By Jordyn Carrido
When I became a Christian at the age of twenty, I got this overwhelming feeling that I finally understood my place in the world. The God I serve is one who specifically made me just as I am, with my unique gifts and flaws, and has enough grace to forgive all my sin and allow me into Heaven with him. Along with this realization for myself came a great conviction for all the babies who are aborted in this country each year… and a great despair at the fact that many Christians do not have the same conviction.
I had always been somewhat pro-life, but becoming a believer and learning about how God made each and every human being really convinced me that abortion was a crime against God. Ephesians 1:4, 5, and 11 reads,
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world… In love he predestined us… In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”
Psalms 139:13-16 reads,
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 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. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
Christians believe that the Word of God is true in its entirety, and that God never lies or contradicts himself. If a believer reads these verses – as well as the rest of the Bible – they should only be able to draw the conclusion that it is wrong to abort a baby in the womb. That baby is created masterfully by God for a purpose, and to end that life prematurely is in direct violation of God’s law and plan.
The science also supports the pro-life position. In a survey conducted in 2018, 5,502 biologists from 1,058 institutions were asked to determine when life begins. 95 percent said that life begins at fertilization, even though 63 percent of respondents were not religious, 89 percent identified as liberals, 92 percent were Democrats, and 85 percent said they were pro-choice.
At the moment of fertilization, a new DNA code is created, which scientifically means that a new person exists, and the process of human development begins. A zygote is formed, an embryo begins to grow, it turns into a fetus, and is born as an infant child. All along that developmental path, it is a human being. It is just as much a human as I am writing this or as you are reading this. It is a precious life created by God that we, as Christians, are called to love and protect (Romans 13:10). Not only does every embryo have a unique genetic code, but God intentionally gave them that unique code. The instant conception takes place, a life is created and God has a plan for that life. By taking the child’s life, the mother and father are choosing to reject God’s plan and laws and instead choosing to do what they believe is most convenient for them.
In order to join the fight to save the unborn from legal persecution, we must know who the enemy is. The biggest name in the abortion industry is undoubtedly Planned Parenthood. Unfortunately, most people either do not know – or do not care – that the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, was an open eugenicist and racist. Eugenics is defined as “the practice or advocacy of controlled selective breeding of human populations (as by sterilization) to improve the population’s genetic composition,” according to Merriam Webster Dictionary. To put it in more plain terms, eugenics is genocide of “undesirable” groups of people, sometimes on the basis of race or cognitive ability. Margaret Sanger intentionally worked with the KKK as well as black doctors and spiritual leaders to encourage black women to have abortions, with the goal being to “exterminate the Negro population.” This extermination plan expanded beyond the black community to Chinese people, poor people, and people with mental or physical disabilities. This mission of eliminating those that Planned Parenthood deemed “less than” is still being (unwittingly) carried out today.
In New York City, as of 2016 (the most recent available data), black women accounted for 39 percent of total reported abortions. In fact, more black babies were aborted than born alive. This also happened in 2012 and 2013, and it probably will not be the last time. Within NYC in 2016, 49 percent of reported pregnancies of black mothers resulted in abortion (4 percent were miscarriages, leaving 47 percent live births). These represent only a small percentage of the 60 million babies that have been aborted since Roe v Wade was passed in 1973.
Every Christian knows that racism is evil (James 2:9, Romans 2:11) and that all people are God’s people, created individually by Him, unconditionally loved by Him. We know that Margaret Sanger was a racist woman who worked with the KKK to encourage death, particularly on the basis of race or ethnicity.
The same reasoning that tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39) applies not only to our brothers and sisters of different races, nationalities, etc., but also to those innocent unborn children that literally live and grow within us. The love required of us for the people we can see and hold and talk to, also applies to those who are unborn, those who are nothing but potential and have a whole future ahead of them, specifically planned out by God.
This is a difficult topic, and not one that I decided to explore lightly. There is no question that deciding whether or not to get an abortion is an incredibly difficult situation for someone to find themselves in. There are a number of reasons in a woman’s life (or in the life of the father of the child) that might lead them to believe that abortion is their only option. But there is hope, and there are always other options for these families.
We have never been more medically and technologically advanced than we are right now, so any issues in a pregnancy that may affect the health of the mother can still result in a live (albeit premature) birth rather than the killing of a child. The youngest baby to be born and survive was James Elgin Gill who was born at 21 weeks old in 1987! Today he is a healthy adult with no medical issues. Our technology and medical practices allow for miracles like this to happen even more frequently now, rendering abortions obsolete and unnecessary.
I understand there are many reasons women choose to abort their babies. This article is not meant to attack or to judge, it is merely a plea that we might consider other options, and encourage everyone else to do so as well.
The purpose of this article is to encourage you to make this issue, the killing of innocent babies, stay at the forefront of your mind on election day. There is one party that fully supports abortion, and accepts money from Planned Parenthood on a regular basis. There is another party who stands for life and whose candidate has been to the March For Life and supports the gradual end of limitless abortion in this country. There are a lot of issues and policies on the ballot this year for your consideration. My hope and my prayer is that, when you vote, the systematic, racist murder of the innocent is not lost in the noise of other national issues.
I leave you with Jeremiah 1:5 and Ephesians 2:10:
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
My prayer for all of us is that we would love these little ones –who are incapable of fighting for themselves – and fight, vote, and do whatever it takes to make sure that no more lives are needlessly lost, and that they get to experience the futures that God has laid out for them.
Bible references are from the New Living Translation or the New International Version
Jordyn Carrido is a senior at Chapman University. She will be graduating in December with a Business Administration degree. She is also an editor for The Hesperian.
Great article/op-ed. Blown away by its sincerity, charity and clarity.