Every day, there are murders which occur in the back alleys of every major city. They are carried out in way that leave the victims dead. The perpetrators often place themselves in grave danger in order to carry out these crimes. Some actually die in such endeavors. And yet in all my years, I have never heard anyone argue that we should perhaps allow these murders to occur in a more sanitary environment. No one ever suggests that that would be better. “Let’s open up clinics were you can kill your antagonists under medical supervision. They will die with less pain and the murderer will leave the same day without having experienced any real danger.” Anyone who said such things would be laughed at openly.
And yet, signs like this one keep suggesting that abortion must be kept legal because otherwise women will grab clothes hangers and head to the alley. I do not want any women to be injured by trying something this foolish. However, this is of course ridiculous argumentation for allowing legalized abortion. Murder is wrong, and we must say “no” both in our words and laws. We do this with the other murders that happen in back allies. The real issue is not whether murder is done in a safe way but if it is done at all.
Abortion is murder. It should be punishable by law. It is forgivable in Christ. Thanks be to God.
I was pleasantly surprised to see an article on MSNBC a few years ago that labeled abortions as soon to be an obsolete procedure. What followed, however, wasn’t as great. It mentioned the ease at which women could get the morning after pill to stop it from happening at all. As if the only reason you would need protection now would be to prevent the spread of STDs. I kept thinking, “Wow, they are on the right track, but still missed the point completely.” I don’t know if point is making sense, but even medical or scientific reasoning used to discredit abortion can still fall short. I agree with you summation completely. If we take a more Christ-like approach, we have forgiveness and a renewed appreciation for life.
Makes me question how we “sanitize” all our sin. Are condoms promoting “sanitized” adultery (clean from STDs, from the messiness of pregnancy, from the grime of guilt itself—”but I used a condom!”). Does playing the market along even legal channels somehow sterilize greed and covetousness? And (oooh, this hurts even me!) can Facebook provide a sanitary way of spreading gossip? Our sanitary efforts don’t keep us clean from our countless and pernicious sin. Only Christ’s cleansing blood does that (thank God!). But fooling ourselves is, as you say, Philip, is a dangerous deal.
No doubt. There is no such thing as safe sin. But we sure try to convince ourselves that there is.