Although I have written about abortion and the sanctity of life in the past, I have been asked by several people to clearly address this important issue from my perspective as the national director.
Our USMB Confession of Faith Article 14 states, in part, “because God is creator, the author and giver of life, we oppose all actions and attitudes which devalue human life…God values human life highly. Ultimate decisions regarding life and death belong to God. Therefore, we hold that procedures designed to take life, including abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide, are an affront to God’s sovereignty.”
This is what we collectively believe. This is what I believe.
David’s well-known statement in Psalm 139 says we are made by God: “For you (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Although sanctity of life covers more than abortion, because 99 percent of abortions are elective or do not involve saving the life of the mother, this article focuses on abortion.
Pro-choice advocates call abortion a “woman’s health issue” and “a fundamental right.” They say it’s a choice for a woman to make. I am going to be extremely blunt. This “choice” is the murder of a baby, even if it occurs within the first day of the first trimester of pregnancy. Unless it’s done through chemical abortion in early pregnancy, an abortion often involves ripping babies apart until they are dead. Is that a “choice” we as believers can even remotely entertain as being legitimate? May it never be!
According to multiple sources, over 65 million babies in the U.S. alone have had their lives snuffed out since 1973. I often wonder what these individuals might have accomplished for the good of mankind—good that we will never know about. They were created by God with unique abilities, characteristics and value. But their lives were deemed erasable.
As followers of Jesus, in a way we have become almost numb to the realities of what we’re really talking about here. The horrific realities of elective abortion should cause us to consistently seek to eradicate this afront to the Creator.
According to Seth Gruber, national advocate for the unborn, “91 percent of church goers today listed abortion as the most important topic to be heard from their pastors.” But we don’t talk about it much. And I am as guilty of this as anyone.
Gruber continues, “The abortion industrial arena with liberal media and politicians invests almost unlimited resources annually, promoting, protecting and facilitating the murder of unborn babies in the womb on demand…yet, (the majority) of churches have zero pro-life expression.”
As churches and followers of Jesus, let’s be immeasurably sensitive and loving to those who have chosen abortion in the past and may even be dealing with deep pain. Let’s be there for them, walking with them, openly listening. Some are dealing with hidden pain and remorse. If that’s you, you are forgiven. You are loved by God!
I write this not just to clarify my position or our MB position. I write this to call us to action as a family of churches. Even though the Supreme Court over-turned Roe v. Wade in 2022, many states still provide for abortion. Taking of innocent lives is still occurring.
Let’s support efforts to provide care and resources for mothers and fathers who are choosing life. Let’s actively support Christian adoption centers and pregnancy care centers. Let’s unreservedly advocate for the unborn in our spheres of influence. Let’s openly talk and preach in our churches about the value of life.
Don Morris is the USMB national director. He and his wife, Janna, live in Edmond, Oklahoma, where they attend Cross Timbers Church.
