Reversing the National Abortion Trend

“He who controls himself cannot be controlled by another.” Saying this to a man in the Philadelphia airport the other day sparked a startling response. Immediately the man reached out and took the hands of a young woman walking by, looked her in the eyes and said, “He who controls himself cannot be controlled by another. Remember that.” Stunned as if she had just been awoken from a deep sleep she said, “I will,” and walked on. This statement emerged from a lively conversation about Plato’s position that all democracy tends toward tyranny primarily because freedom to pursue any pleasure without constraint results in addiction to the wanton pleasures of whatever money can buy. This in turn creates increasing social chaos to which government must respond with stricter and broader legislative control, thus resulting in a tyranny. A tyranny is a select few who control the beliefs and actions of the many.

The greatest human rights violations have occurred in societies operating under a tyrannical regime. It is there that certain types of human beings are identified as the ‘problem’ standing in the way to a better life. Then that category or class of problematic human is redefined as less than human for the purposes of extermination or liquidation “for the greater good.” This injustice has happened throughout history against people like the counter-revolutionary in China, the bourgeois in France, the infidel for the Muslim state, the Jew for the Third Reich, and the pre-born baby for the United States. In fact, abortion, far from freedom and choice, represents the deliberate act of one generation to oppress the next. The great mass of men would never embrace such brutality. They slide into it, passive, unthinking, and asleep with eyes wide open as the woman at the airport.

It seems like America is in the throes of a silent revolution toward tyranny because of its addiction to the opiate of consumerism. I am not certain when it began, but it has permeated all layers of society. It has redefined marriage and now family, from how many children we have to our beliefs about what a human is. It reverses our position as persons, from being more valuable than the State to being subservient to it. It informs educational philosophy, moving away from the Judeo-Christian understanding that the “fear of God is the beginning of wisdom”, to the secular humanistic view that mankind is no more than a smart animal, to the exclusion of all transcendent ideals or categorical imperatives. It eliminates ethics in medicine from the primacy of the doctor-patient relationship to the primacy of the doctor-government relationship, treating people as nothing more than complex organic matter. It even determines how we engage church from one of a community radically dedicated to obeying God and serving each other, to a place of entertainment and glorified self-helpism.

This reductionistic view of man whereby we instruct our children to “believe” that they are nothing more than a product of nature, able to accomplish nothing more than simple obedience to his or her instincts, is driven by utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is a secular ethic which defines the value of any given human by how much pleasure they can experience and how much pain they can avoid. It is reasoned that since life has no transcendent meaning and we are just a collection of biochemical reactions, then values become whatever “you” want, truth becomes whatever “you” believe, God is defined by personal passion, democracy becomes tyranny, the enemy is one who makes you feel uncomfortable, and blood is shed.

39 years ago this month in the terrible Supreme Court case, Roe vs. Wade, it was determined by a margin of 7 to 2 that babies in the womb were no longer human beings and that women had a constitutionally protected right to abortion. No court would ever dare exercise such blatant abuse of power had they not believed that mankind itself represents nothing more than as the late Henry Hyde said, “a tool making animal, a unit of production and consumption and not possessed of an immortal soul and eternal destiny.”

What kind of politicians do we want representing us? What kind of educators do we want teaching our children? What kind of physicians do we want treating our family members? Ones that sincerely believe that in your face the image of God is reflected and therefore must be respected, or ones that believe that you and your family represent nothing more than an ape? Which physician is more likely to respect your dignity? Which teacher will be more likely to inspire your children to greatness? Which politician will be more likely to fend off the wolfish attacks of secular humanism parried against our future generation? Thanks to all the ethical physicians and pregnancy resource centers who treat all women facing unplanned pregnancy as valuable persons and educate them to protect the vulnerable child they carry within them.

My wife and I were recently blessed with the birth of our eighth child (and fifth boy), Samuel Paul. It is fitting that the eternal Son of God revealed His glory in human history as a baby, for according to Him babies are the truest representation of a citizen of God’s kingdom (Mark 10:14b). In fact, God so identifies with children that how we treat them is used as a litmus test for one’s very connection to God Himself: “Whoever receives one child like this in my name receives me” (Mark 9:37a).

Beliefs drive behavior. Principles determine practice. Values motivate investment. If our beliefs are informed by the God of the Bible then the question for us is not, “What is my opinion about abortion?” but rather, “What is God’s perspective on children?” The answer to this question will determine how well we understand our relationship to God as well as how we expect children to be treated.

Jesus placed the highest priority on children. He is intensely aware of how they are treated rewarding those who bless them, even with something as simple as a ‘cup of cold water’ (Matthew 10:42), and cursing those that harm them with a fate worse than death (Mark 9:42).

Placing the highest priority on children of all classes of human being is not a new idea introduced in the New Testament. We see the same priority placed on children in the Old Testament. In Leviticus 20:1-5 any Jew and even non-Jew found sacrificing a child to the demonic god Molech was to be stoned to death along with his whole family. But there was a catch. If someone finds out about another person sacrificing their child to this god Molech and does nothing about it they will suffer the same punishment as if they had done it themselves! This is the only place in all of the Old Testament law where the moral responsibility of the sin of one man is placed on the shoulders of another man just because he knew about it and didn’t do anything to stop it.

Even more than that, God places the highest priority of protection on children in the womb found in Exodus 21:22-25. Here if one accidentally causes a woman to miscarry the husband has a right to “appoint as a penalty a life for a life” (Ex. 21:23b). This represents the highest protection afforded any class of human being and it is specifically pre-born children. Note that the scenario represents an accident. What if the harm to a child in the womb was intentional? Perhaps “it would be better for him if, with a heavy mill stone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea” (Mark 9:42b).

While the Biblical witness is clear that God wants children to be protected and blessed Jesus drives home the point to His disciples in Mark 10:13-16 and adds a key piece of information; the answer to the question, ‘Why?’ The answer Jesus gives is because, “The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these [babies]” (Mark 10:14b).

So exactly what is it about babies that makes them the ultimate example of a citizen of heaven such that if we don’t understand it ourselves we’re disqualified as citizens? Babies are voiceless, powerless, without influence or rights in this world. They of any class of human are the most vulnerable and defenseless unless someone takes responsibility for them. In fact babies in the womb are the only class of person in the United States of America who has been officially dehumanized. In 1973 the Supreme Court decided in the infamous case of Roe v Wade that pre-born children are not human, thereby stripping them of their God given rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. So why not abortion? It is ironic that the court of supreme American justice committed the highest crime against humanity by dehumanizing the most vulnerable of citizens paving the way for legalized infanticide. And unless someone stands in the gap and takes responsibility for these babies, they will perish.

The status of powerless babies in the womb in the U.S. mirrors our condition before a holy God. We are without power, influence, and voice. Were it not for the work of Christ on the cross we would have no standing before a just God. Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross we have been gifted with a voice, power and influence before God the Father and we are to wield those tools as Christ did, not for Himself but rather on behalf of others. In taking the gift of salvation the Christ child offers us we acknowledge His Kingship over our lives and our obligation to sacrificially bless and protect those who cannot do so for themselves; the disenfranchised, dehumanized babies in the womb. “Permit the little children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Luke 18:15).

A friend of mine wrote a blog post recently about atheism and intellectual honesty which I enjoyed. Apparently he received a fairly negative response from those that consider themselves rational atheists. It is an important issue for us executives because it helps to provide us with a larger context of why pregnancy centers even need to exist in America today. My response follows:

The issue of why an atheist or for that matter a state system that intentionally extracts God from all decision-making is more than just an important one, it is fundamental to a stable and free society. The presupposition to atheism and an atheistic state system is that reason is man’s ultimate authority. But the question of authority always begs the question, “What legitimizes that authority?” Authority is always a circular argument that cannot be won or lost, just assented to. An atheist would say his own capacity to observe and interpret empirical data is his final authority. But who or what legitimizes that ‘belief?” He does. Similarly a Christian would say that not he but God is the final authority as described in His word the Bible. But who legitimizes God? God does per the Bible.

A corollary to the question of legitimacy is: “What is man?” If man is nothing but a concoction of biochemistry then he has no intrinsic value beyond that of his biochemical surroundings. This notion of rationalized autonomy taken to its logical conclusion ends in either valueless social chaos playing out in post-Stalinist Russia, or tightly controlled Tyranny-see post-revolutionary China. Either extreme exacts a punishing cost on the dignity of a population as well as the literal rivers of blood shed to force the State, or a set of rationalistic atheists (see the French Revolution), to be the absolute authority over all human thought and behavior.

On the other hand, if man is the crown of creation made in the image of God but fallen from grace in rebellion against His ultimate authority, then every man, atheist and believer alike must be protected as image bearers. That is, mankind is created to manifest the glory of his Creator, thinking, acting and creating. This has ramifications on how we view not only ourselves but also how we treat one another, what we believe to be right and wrong (think abortion, euthanasia, etc), how we raise our children and the beliefs we instill within them. To stifle the belief that we are made in the image of God is to remove the invisible protection afforded by the expectation that belief requires of others to speak and act on behalf of those that cannot do so for themselves.

Large-scale atheistic rationalism as has happened in history before and has been happening in the American educational, legal, political, university, and medical systems is intentional albeit short-sighted. This rationalism when taken to its logical end places a society under a burden of stress that it cannot long sustain. Whole groups of society become alienated and begin to contribute to the disintegration. Issues of political import become how to ‘reintegrate’ various groups to society, to make sense of them such that society can help them become positive contributors rather than disruptive influences. Groups like fatherless children, homeless people, homosexuals, women facing unplanned pregnancy. Rationalistic solutions are things like, legalized abortion, redefinition of marriage to include same sex unions, more money into chronically under-performing schools and more social service interventions. It is precisely these factors that contribute to a general sense of purposelessness, the kind that drive people to seek legitimacy in a higher authority. The most benevolent higher authority is the God of the Bible, the One that recognizes mankind’s proclivity to make himself out to be God and yet lovingly seeks to restore him to wholeness and health.

Every culture needs a core set of values by which the people in it can predictably interact with one another. It is when rationalism is taken to the extreme that everyone has their own set of values irrespective of another that one of two things will happen; 1) society devolves into chaos or 2) society applies a strict and complicated set of controls with individual freedom being the sacrificial lamb.

The only salvation from this fate is a reorientation to the Christian values of uncalculated devotion to Jesus and free sacrifice to others. Loving Jesus and loving our fellow man can only come when God brings an awareness of the sin of a people to those people and then those people choose to submit themselves to God’s authority at the foot of the cross of Christ. Only when a man is free from His sin can a man be truly free and unaffected by the world around him. When Jesus is our authority nothing can offend, or harm us. As Martin Luther intimated, “All of life is repentance.” Simply put, I am not my own. I am God’s.

New York City Council Bill No. 371 violates the First Amendment Rights of certain pregnancy centers in each of the five New York City boroughs. A similar measure is being proposed, SHB 1366, in Washington State fought by the formidable Beth Chase and her team. US District Judge Marvin Garbis, ruled similar legislation affecting Baltimore’s crisis pregnancy centers (CPC) unconstitutional on the grounds that it was in violation of protections guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Ignoring that ruling abortion proponents turned politicians insist on wasting tax payer time and resources to fight unconstitutional legislation and legislation that the people don’t even want! See the recent study conducted of NYC population here.  To be clear these bills are unnecessary. There are no recorded complaints in New York City records regarding the pregnancy resource centers impacted by this legislation. In fact, no pregnancy center has ever been the target of a single lawsuit in New York State history. We should be celebrating, not denigrating the vital service these centers provide. The pregnancy centers in question offer free services to an under-served population. The population of women facing unplanned pregnancy are being victimized by an abortion industry that refuses to follow ethical medical standards of care. The same industry that refuses to disclose their financial conflict of interest to women, (e.g. that they have a vested financial interest in a woman’s decision to abort her child rather than carry to term). The same industry that refuse to foster an environment of true informed consent about the true nature of all her options including costs and potential immediate and long term side-effects. It is cowardly, reprehensible, and unethical that the abortion industry, which has a monopoly on serving women facing unplanned pregnancy, be allowed to legislate their competition out of business.

As executives we must speak against these dangerous and nefarious acts. Click HERE to submit letters to the editor of any newspaper in your State.

You can also encourage Mayor Bloomberg of New York City to veto the precedent setting bill eroding the constitutional rights of his constituency by clicking HERE.

CompassCare is excited to announce another new and free resource for medical pregnancy center executives. Announcing the “Linear Service Model: Practical Insights” blog dedicated to communicating the actual results, experiences, and lessons learned from pregnancy centers that are currently using a linear service model (LSM) to reach and serve women seriously considering abortion more effectively.

Valuable nuggets of a LSM: Where theory becomes reality

Check it out at http://compasscaretraining.org/blog