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The Rights of Life

Writer's picture: Amy TravisAmy Travis


“It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble” (NIV). Luke 17:2


One of the more perplexing divisions of our times is between those who promote abortion as a woman’s choice and those who advocate for life. In 1973, the now-famous United States Supreme Court Case Roe v. Wade ruled that access to safe and legal abortion is a constitutional right. This legislation became an extension of the idea that government shouldn’t be able to tell women what to do with their bodies.


There are a lot of social issues in America today which the Bible doesn’t have any direct answers, but the case for protecting innocent life isn’t one of them. Genesis 1 proclaims that God made man in his image; Exodus 20 records the Sixth Commandment, “You must not murder”; and Psalm 139 declares boldly and beautifully how life begins at conception. Very severe warnings are given against those who would harm children in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, such as the verse above.


There is no room for “gray area” in the Christian worldview regarding abortion.


Sister Dede, a retired Army officer and surgeon, spoke at the Republican National Convention in August 2020 and discussed her work serving the poor in Haiti, Sudan, Kenya, and Iraq. She talked about how the refugees she has worked with have been marginalized, viewed as insignificant, and have been deemed powerless.


The largest marginalized group in the world, though, Sister Dede stated, are not outside our borders. They are here in the United States and they are the unborn.


Abortion is a US $1.3 billion industry in America. That’s billion with a “b”. The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act passed in 2003 is the only restriction on the Roe v. Wade legislation, which remained uncontested for several decades. In recent years, however, there has been a push to overturn the ban on late-term abortions.


Rather than continued progress toward making abortion illegal, many proponents are choosing to double down. The push toward political correctness has caused the unthinkable murder of viable, unborn babies to become more acceptable. Advocates for abortion on demand are offended by the term “pro-life,” possibly because it implies that unborn children have rights, not just the activists.


Here is what I do not understand: Why isn’t adoption being pushed as an alternative to late-term abortion? As a human being, partial-birth abortion doesn’t make sense to me on any level. But as a mother, it makes even less sense. Why would any woman purposely go through nine months of pregnancy if they had even an inkling that they want to abort? Pregnancy is no fun. I can’t imagine any rational, caring woman willingly choosing to kill the child they carried for the past nine months, rather than seeking a plan for adoption.


I’ve heard many people ask, “But what about the argument that it is unconstitutional for the government to tell women what they can and cannot do with their bodies?” This is considered the basis for the legal argument of Roe v. Wade.


Consider this: In a state where there are no restrictions on abortion—such as New York—a mother could legally abort her son or daughter the day before her due date. If, however, en route to the abortion clinic a driver strikes her car, killing her and her unborn child, the driver could be charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter. The absurdity and irony of this hypocrisy in our legal system is breathtaking.


If a pregnant woman is legally considered to be two separate people, it stands to reason that her “rights to her own body” end where the next life begins.


The government of any developed nation has both a right and responsibility to protect all citizens, especially those who cannot speak for themselves. The primary role of government is to restrain evil, according to John Eidsmoe, author of God and Caesar: Biblical Faith and Political Action. The fight for life is not only constitutional, it is also the obligation of any citizen of the kingdom of heaven.


America is in a battle between good and evil. Will you join the fight to protect the rights of life?



For more on this very important discussion, please see Chapter 6, “The Rights of Life” in Through the Lens of Love & Truth: A Look at Christian Conservatism in America. Available on AMAZON.


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