Discussions of “Why Choose Life” often become quite heated. God’s Word and today’s advanced science* points us to life beginning at conception.
Over the thousands of years (yes thousands) women have had abortions, a recognition existed, that they treated the absence of something — their time of the month, rather than eliminating a baby. Abortions in the form of lady’s pills, herbal concoctions, etc. were readily available — even advertised. There was also another recognition — if the woman felt the baby move, also known as quickening, it was wrong and too late to abort what was now a little life.
Limited scientific evidence* of life at conception existed until recent years, but scripture verses haven’t changed. Here are two from the Psalms that provided a basis for the unwritten laws that governed those abortions of long ago.
You took me from the womb,
making me secure while at my mother’s breast.
I was given over to You at birth;
You have been my God from my mother’s womb.
~Psalm 22:9-10 (HCSB)
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.
~Psalm 139:13-16 (MSG)
Women sought abortions because babies were an inconvenience or because they preferred to not have an additional mouth to feed whether they could afford to or not. Out-of-wedlock pregnancies are not as stigmatizing today, but historically that was such a scandal, an illegitimate baby had absolutely no future. Extra-marital affairs could result in an unwanted pregnancy. So, for thousands of years and for all the same reasons, women have had abortions. Not much has changed.
For most of those years women believed their actions restored menses. Quickening is generally not felt until between 16 and 25 weeks gestation. Today, however, we have the science to back up life at conception.* Had women of past generations had that information I believe many would have made a very different choice. Every single life is precious to God, our Creator. The above Bible verses are loaded with this Truth.
Choose Life!
*American College of Pediatrics
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Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Copyright 2020, Lynn U. Watson