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It's not necessary to intentionally kill a child to save a mother's life. This initiative will not stop saving a mother's life; it will save children's lives.
It's a myth that we have to have 'exceptions' to when we can intentionally mutilate, scald, poison, stab, or otherwise torture children to death through abortion.
An ectopic pregnancy is a rare condition where the child attaches in a fallopian tube or otherwise outside the uterus. This can be a very serious condition for mother, and is also why abortion pills in the mail (aka "medical" or "chemical" abortion) is also so very dangerous. If an ectopic pregnancy is missed, the mother can die by taking abortion pills. If an ectopic pregnancy is diagnosed, a surgeon can attempt to transplant the child into the uterus. This procedure was first successful in the 1980's. [1]
There is no reason to treat a child who we label as "unplanned" or "unwanted" or "unborn" differently than we treat any child. In fact, we should stop labeling and dehumanizing our children. More than half of pregnancies are not planned. And all preborn children are wanted and could be loved by the many couples waiting to adopt.
It's only our own wants and ability to love children that is in question, not a child's worth or value to the world. By sending a child into the world, God has already determined that our world needs them.
Abortion does not help a woman's emotional state, but rather harms women. Eighty-one percent of mothers experience psychological problems following an abortion including rage, anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies. There is 158% increase in substance abuse for women who have had an abortion over those who experienced childbirth. [2]
So what about rape? We don't punish children for the sins of their parents. [2 Chronicles 25:4b] As believers, we know that God can work all things together for good. [Romans 8:28] If a rapist knows he'll be paying child support for every child he creates (without access to the child), he may start to think before he acts. He's also more likely to be caught, since abortion covers up a rape.
The only good that can come from a rape is a child who God has chosen to create. A child can be a consolation to the mother and help to her healing. That child is a blessing to her, because God's Word (that cannot lie) says that every child is a blessing from the Lord. (Psalm 127:3-5) The rape is a sin; pregnancy is not. We shouldn't rob a mother of her child. We shouldn't further violate her body to take her own child from her.
Abortion also carries with it the risks of future infertility, future miscarriage, and other complications, even death. There is no reason to put women at further risk of the trauma and health problems that can follow an abortion on top of the trauma of a rape.
What about incest? Is a child less human because of who his parents are? Is it better that a perpetrator can drag his thirteen year old victim to be further traumatized and her body violated so that he can continue to violate her? Or, could pregnancy be a young woman's escape from abuse? Perpetrators should be held accountable.
Sin is always a choice. We all have a propensity to sin, whether it manifests in greed, dishonesty, gossip, sexual addiction, alcoholism, .... We each have the choice to turn to God to be freed from the sin that otherwise entangles us. [Hebrews 12:1] Pregnancy is not a disease to be cured, and how a child is conceived has nothing to do with the child's own innocence, beauty, and or how much that child can be loved.
What if a child is expected to die at birth or has some kind of 'birth defect'? Do we kill people when they are in an accident and we see they are going to be handicapped or lose some of their abilities? Do we kill someone when a doctor says they only have six months to live?
According to a New York Times investigation, initial prenatal tests (NIPT) when testing positive for an abnormality were wrong up to 93% of the time. Companies advertise their tests as "reliable" and "highly accurate", and present results to mothers and their doctors as "near certain", while typically being wrong. Since a follow-up would require thousands of dollars to have amniotic fluid drawn or the placenta tested later in pregnancy (with a risk of miscarriage), many of these healthy babies are aborted. [3]
"Live and let live." Let a child live as long as they have the natural opportunity to live. We don't have to speed up the process to kill anyone. Instead of torturing a child to death, we can deliver a living child and hold them in our arms to tell them we love them and let them pass peacefully. Or, provide opportunity for a miracle, any perceived abnormalities to correct, or that the doctors may be wrong.
Delivering a living child is also less risk to the mother than inducing a miscarriage or delivering a dead child through abortion. A Caesarian section is also faster and safer than an abortion with no need to kill the child.
"Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." - Alfred Tennyson
None of us are perfect anatomical human specimens, but we are "perfectly and wonderfully made" by our Creator who artistically crafted us together and would like to finish His work within us as His masterpiece. [Psalm 139:14, Ephesians 2:10]
Children in the womb are already complicated beings with emotions and intricately interdependent cells and systems that have to work together for the child to continue to live and grow. It's a miracle our bodies work like they do!
Each of us from the moment God first weaves together our unique DNA in a cell that will replicate throughout every cell in our body is created in the image of God with His own personal signature.
God can use us even in our handicaps to bring joy into the lives of others. Our handicaps do not define us. We each have purpose and meaning. Each of us is capable of accomplishing the ultimate purpose God has for every human being, which is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love whoever God has placed next to us to love as much as we love ourself, as shown through the way we treat them.
There are no exceptions to when it is acceptable to torture a child to-death. The lives of mothers will continue to be saved. We're just asking that children are protected, too.
"For when he sees his children around him, the work of My hands, they will honor My name," (Isaiah 29:16)
"... that the coming generation would know them—even children yet to be born—to arise and tell their own children that they should put their confidence in God, not forgetting His works, but keeping His commandments. Then they will not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose heart was not loyal, whose spirit was not faithful to God." (Psalm 78:6-8)
[1] Ectopic Life: What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Ectopic Pregnancy, Bill Fortenberry, 2023.
[2] Abortion and mental health: quantitative synthesis and analysis of research published 1995–2009. Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018.
[3] "When They Warn of Rare Disorders, These Prenatal Tests are Usually Wrong," Sarah Kliff and Aatish Bhatia, New York Times, January 1, 2022.
She was raped as a teenager and thankful for her baby:
3-Minute video of fetal development, Scripture, doctor, and Women's Testimonies
For more educational videos and resources: https://www.gotaheart.org/educational
Faye Barnhart, Co-Proponent of the Life Initiative for Colorado 2024, is a Life Affirming Specialist and Women's Advocate of nineteen years, served in a federal think tank on the co-occurrence of adult and child violence and four pregnancy care centers in two states, including CEO of the largest pregnancy care center geographically in the US and Colorado. She was a prelaw student and aid at the Colorado state Capitol, interned in media, and worked toward a Master's in Organizational Leadership while raising children as a single parent. She pursued a career in management in international ministry and served on several Boards. She has been a follower of Jesus Christ since a small child and is the mother of an adopted special needs son and biological grandmother to several miracle babies, including a grandson who needed life-saving surgery at birth.