Pro-life advocates have had a lot to say this week about the GOP’s new platform on abortion. I’m pretty sure that I’m as pro-life as any of them, but I have a slightly different perspective on the new platform.

I think John Zmirak nailed it in his recent article in The Stream with his “step back and look at the forest” approach. It’s true that we will have to win this war in incremental steps over the long haul.

Don’t Cast Your Pearls …

As former President Donald Trump has repeatedly said, we have to win elections before we can get anything done. And the general consensus is that reversing Roe v. Wade in 2022 did not lead to a red wave in mid-terms. Thank God for the reversal of Roe, but candidates who would have voted for a 15-week abortion ban lost to candidates who will embrace former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s appalling doctrine: You know, keep the newborn baby comfortable while the doctor and mother decide whether or not to execute it or let it die of neglect.

January 1, 2023, The Hill reported:

Exit polls showed abortion placed second among the most important issues for voters in the midterms, closely behind inflation. Additionally, though Democrats trailed in the generic congressional ballot by a few points earlier in 2022, they began to close the gap after Roe was overturned.

Could we apply Jesus’s words in Matthew 7:6 to this situation? He said, “Don’t cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.” Just to be clear, I’m not calling anyone a swine personally. But politically, the Democrats do seem to “eat the slop” of wokeness and “wallow in the mud” of the Deep State. Most of us pro-life folks’ ultimate goal of eliminating all abortions is a pearl indeed. A pearl of a great price. But didn’t we allow the Democrats to use that pearl to tear us to pieces in the midterms? Maybe we need to hold our cards a little closer going forward.

Past Mistakes

I’m going to compare abortion to murder because that’s what it is. But I never use that language without first making this point: If you are a woman who has already had an abortion (or a man who has influenced a decision for one), it’s certainly not the unpardonable sin. The truth is, “We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

In some cases, the life of the child is taken unintentionally because many vulnerable women are coerced by falsehoods like, “It’s not really a baby; it’s only tissue.” Even under the law of Moses, those who took a life unintentionally or in ignorance were allowed to live in a “city of refuge” (Exodus 21:13), which was a perfect archetype of Christ.

But intentional or not, the good news is that forgiveness is available to you (1 John 9), as is complete healing — physical, mental, and emotional.

The Apostle Paul, who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament, went around killing Christians, or at least overseeing their murders. King David had Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, killed so he could have her as his wife. None of this is to belittle their sins, but rather to exalt the power of God’s forgiveness and healing.

The Absurdity of “Choice”

I’ve long responded to the “My body, my choice” argument by exposing its emptiness. The oro-choice movement’s deceptive connotation is that one choice is just as fine as the other. But there’s nothing noble about allowing someone to choose if one of the choices is wrong. You could also say that every woman has a choice to kill her two-year-old, five-year-old, or teenager — but of course no one says that, because it’s clearly murder to do that. It’s just as clearly murder to take the life of the child while in the womb; the term “fetus” simply denotes a stage of human life, just as the terms “infant,” “toddler,” “teenager,” and “adult” do.

It’s true that every woman has a choice. God says in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I have set before you life and death.” God (through Moses) then tells us the right choice to make: “Choose life that both you and your descendants [quite applicable to a choice regarding abortion] may live.”

Murder: State or Federal Jurisdiction?

Many pro-life advocates are appalled at the idea of leaving the abortion issue to the states to decide. Shouldn’t we be satisfied with treating abortion like murder in our legal system? you ask. The truth, though, is that most states do determine their own statutes regarding murder. There are nearly a dozen laws detailing when a murder falls under a federal statute, but these are exceptions to the rule:

1. When the victim is an elected or appointed federal official (18 U.S.C. Section 351, 1751)
2. When the victim is a federal judge or law enforcement officer (18 U.S.C. Section 1114)
3. When the victim is a law enforcement officer’s immediate family member (18 U.S.C. Section 115(B)(3))
4. When the killing is meant to influence the outcome of a court case (18 U.S.C. Section 1512)
5. When the murder is committed during a bank robbery (18 U.S.C. Section 1111)
6. When the murder is related in some way to rape, child molestation, or the sexual exploitation of children (18 U.S.C. Section 2248, 2251)
7. When it takes place on board a ship (18 U.S.C. Section 2280)
8. When it’s drug-related (18 U.S.C. Section 36, 924(I))
9. When it’s a case of murder for hire (18 U.S.C. Section 1958)
10. When it involves the U.S. postal system (18 U.S.C. Section 1716)
11. When it takes place on federal property (for example, on national parks or a Native American reservation).

Assessing the 11

The first five scenarios above certainly would not apply to abortion.

The sixth one would, but many pro-life advocates, including Trump, are willing to concede these exceptions federally.

The seventh and eighth are theoretically possible but highly unlikely. It’s hard to imagine performing an abortion at sea when there’s always a chance of complications.

The ninth ordinarily would not apply. Yes, the abortion doctor is “hired,” but this law refers to hiring someone to travel across state or national boundaries to commit the murder.

Number 10: Bingo! The abortion pill certainly fulfills this criteria.

The eleventh scenario is virtually impossible. It’s hard to imagine a woman getting an abortion in, say, Yellowstone National Park.

It seems that some Christians have never done any horse trading. You may want to sell your horse for $1,000. But when the buyer insists on $500, you might have to compromise at $750 … or get nothing.

 

Nolan Lewallen is a retired pilot of a major airline who lives near Stephenville, Texas. His two great passions are the Bible and politics. He is the author of The Integration of Church & State: How We Transform “In God We Trust” From Motto to Reality, and Yeshua Is Still the King of the Jews.