Many Christians have followed the ProLife strategy of opposing preborn child sacrifice by supporting the passing of legislation that regulates abortion.
Abolitionists shine light on these bills as being iniquitous decrees (Isaiah 10:1-2), and call on our brothers and sisters to "cease to do evil," and "learn to do well" (Isaiah 1). We do not want the Church to oppose evil in a way that God calls evil.
The major justification from ProLife Christians is that these bills save some babies, and that makes it okay to implement the practice.
"Save the Babies" becomes the mantra. It is the focus, the end all. If some babies may be saved, it makes the legislation "a worthy effort" to be applauded.
Now I am all for saving babies. That is why I am often found at the gates of death, pleading for their lives, and calling parents to deliver their children, not destroy them. But is that the final Standard for the laws that we push?
We could ask, do these laws really save babies?
Much could be written to expose that the vast majority of ProLife bills do not as a matter of course actually save babies from murder. They merely lay rules about how, when, where, why, and by whom, babies can be murdered. Contrary to common belief by most people in the pew and in the pulpit, the claim that so many babies are delivered by those regulatory bills is grossly overestimated. But that is not the topic for this post.
Then what is the question in this post? "Is Saving Babies the Standard?"
I want to point out that whether a bill may save some babies is not the Standard for whether we support this tactic.
We are Christians.
We are image-bearers of the living God of the Bible.
We are made for His glory. The goal and chief end of man is the glory of God.
We are not necessarily supposed to simply embrace what is projected to do some good, what looks likely to succeed, or even save some lives.
We are to obey the words of our King. Our engagement must be "according to the Scriptures."
So "what saith the Scripture?"
God commands that we use just weights, measures, and balances. He condemns compromise and injustice:
Proverbs 11:1 "A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight."
Proverbs 16:11 "A just weight and balance are the LORD's: all the weights of the bag are his work."
Proverbs 20:23 "Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good."
Notice He does not say to use false scales in order to the advantage of some and disenfranchise others. He doesn't say it is okay to make slightly less unequal balances. The scales of justice are to be equal.
God commands that we not bear false witness in judgment. Exodus 23:1,7 "Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness...Keep thee far from a false matter..." We are to be men of truth. God does not say to enact laws that neglect to speak the truth or treat things as what they are. Regulatory laws do not call abortion murder, do not treat the preborn like the humans they are, and do not treat their homicide as the murder it is. They treat it like healthcare, thus make a law that is a schoolmaster of falsehood, teaching the public that it is healthcare.
God does not say to pervert justice in order to save some, even if everyone else seems to think it is a good idea. Exodus 23:2-3,6-7 "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause...Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked."
God commands magistrates to protect the innocent and defenseless. Jeremiah 22:3 "Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place." He does not say to compromise judgment, or to tell oppressors that they have until this age that they can spoil their young prey. He doesn't say to do wrong a little less at a time. He doesn't say to give approval to make rules so that violence to the vulnerable has to be done in a well-lit room with clean tools. He doesn't say to permit the shedding of innocent blood as long as the one hiring the kill has had a chance to view the picture of the victim first, or had twenty-four hours to think it over.
God commands us to not be partial. It is not the Lord who says to make partial laws that protect some people and permit the murder of others, stripping justice from them, and giving immunity and impunity to their killers. In fact, He condemns that behavior in judgment. Proverbs 17:15 "He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD."
See it in His statutes. Deuteronomy 16:19-20 "Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. That which is altogether just shalt thou follow..."
See it in His sagacious statements. Proverbs 24:23 "These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment."
See it in Himself. Romans 2:11 "For there is no respect of person with God."
See it in the Standard for His saints. James 2:1,4,8-9 "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. ...Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? ...If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors."
It is not He who says, "...let us do evil that good may come" (Romans 3:8). Instead, He says, "...overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:221).
He doesn't say, Proving what is projected to save some, but denies due process and equal protection to others. He does not say, "Proving what is acceptable unto the professionals, the practitioners, the politicians, the party, or the populace."
He says, "Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord" (Ephesians 5:10). We must obey Him, and trust Him for the results. Jesus is King, and we follow His word. And we believe that when we as the Church reprove that which is partial, when we cease to approve iniquitous measures, when we prove and pursue just and true laws that glorify the King, in His Providence, babies WILL BE SAVED.
Sometimes I wear a shirt that says, "Save Babies...Ask me how." There are many things that can be done towards saving the innocent from murder, but the how must be according to the Scriptures, to the glory of the Lord.
Abortion must be abolished, not regulated.
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