Top 10 excuses to keep abortion legal

One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, “Who do people say I am?” Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.” Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah sent from God!” (Luke 9:18-20, NLT)

Rather than repent for an abortion in the past - either experienced personally or by someone counseled or condoned through silence - many excuses are meant to justify sinful actions, including believing aborting a living child was the only decision they had, the best decision at the time, or it was necessary to sacrifice a child to an idol of education, career, relationship, health, convenience, reputation, fear, or self.

These deeply held beliefs are protected and stoked from every form of media online, in the news, and a multi-billion-dollar industry that repeats the same phrases that each of us can repeat. Here are the top ten excuses, and what I have come to understand through years of research and experience with literally hundreds of women and families, both those who aborted and those who left room for God.

10. "Abortion is necessary healthcare".

Women do not need abortion. Abortion kills one patient (the child) and causes unnecessary pain and suffering for the other patient (the mom) who is made less healthy.

Abortion is the intentional killing of a child through poison or dismemberment. Doctors who have delivered babies and cared for pregnant mothers for decades confirm that poisoning and dismembering children through abortion is not necessary. Prior to abortion being made legal in Colorado in 1967, women's lives were still saved, miscarriages (where the child has already died) were still treated, and babies were delivered early or by caesarian section (c-section) to end the pregnancy with a living baby, instead of a dead or dismembered baby.

9. A woman has a "right to choose" what she wants to do with her own body. 

   
   

A woman does have a right to choose what she does with her own body. She gets to choose when, where, and with whom she engages in activities that can cause the creation of a child. Once a child is created, the woman becomes a mom responsible to protect and care for her children. Abortion violates both the mother’s body and her child’s body to kill the child and harm the mother’s reproductive health.

8. Women are "victims" of abortion, "coerced" against their will.

   
   

Ten percent of pregnant mothers are coerced to abort their children, and another fifty percent said they felt pressured to abort. The answer to this is making abortion illegal. It is illegal to coerce or pressure someone to do an illegal act, and those coercing can get caught.

7. Closing abortion clinics will prevent lower income women from health services.

There are currently 15:1 community health clinics for every abortion death facility. There are also pregnancy care services that walk alongside pregnant mothers as long as needed, providing parenting classes, diapers, clothes, and up to everything a mother needs to bring her baby home. There can be services for women while also making killing their children illegal.

6.       We should "show compassion to women, not judgement".

We are already showing compassion to women through pregnancy care centers and other services for pregnant moms. Making something illegal does not judge someone; it prevents mothers from making the same mistakes in the future. It is not compassionate to keep allowing women to be harmed by keeping it legal to kill their children.

5.       It’s not the "right" time; people need more education.

Law educates everyone. It is always the right time to do the right thing. Human nature will not change, which is why we need law to educate and deter unwanted behaviors.

4.       Women will just break the law so there won’t be enough jail beds to hold them.

Most law-abiding citizens will not break the law. Most women in a moment of honesty who chose abortion say they never would have had an abortion had it been illegal and wish it had been illegal. Law teaches right from wrong and deters unwanted behaviors by providing the potential for unwanted consequences. It is up to a judge or jury if a law has been broken, who are the perpetrators and victims, and fair consequences based on testimony and evidence. Just because some mothers kill their three-year-olds doesn’t mean we don’t have laws protecting three-year-olds.

3.       A woman should not be "forced to continue a pregnancy".

Unless a woman got pregnant through rape (accounting for less than 1% of all abortions), she knew she was engaging in an activity that could lead to the creation of a child. No one forced her to become pregnant. When a woman becomes pregnant, she becomes a mother. The natural outcome of pregnancy is the birth of a child. She made choices concerning her body that led to pregnancy and now has the natural consequences for those behaviors. Once the child is born, she can choose other parents to raise her child.

2.       Shouldn't there be "exceptions for life of the mother, rape, and incest"?

It is not necessary to intentionally tear apart a child to save a mother's life. When a woman is pregnant, she is not the only patient. In rape or incest, the perpetrator needs to be held accountable, and the innocent child should not suffer the death penalty for their father's crime. According to current Colorado law, if a rape is reported within forty-eight hours, the father pays child support without access to the child.

1.       If abortion is illegal, there will be "back-alley abortions that will butcher women".

The abortionists who might choose to operate illegally are the same abortionists currently operating legally, without consequences when women die, become infected, need blood transfusions, and become infertile. Current abortion facilities do not have the same standards and regulations as legitimate healthcare and surgical facilities, so that women are already being butchered and dying along with their children. These legalized human butcher shops can be closed by making them illegal. "Back-alley" abortions will be illegal, as will abortion pills which currently cause one in ten women to need emergency room surgeries and can kill women with undiagnosed conditions.

These are the arguments we each hear and can repeat. The important question is, what do you say?

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

(Philippians 4:8)