Oh, boy. Just the header alone is dangerous territory, no matter who you might talk to, on the simple basis that that line can cover a variety of topics. At first glance, my viewpoints are simple:
- My body, my choice, when it comes to sex.
- My body, my choice, when it comes to food.
- My body, my choice, when it comes to alcohol and drugs.
- My body, my choice, when it comes to injections or medications of any kind.
- Not my body, therefore not my choice, when it comes to abortion. (Yes, I know I’m a man; I will explain a bit later in this post.)
I don’t typically like to post right away when big “current-events”
types of news hit. From just a few years ago, I have learned the importance of
paying attention to current events, but I still choose to receive it in bite
sizes. It’s what one has to do, I believe, in order to stay at least somewhat
sane. That, coupled with a crazy season at work combined with taking a summer class,
pretty much precluded me from posting when Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Here's the thing: while the Bible makes clear what is sin
vs. what is not, it also makes clear that God does indeed give us the right to
choose. He gives us free will. And, that was the aim when the United States’
founding fathers had put together the Constitution. Because all [persons] are
created equal (the Bible says it this way: that we are “fearfully and wonderfully
made”), we therefore have the freedom to choose what we want to do with
ourselves and with our lives. So as such, one could honestly make the claim
that the freedom to abort one’s pregnancy (and as a result, abort also the developing
baby) should fall under this umbrella.
I once believed this, too, by the way: after all, since I’m
not the one getting pregnant, why should it be my decision? I went with
the flow, because that was how the flow, well, flowed. (ouch; no pun intended... seriously!)
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s action last month, I
saw pictures of protesters bearing signs that said that being pro-life was a lie.
That alone has confirmed what I already have been believing for many years now
as an adult: the pro-choice platform is so twisted, I believe now to the point
that it would take the God of the Bible, Himself, to directly intervene and
correct these people’s hearts, on this issue and on so many others.
The first big lie is the idea that human life begins at
birth. This is a lie; human life (as well as that of every other living being)
begins – and always has begun – at conception. In the Psalm in which the “fearfully
and wonderfully made” line is referenced, it also says this:
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:13-16, NIV
For those reading, remember: as much as possible, I’m going to use the Bible to back up my arguments. I have also heard third-hand about scientists observing the moment of conception and discovering that a (small) flash of light emits and that that can be traced to the precise moment of conception. If true, this would be scientific evidence showing that a soul was created even when the baby is a mere few cells. But, because I heard this third-hand, and I don’t really trust the internet to be truthful and forthcoming about this, I can’t use this as my defense. So I instead choose to trust the Bible as my rock for this argument. Because, after all, if we can prove that God exists, even the God of the Bible, and if we can prove that He is the one true God who made the universe, then, it should naturally follow that His Word, the Bible, is not only infallible but inerrant. After that, any time we delve into any current-event type of argument, if the Bible has something to say about it, it stands as the final word.
By the way, this includes how the universe originally came
to be. In evolutionism, the universe apparently started with a “big bang” that occurred
billions of years ago, and then everything that has happened ever since has
been by strokes of luck. There’s this underlying idea that everything, including
our current existence – including (you, the reader) your current
existence – is by chance. If this is the case, then there’s this sense that we
can make up the rules as we go, you know, create our own ideas of ethics and
morality, regardless of what the Bible says about it. As part of making up our
own morality, we can decide that if there is no evidence, it must not exist.
This is something that science itself does not do; this choice determination
falls exclusively under human interpretation and human conclusion.
The other key deciding factor, according to the evolutionist
mindset, is survival. Under this model, the fittest survive. Those that don’t
survive, well, they were either too weak, or it wasn’t meant to be. In other
words, they don’t count. In other words, if an individual doesn’t count because
he or she or they were not able to survive, then that individual is not granted
full personhood, in the way that those individuals who do successfully survive
are.
It is therefore under these two guises, that form the first
great lie when it comes to the unborn. 1.) We can’t see them (and no, ultrasounds
somehow don’t count), and they’re not yet fully developed, so, they’re not a
real person. 2.) Because they depend on the mother inside whom they are
developing, they are not able to survive (they might as well be a parasite), so
no, they’re not a real person for that reason, either.
This is where the Word of God collides with these ideas.
First, as written above in Psalm 139, God created King David and knit him
together while he was developing in his mother’s womb. God created his inmost
being. A couple verses later, it is written that David’s frame was not hidden
from God when he was made “in the secret place” (i.e. in his mother’s womb),
and in the following verse, it is made clear that God’s eyes saw David’s
unformed body (i.e. while he was still developing in his mother’s womb), and God
had already determined David’s entire lifespan, from conception to death, even
before his birth.
Before I delve further into this argument, I’m going to
answer another reaction I have seen from pro-choice individuals who resist the
Bible as any kind of authority: while there are other passages in the Bible
that allude to this, it is more than enough that one passage clearly states God’s
view on the unborn. A topic or truth is not necessarily more true than
something else, simply because it occurs more often in the Bible. If something
is stately clearly even once in God’s Word, it is the ultimate truth on
whatever topic it addresses. So yes, the Bible absolutely takes an authoritative
stance on the unborn: unborn lives matter to God, and they need to matter to us
in the same way that they matter to Him.
As such, aborting a baby that is developing in the womb is
murder. And the Bible makes it very clear that God forbids murder:
You shall not murder.
Back to the passage from Psalm 139: it’s not just that God
cares for the unborn, or even that He made every individual who ever existed
from the moment of conception, but also that He mapped out that individual’s
entire existence, from conception to birth to growth to, eventually, death. It’s
not just that God cares for those that are presently unborn, but also that He
has plans for them, just like He has plans for you and me who have so far
managed to survive to our present day. He has written all our days in His book,
so it must mean that for every one of us, from the moment that we were conceived,
He had already taken the time to consider our lives and how long we each would
live. So I ask: if He had taken the trouble to do that for each of us who
managed to make it to birth, would He not also take the trouble to do the same
for those who are still developing in their mothers’ wombs? Something to think
about.
The second great lie: “my body, my choice.” Since I have
already established that a developing baby is a fully-fledged human being in
God’s eyes, it is therefore logical that that baby is not “part of the woman’s
body,” but rather a separate body developing inside a woman’s body. Therefore,
it is not “ ‘my body,’ says the woman,” and therefore, it should not be “ ‘my
choice,’ says the woman.” I say “should,” because, going back to my original
argument about free will, it still is her choice. I also backtrack
briefly, because, I have also heard that women often get abortions because the
man who impregnated her pressured her to do so.
As promised, I would also follow up on my earlier comment “not
my body, therefore not my choice,” concerning abortion, and especially
considering that I am a man and will never experience the difficulties of
pregnancy like women do. One thing I do agree with and stand with is that we
men must share in the accountability of any pregnancy, whether or not we are
married to the woman. First off, if a man gets a woman pregnant, he must step
up and take care of both woman and child. I do agree that that should be
non-negotiable. Second, because he got her pregnant, being a significant part
of the child’s life must be a choice that he makes. Far too often, we men have left
women holding the bag when it has come to parenthood, and I agree that that is
wrong, both for how the man treats the woman, and for how he treats the child
on the way. So, in the same way that I state that it should not be, but is, the
woman’s choice to kill the baby, it also should not be the man’s choice to pressure
his woman to kill the baby. They made that baby. And yes, it might feel like a
person who is becoming a parent is a second-class citizen, but honestly, that
is rather true. Raising a child is an enormous responsibility, and it does take
over your life. That’s just reality. Referring to oneself as a “second-class
citizen” comes across as complaining, and reflects a selfish attitude in terms
of one’s expectation of their life. And that, more than anything, is a serious
symptom of the mass erosion of a fundamental attitude toward life.
And so, I revisit my opening bullet points, with some revisions:
- Not my body, nor my choice, when it comes to sex.
- Not my body, nor my choice, when it comes to food.
- Not my body, nor my choice, when it comes to alcohol and drugs.
- Not my body, nor my choice, when it comes to injections or medications of any kind.
- And still, not my body, and therefore not my choice, when it comes to abortion.
I revise my original statements because of the below verse:
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
If God made us, our bodies are therefore not our own. He gives us free will, sure, but, to really follow Him closely and walk with Him all the days of our lives, it also means surrendering our own views of our own bodies. Going back through the updated bullet points, what follows are further commentary as to why I appear to have changed what I wrote for each.
- When it comes to sex, the Bible is very clear what is sin vs. what is not, and it’s because of the above verse, and because of how God designed us. He designed us to be male and female (unfortunately due to the recent rise in transgenderism, this line will trigger people in ways it didn’t just a few years ago). He designed sex for marriage, marriage between one man and one woman. Anything outside of that is unacceptable and dishonoring to God.
- We do need food for survival, and aside from gluttony, there is no real issue with food. God provides us each day what we need to eat to get through the day.
- The Bible references “strong drink,” and while it doesn’t reference drugs outright, the tie here is that both strong drink and drugs are both considered mind-altering substances. The Bible calls us to be sober, both in our bodies and in our minds.
- Along these lines, injections or synthetic medications also can have a similar “altering” effect, especially if there is a long-term use. Again, God designed our bodies to heal themselves, along with natural elements to aid in the healing process. I’m personally not opposed to synthetic medication to help with severe cases or issues, but not as a long-term solution, as such use could possibly rob my body to heal itself. Plus, the above verse from 1 Corinthians 6.
- And I’ve covered the last point at length in today’s post via Psalm 139.
A couple final verses for thought and reflection on not only
this topic but attitudes related to it:
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. 1 Corinthians 6:12A, NIV
Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 1 Peter 2:16, NIV
These verses for sure could use a study around them on their
own. I will save that for another time. Of course, convincing individuals who already
don’t believe in God is difficult. But, our job as Bible-believing Christians
is not to force them to change. When we stand on God’s Word, we already know
that He has our back. We do have the freedom (not the “right”) to choose, but
we also have a responsibility to choose to live according to what His Word
says.