On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court legalized abortion. Since that time, the lives of 50 to 60 million babies have been ended. As I reflect on this tragic decision in history, I feel led to address three groups of people.
1) To every child: you are special to God.
To the born and unborn: you are special to God! Whether or not your parents allowed you to survive to see the world outside of the womb; you are special to God! Whether or not your biological parents conceived you intentionally or unintentionally; you are special to God! Whether or not your biological parents kept you in their family or gave you to be adopted by another family; you are special to God!
Every child is special to God. Disability or not, no matter the race, no matter the background, no matter the way conceived; each child is special to God!
As Christians, we must remember that every child conceived has value. As the psalmist writes:
Psalm 139:13-14 says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
God had his hand in forming every one of our inward parts. God knitted us together in our mother’s womb. God does not make mistakes. There are no “oops” with God. Every child has value.
2) To those who have had an abortion: you are loved.
God despises abortion, but not you. Even more, he loves you! The very essence of the Gospel message speaks this truth: no matter your action, you are loved by God. In the profound letter written by Paul to the Ephesians, he writes, “even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…” (2:6).
God didn’t save us because we were good enough to be saved. God saved us because we needed saving. We (all of us) were full of wickedness, selfishness, and pride. And when we were at our worst, God saved us!
Women who have had an abortion: you are not the enemy. The spiritual forces behind the practice of abortion are the enemy, not you. So even if you have had an abortion… even if you have supported abortions… even if you have performed abortions: you are not the enemy!
God loves you. And he wants you in his family. There is forgiveness for all sins, abortion included. If you will turn to him as Lord and ask him for forgiveness, he will forgive you! He loves you and is offering grace to you.
3) To every Christian: help the unwanted children.
Pro-lifers talk a big talk. They are quick to throw verbal assaults and give pious statements. But are they actually helping the unwanted children?
In James 1, James tells Christians that they need to talk less, listen more, and act upon what the Bible teaches (1:19, 22). In other words, Christians (and pro-lifers) shouldn’t just be all talk. They need to show more with their actions. That’s why James later says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (1:27).
Both times I have traveled to China to adopt, I have always been impressed at how many of my fellow new adoptive parents are Christians. From what I have observed, it seems many more Christians have opened up their homes to adopt children from around the world than non-Christian families. That speaks loudly about the heart of Christians!
Having said that, there is still so much work to do. There are still so many children, both domestically and internationally, who need homes. The number of kids adopted internationally has dramatically dropped in the last 15 years and there are many kids stuck in the foster system because there are not enough foster families out there.
Far too many people are willing to proclaim being pro-life as long as it doesn’t impact them or their family. I realize not every family can adopt or foster, but far more Christian families should. And those who cannot should be much more proactive in supporting those who can.
I would love to see a day where hundreds of adoptive families don’t have to spend years fundraising in order to adopt because fellow Christians are supporting them financially. I would love to see a day where the foster system has a long wait list for kids because there are so many qualified families. I would love to see a day where churches are passionate about acting out their faith instead of just talking about it.
Church, let’s be in prayer for our nation. Pray for the protection of the unborn. Pray for pregnant women in difficult situations to make the harder choice to keep the child (or put him/her up for adoption) rather than abort. And pray that the church would be less apathetic about the plight of children and get more actively involved in helping orphans in their affliction. After all, as James says, that is what pure religion looks like.
