What about 'exceptions'?

Many politicians and political organizations condone and encourage child sacrifice as the 'only way' to help a political career, "win" an election, or further a political party. They agree to participate in the deaths of thousands of children, whether those children are younger than other children, or because those children fall within the "exceptions" category. Few public servants represent all their constituents, including those waiting to be born.

How many children is it alright to kill to win an election?

God says to rescue all who are being dragged to slaughter. He doesn't will that any should perish. He says anyone who causes even one child to stumble, it would be better for a large mill stone to be wrapped around their neck and to be drowned in the sea! In God's law for humans, He says if a grown man even accidentally harms a preborn child, the man should be punished in whatever way he harmed the preborn child! [Proverbs 24:11, Matthew 18, Exodus 21:22-24]

Because God is the Creator, He gets to make the rules. The Creator of the universe and of the human race gets to decide what the standards are for the world and the people He created to fill it. He blesses those kings who "take down the high places" of sexual prostitution and child sacrifice. Throughout history, God has judged nations that participate in the sacrifice of children.

When God commands, "thou shalt not murder (kill innocent human beings)" [Exodus 20:13], He doesn't say, 'unless you're a young woman where a baby would cause you to take longer to finish your education because education is more important than human life' or ' unless you're a politician and you need to get elected because it's more important that you are elected than you speak the truth."

Should there be exceptions to who has a right to live?

Here's a political strategy that few have attempted in the past fifty years - tell the truth! We are talking about children with faces, fingers, toes, and personalities who are just as alive and human as you and I are. The argument of abortion has nothing to do with 'states rights', 'women's rights', 'healthcare', or 'women's reproductive freedom'.

We can all agree that every woman has, and should have, bodily autonomy for her own body, healthcare decisions, and anything that goes into their body. She gets to decide when, where, and with whom she engages in activity that could have the consequence of creating a child. If she doesn't have that choice, her perpetrator committing the crime should be brought to justice. Where the argument against abortion lies is in the understanding of a child's humanity and that mothers should not kill their children.

What about Exceptions?

If we look just at the facts, it is never medically necessary to intentionally cause the death of a child through abortion. Though not always successful, doctors can attempt to save lives, rather than intentionally destroy them. Doctors used to vow to "first, do no harm", including not providing abortifacients. When a mother "wants" her child, doctors attempt to save all lives and do not have to intentionally tear a child apart through an abortion to save the mother.

Abortion is the intentional death of a child. 99% of all abortions have nothing to do with the life of the mother. In the rare instance where the life of the mother is in imminent danger, a doctor can attempt to save both lives, even delivering the child early or by caesarian section (c-section) and give comfort and medical care for the best chance of survival rather than dismembering the child and intentionally causing death. Many women, even when encouraged by a doctor to abort, choose to give their child life.

In an ectopic pregnancy, a doctor can choose to monitor the pregnancy carefully for the sake of both mother and child to see if the child is receiving enough nutrients or reattaches naturally, or the doctor may attempt to relocate the child in the uterus, which was first successful in the 1980's. The doctor can also deliver the baby early and provide medical care without treating the child inhumanely to cause the child to die.

In cases of sexual assault (rape or incest), a child is the only good that can come from it. There is no physical or emotional difference between children conceived in rape and children who were not. The choice of a father to sin by committing sexual assault is his choice to sin separate from the genetic makeup of a child created in the image of God.

The sin of sexual violence committed against a woman was not her choice, but the mother choosing violence to abort her child is her sin. According to Scripture, "children must not be put to death for their fathers" (2 Chronicles 25:4b)

Many women report that having their child helped them overcome the rape. The child was a beautiful consolation to them and gave meaning to an otherwise meaningless experience. That child is a gift to them. Many women also report that choosing an elective abortion following a rape was more difficult to overcome than the rape itself.

Legally, the baby's DNA is evidence that a crime has been committed, and rapists should be held accountable by law. By current Colorado law, if a rape is reported within 48 hours, the rapist is required to pay child support without having access to his child. If molesting a woman to have sex with her is wrong, why is it not a crime to molest a child by tearing them limb from limb and ending their only life?

When Scripture says that "children are a blessing from the Lord", it doesn't say 'unless you weren't planning on them,' or 'unless the father is a jerk.' Women coming out of partner violence often report that their children are the only good that came from that relationship.

For children who are expected to die at birth, there are hospice programs available to help parents provide loving care and precious time with their baby. Many children with a poor prognosis or thought to be severely handicapped are born healthy and live normal lives. According to a recent study by the New York Times, more than ninety percent of genetic tests are wrong. (New York Times, 2022) There are also adoptive parents who offer to care for handicapped or terminally ill children and there is financial help available for parents.

While abortion is legal, women assume it is safe for them. Even morally right. Though nothing can be further from the truth. When women feel coerced by societal pressures or family members to abort a child, or taught that her immediate needs are more important than the lives of children, we rob women of motherhood and the opportunity to mature into loving adults.

As the pain and regret of abortion compound over time, and the unnecessary suffering abortion causes children cannot be undone, we cannot know all the unintended consequences and what we are missing by aborting children who would contribute within their career fields and nurture their own families.

There is no difference between the preborn child you and I used to be and the children in the womb today holding onto their one chance to live. We rob ourselves when we are not willing to open our hearts to welcome these children into the world with love.

Those of us with a moral compass need to protect the innocent and vulnerable among us from those more powerful and ruthless who would crush them. And for their mothers, we need to address private sins privately and celebrate publicly the child who God has chosen to give to her to love.

As I listen to politicians willing to participate in child sacrifice for the sake of their careers, and even some pastors unwilling to speak up for these children for the sake of their own popularity, I can't help but see in Scripture how God feels about the idolatry of child sacrifice. And I can't help but wonder what leaders are we missing today because we justified aborting them. One child sacrificed is one child too many.

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed." (Proverbs 31:8-9)

Faye Barnhart is a life-affirming specialist, women's advocate, and Co-Proponent of the Colorado Life Initiative. She raised her children as a single parent and is now married with an adopted special needs son and enjoys each of her grandchildren, including a grandbaby who needed life-saving surgery at birth. She accepted Christ as her personal Savior and Lord as a small child.