Why A Law?

Don't we want to make abortion 'unthinkable'? Why a law? Why don't we just educate and share the gospel until everyone's hearts and minds are changed and we don't even need a law? Why do we even have laws? Why not throw off all constraint and live in lawlessness?

Not everyone believes we should go under seventy-five miles per hour on the highway so why don't we remove any speed limit laws until everyone agrees on the speed we should go? Not everyone believes we shouldn't beat a two-year-old to death, so maybe we should educate and share the gospel and not have laws for that?

Prior to Roe v Wade, abortion was unthinkable in most of the country, and had been throughout our history as a predominantly Christian nation founded on the principles of Judeo-Christian values even as early as the Pilgrims who came to escape religious persecution. It was common to say, not that a woman was pregnant, but that she was "with child" because everyone was smart enough to know that with every pregnancy, there is a child. In the 1960's of drugs and 'free love' (translate free sex), they didn't want the consequences of their actions. So instead of better actions, they created drugs for the sexually transmitted diseases and disposed of the bodies (literally). The idol of sexual expression and experimentation go hand in hand with the idolatry of child sacrifice.

Colorado ashamedly led the way. In 1967, Colorado was the first state to 'decriminalize' taking the life of innocent children from their mothers, as long as the mothers approved. In 1973, when Roe (Norma McCorvey) was exploited for the purposes of a court case, it seemed as simple as proving the child was a human being and all the laws of the US Constitution would protect them. But they faltered on that argument. They faltered because the Texas law under review treated the mothers of preborn children differently than mothers of born children. The laws did not apply equally which in practical terms meant they really didn't believe preborn children were as valued as born children and deserving of the same justice. Forty-nine years later, the number of years of Jubilee and the day God literally aligned the planets in the sky, Roe was overturned in the Dobbs decision. For all those years, we were groomed for abortion to be 'thinkable', because after all, it was legal. If it's legal, doesn't that mean it is also 'safe' and morally acceptable?

Scripture says law is a tutor. Law teaches us right from wrong. Until our hearts are changed and our minds renewed, law provides an external standard by which we expect society to operate. And because we live in a fallen world of humans with sinful natures, law makes it possible to have a civilized society, without which chaos and violence would destroy ourselves.

Scripture talks about this in 1 Timothy 1:3-10

"... instruct certain men not to teach false doctrines or devote themselves to myths ... which promote speculation rather than the stewardship of God’s work, which is by faith.

The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith. Some have strayed from these ways and turned aside to empty talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not understand what they are saying or that which they so confidently assert. Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately. We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching that agrees with the glorious gospel of the blessed God...."

Ideally, God's natural law is written on our hearts, "Thou shalt not kill (take an innocent life)" (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5, Romans 2, Romans 13). But for those whose consciences are seared (1 Timothy 4) and justify taking the lives of tiny children in the womb, we are raising a standard of truth that all living children should be protected legally.

When we love our neighbor as ourselves, we put in place laws to protect our neighbors. Our neighbor is the child in the womb and their mother who can be legally exploited if we don't close down the industry that exploits her.

The other side is aggressive. And we need to be just as firm in our convictions and voice for those who have no other voice than ours. The other side is unified and mobilized. The only question is will we who believe in protecting children also be unified and mobilized?

Do we care about what God cares about? Do we put into action what we say we believe? Do these children actually deserve to be protected, or is that just something we say and throw money at and then walk away? What does it mean to value their lives as much as we will value them after they are born? Or as much as we value our own?

These are the same children. With the same personalities. The same innocence. The same heartbeats carrying them through a lifetime. The same dreams and potential and blessing God wants to bring into the world. The same feelings of joy and physical pain. The same eyes, listening ears, and reaching hands they will have throughout their lives. The same future spouses and grandparents and entrepreneurs.

So why a law? Because as we're educating, sharing the gospel, and walking alongside to meet the needs of mothers, sharing the grace available through repentance with those who have participated in taking a life, and warning against the temptation, we are also equally responsible for the laws that govern us.

Our laws are the standard by which we prevent harm to one another. Our laws say that we cannot slander someone, lie in court, steal from our neighbor, kill another human being. The problem is that we've excluded our most vulnerable and innocent children from those same protections, and we need to correct that injustice for our tiniest citizens.

These tiny children are a part of us. We are all a part of the same human race. We all went through the stages from conception. When Jesus entered the world, he entered in human form at conception and went through all the stages we go through from embryonic and fetal development to infancy and toddlerhood, adolescence and adulthood. We are the same soul that we were when our mother first learned she was pregnant with us.

These are just stages of a human's life. So while we educate, while we speak out, while we share the gospel, we also put protections in place to teach right from wrong. Law is a tool that leads toward a culture of life. While we are here on this earth with fallen people and sin natures, we can protect "the least of these" among us.

As we see in Roe v Wade, and in Scripture, the most significant step to making abortion 'unthinkable' is to first make abortion illegal. While we're allowing time for God to work in people's hearts and minds, we are the hands and feet of Christ protecting the actual lives of real children who will die if we don't.