Words Have Consequences!

[Michael Shanlian Ph.D.]

"Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” (1 Kings 3:26 NKJ) In 1973 the year I was married the most devastating law in the history of the world was passed by our government. We refer to it as Roe vs. Wade. This law would allow any mother for any reason to terminate her pregnancy. On its face this sounds barbaric. Why would a mother desire to terminate the life of her child for any reason? How is it that over these last forty years society has become comfortable with this idea? Simple, words have consequences. The argument for or against abortion on demand revolves around several key terms. First the word "right." Proponents of abortion say it is a fundamental right of a mother to abort her child because it is "her" body."Pro-Choice" is a term which addresses the rights of the mother concerning her body. The problem is these terms are misleading. Does a mother have the right to terminate the live of her baby simply because it is still in the womb? The argument by pro-choice advocates in 1973 is that we don't know if that fetus is a human being so therefore that fetus has no constitutional rights. But with modern technology like ultra-sound were developed we now know that even in the very beginning stages of growth in the womb a baby is alive. So know we are talking not about the "rights" of the mother but another human being.

Since 1973 approximately 60 million babies lives have been terminated. That equals about one fifth of the population of the United States! So we need to redefine some terms. "Pro- choice" should now be called "pro-death". The word "right" should be replaced with "desire." Our Scripture today is the famous story of King Solomon having to determine who the real mother of a particular baby was. Long story short when Solomon said that he would divide the baby and give each mother half the real mother shouted, give the baby to the other woman. The moral of that story is that a mother would never kill her baby once it is born. So abortion is no longer about the right of the mother to choose because we have the rights of another human being involved. Abortion actually comes down to "desire" not the right of a mother to choose to terminate that pregnancy. Therefore, it is no longer "pro-choice" but pro-death". Remember words have consequences!