The Rulers of Abortion and the Unmeasurable Love of God
More than the abortion itself, the reasons around having one complicate the discussion. Recently on my local public radio I think I have heard a story on every possible exception explaining why taking the life of a baby should be legal. I agree. It’s complicated. But least we linger in the realm of exceptions too long, we will forget to focus on the main reason women and men agree to terminate the life of their babies.
According to a study on the Guttmacher Institute site, “while a small proportion of women who have abortions do so because of health concerns or fetal anomalies, the large majority choose termination in response to an unintended pregnancy.”[1] In other words, the rule and not the exceptions is the uncomplicated reason that abortion is an act of convenience. This is the “Rule” of abortion. But that’s not my point.
If we busy ourselves with the exceptions, we neglect the millions of women, the Rulers, who face the life changing decision to have or not to have their babies. Even if they don’t think it’s life changing, it’s definitely life changing for the little ones over whom they think they get to play God. But that’s not my point either.
My concern is for the Ruler who one day realizes that she misjudged life and regrets the decision she made to take the life of her baby. Before that day, she may sneer at the thought of being wrong. But we all make mistakes that we believe are right until we realize they are wrong. One mistake I pray Rulers do not make is to forget God when the pain of their mistake grips their hearts. God’s heart wants to protect us from the consequences of bad decisions. But when we realize we have made wrong choices, His heart is to draw us close to Him, as our loving Father, for complete healing.
Romans 3:23 says, “For there is no distinction to be made anywhere: everyone has sinned, everyone falls short of the beauty of God’s plan.” In other words, everyone makes wrong decisions. But the question is, what can a Ruler do when she realizes that the baby was really a life created in the image of God. No one can bring that little life back. To that God says, when we realize our brokenness, He willingly forgives us. He is there to walk with her through the healing process, no exceptions!
[1] Finer LB and Henshaw SK, Abortion incidence and services in the United States in 2000, Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 2003, 35(1):6–15. https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/psrh/2005/reasons-us-women-have-abortions-quantitative-and-qualitative-perspectives
