9 Myths about Abortion Rights and Roe v. Wade

9 Myths about Abortion Rights and Roe v. Wade

National Sanctity of Life Sunday was January 15^th.  One of the hallmarks of our faith in God is our understanding of the sanctity of human life, as God has created men and women in His image.  The way we treat human life reveals what we believe about God as creator and about people as made in the image of God.  There is a lot of confused thinking about abortion in general and Roe v. Wade in particular. So, in order to help us think more clearly and accurately about this issue, I am passing on to you a blog post from Kevin DeYoung.  I hope it will serve you well.

9 Myths about Abortion Rights and Roe v. Wade

Jan 18, 2017 | Kevin DeYoung

Forty-three years ago, the Supreme Court concluded that a woman’s constitutional right to privacy included a right to terminate her pregnancy. After the sweeping decision was handed down, not only were the abortion laws of all 50 states rendered null and void, it was clear that no legal prohibition against abortion before viability would stand. And it would soon become clear that prohibitions after viability were unenforceable. Abortion on demand would be the law of the land.

The moral and spiritual dimensions notwithstanding, there are a plenty of reasons to see Roe as a logical, legal, and political debacle. In his book Abuse of Discretion: The Inside Story of Roe v. Wade, Clarke Forsythe highlights a number of myths that led to the ruling in Roe—myths that, unfortunately, continue to be believed today.

Myth #1: Abortion was a common and widely accepted practice throughout history.

Truth: This inaccurate claim was repeated throughout the 1960s. The fact is that abortion was rare well into the 19th century. Almost all abortion methods before then were ineffective or potentially dangerous to the mother. True, unwanted children were still terminated, but this was done by killing newly born children. If abortion is to be considered a common practice throughout history, the method was infanticide or abandonment (82-85).

Myth #2: Roe was based on a careful investigation of the facts.

Truth: When Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton were tried in the lower courts there were no trials, and the judges did not look at evidence. One of the attorneys even stated that “the facts don’t matter.” Although many of the justices who decided Roe insisted on the importance of the factual record in other privacy cases, the investigation in Roe was largely taken up with procedural questions (92-97).

Myth #3: Women were dying by the thousands because of back-alley abortions.

Truth: The number of maternal deaths from all causes was 780 in 1972 (down from 7,267 in 1942). Of the 780 maternal deaths, 140 were listed as “abortion deaths” by the National Center for Health Statistics, and included in this number were those deaths caused by spontaneous miscarriage (102).

Myth #4: Existing abortion laws targeted women.

Truth: Virtually all states with anti-abortion laws treated the woman as a victim and never as a perpetrator or an accomplice to abortion. The states understood that abortions were often coerced by others and that prosecuting the woman who had an abortion was not enforceable. Instead, “treating the woman as the second victim of abortion was the consistent policy of the states for nearly a century before Roe” (112).

Myth #5: The destruction of the fetus was never treated as infanticide in the American legal tradition.

Truth: Anglo-American law, in a tradition inherited from Roman law, had called the fetus an “unborn child” or “child” since at least the 1200s. In the 19th century statutes enacted in 17 states referred to the crime against an unborn child as “manslaughter,” “murder,” or “assault with intent to murder.” Most of these statutes called the unborn child a “child,” not a fetus or some term which could undermine the full personhood of the unborn (114-115).

Myth #6: Our abortion laws are mainstream compared with the rest of the world.

Truth: The United States is one of only 10 nations that allow abortion after 14 weeks of gestation. Only four countries allow abortion for any reason after viability: Canada, North Korea, China, and the United States (126).

Myth #7: Abortion is safer than childbirth.

Truth: This is one of the myths that was crucial in the Justices’ decision and has been almost entirely overlooked since 1973. This medical mantra, based on seven journal articles with no reliable medical data, was countered in the briefs filed with the Supreme Court and in oral arguments (155-180).

Myth #8: The country is divided on the issue of abortion.

Truth: While a large (but decreasing) number of Americans support Roe, this figure drops precipitously when people are asked, not generically about Roe, but about what Roe actually allows. According to a 2009 poll, only 7 percent of Americans think abortion should be allowed at any time of pregnancy for any reason, precisely what Roe mandated in all 50 states (295).

Myth #9: The pro-life movement is anti-women.

Truth: Women are less supportive of abortion than men. According to a 2010 Rasmussen poll, 53 percent of women believe abortions are too easy to get, compared with 42 percent of men. Likewise, 58 percent of women believe abortion is morally wrong in most cases; 49 percent of men agree with the same statement (305).

Very likely, abortion will always be a controversial topic in this country. Prudential half-way measures may be the best way forward in many circumstances. But with patient instruction, moral courage, generous hearts, care for women in crisis, and a little political resolve, the worst effects of Roe can be mitigated and the lives of many unborn Americans can be saved. Get informed and keep praying. The truth is a mighty ally.

What is the Church? The Body of Christ

Colossians 1:24

“Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.”

One facet of the Church’s identity is that it is the body of Christ. Ephesians 5:23 tells us that Jesus is “the head” of the body. So Jesus as the head leads and directs the life and function of the body which is made up of His followers.  Not only are all Christians part of one universal body, but local churches are also considered to be “local bodies”. Our local churches essentially are smaller individual bodies that together make up the greater body of Christ.

Now, the reason why the Church is referred to as “a body” is because there are several ways that the body of Christ needs to emulate what the physical body does and how it works. I just want to point out three specifics applications.

1) Christians need to be attached to the body.

I’ve heard several people who would identify themselves as Christians say that a Christian doesn’t have to be a member of a local body to faithfully follow Christ.  Our culture tends to produce a non-committal, individualistic concept about what it means to be a Christian. This is in no way what Christ calls us to in His Word or what He exemplifies Himself. Even Jesus was committed to community with his disciples before there was an official “church”. So, that’s why we cannot “forsake the assembly” as Hebrews 10:25 expresses. To be detached from the body of Christ is like being a body part cut off from the rest of the body. We will not experience the life that Christ has for us because He intentionally provides it through His church and designed us to be a part of that body.

2) Every member is crucial to the life of the body

Another way that the non-committal trends of our culture show up within the Church is when we come to church but refuse to contribute to the life and function of the body. Romans 12:4-8 goes against this way of “passive church-going”:

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;  if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

This list of potential gifts we can contribute to the life of the body with is not an exhaustive list. There are so many ways that we can take part in what God is doing in and through the church. But the point is that we have all been created by God with unique abilities and resources, therefore, as members of the body of Christ, we are called to use what God has given us to contribute to the life of the body. To not serve or invest our gifts within the context of Christ’s body is to be a body part that betrays its designed function. That not only would deprive us as the dysfunctional part from the fullness of life God has for us, but it also hinders the rest of the body.

Now, I want to speak briefly to those of you who might think that you have nothing to give. I want to tell you that is NOT TRUE. God has created you, beautifully and wonderfully with a unique personality, perspective, talents and opportunities so that you can be part of what He is doing in and through His people. Everyone has an important part to play, and all are crucial to the health and life of the whole body.

3) Leaving a local body must not be taken lightly

This is more of a plea than a point like the others, but because I’ve experienced the pain of watching friends, mentors and beloved siblings in Christ leave my local body, I find it necessary to make this plea. The image of the church being a body explains that pain and implies a necessary warning.

If a part of your body were to be suddenly torn from you, it would be incredibly painful, leave potential scars and at least for a time, compromise the overall function of your body. The church is similar in that way. Therefore, I urge you, if at any point you find yourself considering leaving a church, please be careful, be Biblical and understand the impact your actions will have on the body of Christ. The church is not just a social club where we can flippantly bounce from one to the next without any consequences. There’s an interconnectedness that is unique to the church, and therefore the severing of any part is incredibly damaging. 

Now, my point is not that you should never leave a church for any reason. But, the reasons that scripture gives us are not as long a list as we typically follow today. In fact, just to clarify, here’s a link to an article that explains the reasons scripture tells us we should leave a church. If those issues listed in the article have been confronted in accordance with the process written out in Matthew 18:15-18, and not repented of, then by all means we should leave the church.

https://www.gty.org/resources/questions/QA120/When-Should-People-Leave-Their-Church

Leaving a church according to how the Bible guides us minimizes the damage, works to maintain the unity of the greater body of Christ and ultimately glorifies God in the process. I pray that it would never be necessary for any of us to do so, but if a day comes when it is, please leave well. Let your departing be an intentional surgery guided by God’s Word. I say that for our good, the sake of the body and the glory of God, because all three of those things will either be benefited or compromised by the way we leave a local church.

Let's Talk About It: What is the Church? (Part 3)

You have made it to the third part of this blog series.  To start off I’d encourage you to read Acts 2:42-47 again or for the first time perhaps. In review, that passage gives us a picture of the original Christian church founded in Jerusalem.  We’ve already covered two of the four core components of the church as shown in this passage in the last blog, so now I want to move onto the next two with some bonus material as well.

• They lived generously together (vs.44-45)

The phrase they “had all things in common”, isn’t referring to them having similar interests. Remember these were an incredibly diverse people who -for the vast majority- most likely had nothing in common with their fellow church-members other than a shared faith in Jesus. What that phrase means is that none of them considered their possessions as their own. They each held what they had with an open-hand, sharing it with the rest of their brothers and sisters in Christ as needs arose. Now, as a capitalist nation, I know how for many of us, something rises up in us and hisses at the faintest hint of socialism. Please understand this isn’t some first century socialist institution with a Christian twist. This was the collective of Christ-followers who were living out their faith by applying God’s truth to how they managed and used their possessions.  Today, most people who attend church are often hesitant or at times even opposed to the idea of tithing or giving financially to the church.  We are typically a very stingy people due to the economic and cultural climate we find ourselves in today. But generosity is a crucial mark of a healthy Christian and a healthy church.  If we are stingy or greedy, it shows that we either love money more than God (Matthew 6:24), or that we live according to the lie that what we have, we own, instead of recognizing that its all a gift God has given us to use for His glory and the good of others.

• They were a people of gladness and praise (vs.46-47)

Notice how the passage mentions they had glad hearts, and praised God. These are not some minor adjectives; these are significant characteristics of their church culture.  They counted their blessings, down to every meal, acknowledging how God had graciously provided for them. Not complaining about what they didn’t get, but being thankful for what they had been given. Beyond that they had a trend of worship. They praised God, acknowledging the goodness and worth of who He is and what He had done regularly and frequently. These two expressions were core to who they were as a people.  So, a good way to measure the health of a church or even an individual Christian is by checking how gladness and praise are integrated in our church culture or individual lifestyle.

In conclusion I want to point out the results of these things. When all these powerful facets of the church are combined and driven by the work of the Holy Spirit (which makes all of these things possible), amazing things happen. Two main occurrences are mentioned in verse forty-seven.

1) They had “favor with all the people”.  

The surrounding society didn’t understand, and probably were at least somewhat opposed to what the church stood for. And yet, as the early church lived this way together, all the people around them couldn’t help but acknowledge that they were doing something good, something favorable.  Today if we live the way that Christ has called us to live, although we are in a society of increasing hostility towards Biblical Christianity, everyone will have to recognize that something good is happening. That may mean that some acknowledge the “positive impact” the church is having on peoples lives. Or maybe its society recognizing the good that churches are doing for the communities around them.  I can’t say exactly, but I think we have to start living this way first and then we’ll find out, if we haven’t already. 

2) “The Lord added to their number day by day, those who were being saved.”

A healthy church grows, but notice how the church is growing. It’s not growing by what I like to call church-transferring, which is when those who at least profess to be Christians switch from one local church to the next, usually for unbiblical reasons. We often times in the American Church today consider those influxes of transferred church-goers as growth, but it’s not.  If the Church is the entire population of Christ followers, than it does not grow unless new people are coming to faith. Therefore, the local church does not truly grow unless its numerical growth is in correlation with the number of people getting saved by grace through faith in Christ. One of the things that I think is really an epidemic in the American-Church today is that local churches are competing with each other over those who are already saved. If we can just have bigger, better, trendier, newer stuff, than we will “grow”, mostly by luring people from other neighboring churches to join ours. According to what I see in the Bible, we only grow as churches when new people are becoming part of our redeemed people.  

I just want to emphasize that it’s THE LORD who adds to our number as He wills. Our job is to faithfully proclaim the Gospel, and live out the Gospel as a church, which we’ve seen portrayed in several ways by the early church in this passage.  For some churches, that may mean hundreds, even thousands come to faith in a relatively short time.  Praise God for that. For others it may not, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the church isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do. Every soul saved is a miraculous work. To see someone come to faith in Christ is to witness a spiritual resurrection.  We need to always check and pursue excellence in what we’re preaching and how we’re living as a church, but we have to trust God with the results. Only He can change lives and only He can work in and through us to produce healthy churches. We plow the fields, plant the seeds, and water them by His power, guidance and grace, but only God makes the harvest of healthy Christians and churches grow.

Let's Talk About It: What is the Church? (Part 2)

Acts 2:42-47

[42] And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. [43] And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. [44] And all who believed were together and had all things in common. [45] And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. [46] And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, [47] praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

We have here a snap shot of the first church in history.  The example of this church helps us to see what the church should be in some fundamental aspects, giving us a foundational framework for our own churches today.  If we follow this blue-print of a healthy church, it will produce health in our churches, but if we reject the applications here, it will only lead to spiritual sickness within our congregations.

Now, I just want to give a little bit of background information so we can understand the context this church was in. They were in first century Jerusalem, which meant three key things. One, they were under the rule of the Roman empire who were ruthlessly against Christianity (hence they crucified Jesus). Two, Jerusalem was a major city for the Jewish population who were also blatantly against Christianity (their leaders were the ones who plotted to kill Jesus). Third, Jerusalem was a city that attracted a very diverse population. If you read earlier in Acts 2, it describes Jerusalem as being a place where “Jews and devout men from every nation under heaven” were living (Acts 2:5). So this church was located in a place where hostile opposition was everywhere, while an abundance of potential cultural and social barriers among the church threatened any attempts to grow a unified people group.

However, if we were to read through Acts together we would see that the church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, defied all the odds, overcame all the barriers and the Church (capital “C” meaning all Christians everywhere) grew by miraculous proportions.  But, in the midst of this incredible underdog story, what did the church do? What were the key contributors to their healthy growth.  Well, there are four traits that I want to highlight from the passage.

• They devoted themselves (vs.42)

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, they were “dedicated and loyal” to their cause. They committed their lives to what they were doing. This goes completely against the low-commitment stereotype of American church-membership today. The early church was a people who were sold out to following Jesus and being part of His church. This devotion expressed itself in three specific ways which are listed in verse forty-two.

1) They were devoted to the “Apostles’ teaching. They were committed to listen, study and apply the truth of God that was being taught through the Apostles’. For us today that would equate to committing ourselves to the study and application of the Bible, which includes the scriptures the Apostles’ used in their teaching (the old testament) and the scriptures they wrote as inspired by God (the new testament).  To have devoted pursuit of deepening our understanding and conforming our lives to the Word of God that we today have abundant access to.

2) They were devoted to the fellowship. The community of the followers of Christ was something that demanded their loyalty and commitment. The church was never meant to be something where a bunch of individuals occasionally congregate, but actually live quite separated lives. The early church shows us that followers of Christ are to be a collective people with a common aim, devoted to living as one with each other.  This did not come naturally for this people who had to deal with cultural, social, economic, and even language barriers for crying out loud. And I know it doesn’t come naturally for us today. They had to commit themselves to be a people living in community, and so do we. There’s no such thing as healthy loner in the church.

3) They devoted themselves to Christ commanded practices. There were two things in particular: the breaking of bread (a.k.a. Communion) and prayer.  As Jesus commanded His disciples to do in Luke 22:14-20, the church was to continue that tradition of remembering Christ’s body broken and blood shed for us. And so they did, and so we continue to do that today, lest we forget the great sacrifice of our Lord and Savior. Also, the church was meant to be a people of prayer. Jesus was a man of prayer, He instructs us how to pray in His Word and so we should seek to follow His example and teaching. If we call ourselves Christ-followers and yet don’t follow Christ’s example and instructions concerning prayer, we are missing a huge component of what a healthy Christian and a church does.

• There was a common sense of awe (vs. 43)

The power of God was evident and the people of God were awe-inspired witnesses. Now, I know for some of us today we look back and see how there were great signs and wonders being done there and think that if we don’t have a sense of awe today its because God isn’t doing all the amazing works He used to do. So if anything, it’s God’s fault we aren’t in awe and wonder. The more I study God’s Word and spend time seeking God’s presence in my life, the more I’ve come to realize that God’s still in the “wonders business”. It may not be water turning into wine. It may not be miraculous healing or dead people coming to life, etc. No, it would seem like most of God’s works today are less flashy, but we must understand that does NOT mean they’re less amazing. Every time the Word of God rings true in our lives, every time the Spirit enables us to do what we otherwise would not (forgive, place others before ourselves, flee temptation, etc.), every time He provides (shelter, food, clothes, and breath in our lungs), God performs a miraculous work.  The question is: do we acknowledge that and have an appropriate sense of awe in response to who God is and what He does?

Devotion and awe. There’s enough there for us to stop and digest for at least a week (more like the rest of our lives). But join me next week when we’ll talk about the last two foundational aspects of the healthy church, exemplified by the first-century church of Jerusalem.