Pro-lifers are everywhere. On street corners, on TV, in supermarkets, on college campuses – including my own here at the University of Georgia. In fact, for many years, I have considered myself amongst their numbers. Even so, I find myself here, today, right now, questioning the ideological foundation of the very term.
Many who are pro-life are also pro-death penalty. I will not get into the semantics of what pro-death penalty is, but lets just say that it is for premeditated, methodical murder. In other words. John Doe wakes up one morning and decides to go buy a gun, take that gun, and then shoot and kill Jane. He thought about it, considered it, and did it. Not only did he think about it and do it, he also planned it out. For the majority of pro-lifers who believe in the death penalty the sentence is simple… death.
Now to the second part. For a pro-lifer, life begins at conception. Once the sperm meets the egg and they do their dance and become an organism that is capable of multiplicity, it is alive, and it is human, therefore, sacred. Also, alluding to former posts and comments, it has been affirmed through the Scripture that the shedding of innocent blood is the most heinous and immoral act considered by God. Also, it was made clear by Bishop David Epps that early Church Fathers had the same opinion of many today, life begins at conception, the unborn is a child, human and alive, and that abortion is one thing, murder.
Now, we have established abortion as murder, and we have also established many pro-life believing individuals as pro-death penalty – which, in many ways is simply ironic to me – and it is why I personally prefer the title of anti-abortion, and pro-death penalty instead of pro-life, but that is another argument for another post (Big Brother maybe able to antagonize me into it!). Now, for the sake of argument, we are going to say the death penalty should only be for those, again, who committed premeditated and methodical murder. Now, for the crux of the argument, can anyone say that abortion, which we are saying, as “pro-lifers” is murder, is not premeditated?
For example, except in the case of rape, the woman (As well as the man), choose to have sex, and even more so, without “protection” – yes I know, abstinence is the “only way,” but as I have already discussed previously… its just not happening, and never has historically. The choose to copulate, for pleasure, without protection… and bam (paid for), she is pregnant… with child… knocked up. But, this was done with her own permission, her own decision (again, along with the man, and he is just as responsible). Now, four weeks later, she takes the test, finds out she is pregnant, and she has a decision – again, another choice – to make. And she does the unthinkable – the unthinkable decision, which 2.5% of Americans make each year, and have on average since the passing of Roe v. Wade – she decides to have an abortion. Later that same week, either she drives herself, or the man responsible for the seed that took root within her drives her, or maybe her mother, or aunt, or even a co-worker, to the abortion clinic. She freely walks in, signs in at the counter, fills out the forms, and then waits. After a short, or maybe long, wait, she is called back, and she chooses to follow the instructions of the doctor, who then performs the abortion. She then gets up, and she leaves.
This was an abortion… which, as before said, is murder. But… it is also premeditated and methodical murder. Wait… seriously, think about it. IF abortion is murder, and the woman thinks about it, plans it, and then has the abortion – i.e. commits the murder… its premeditated. See the irony? IF we are pro-death penalty for one, how can we not be for the other, yet, if we claim we must love and nurture those who have committed abortions, lead them to Christ and His love, forgive them, show them grace and mercy, how then can we be pro-death penalty. Yes, the laws of the land, in some states, have the death penalty, but as a Christian, one can not have it both ways. So, which direction will you support? Will you be Pro-life, or simply anti-abortion… or neither?
