be “NO!”, but that is with your life on the line. If you were to reverse the story, it would still be “NO!” for an answer, because then Bob’s life would then be on the line. But if you put a tiny fetus, in its mother’s womb, and you have no idea whether it is a human or not, why should you take the chance!? If it turns out to be a human, you have just committed murder, and that is a chance that no one should take, yet people still do. They take the chance with the unborn, yet not with the adults. Now, let us take a moment to define common sense: “Common Sense: sound practical judgment that is independent of specialized knowledge, training, or the like”. Another definition is: “normal native intelligence”. So do you now think this is common sense to kill a fetus without knowing whether or not it is a human being?

Now we have evidence from the Bible, science, and practicality. The Bible has numerous places where it is shown that the babies, which people call fetuses, react to different surroundings. In science, we know that the baby has DNA, and will, as it develops, have a heartbeat, and brain. Then with practicality, we know that we should not take the chance of killing a human, if we aren’t sure what it is. No matter what non-Christians say, we can look unto Jesus, and the Bible, and conclude in saying, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28,ESV).