The Huffington Post is once again displaying its support for a pro-abortion agenda with pride. Live Action bloggers have called attention to the site’s agenda on multiple occasions and their bias towards abortion has been clearly exposed. Like my fellow blogger, Lisa Graas, reported on four days ago, the Huffington Post was using a Christian religious leader to defend the very anti-Christian practice of abortion. Well they are doing it again. The Huffington Post posted an article, on August 3rd, by Rev. Debra Haffner, an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister. In this article, Haffner takes a few interesting positions. She states that:
“The Christian and Hebrew scriptures neither condemn nor prohibit abortion; in fact, abortion is not mentioned in the Hebrew Bible or New Testament, despite it being present in biblical times. Scripture calls us to act compassionately and justly when facing difficult moral decisions. The scriptural commitment to the most marginalized means that pregnancy, childbearing, and abortion should be safe for all women.”
Debra Haffner
Haffner is not only trying to say that abortion is not addressed in the Bible, but she is stating that abortion is a part of a Christian’s “scriptural commitment”. This is an offense to the true teachings of scripture. In Genesis 1:27, the Bible states that “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them..” And a part of being created in God’s image meant that man had an eternal soul. It is because man and woman are created in God’s image that the human life is so sacred. The Bible clearly reiterates this concept of the human life being sacred in the 10 commandments when Exodus 20:13 states that “You shall not murder.”
The question that remains is whether or not the Bible would define an unborn child as human life made in God’s image. This question can be answered by examining scripture texts that concern the child still in the mother’s womb. Multiple scripture passages, including Job 10:8-11, Psalm 139:13-16, and Isaiah 49: 1-5, all describe how the Lord is actively involved in the development of the baby in the womb. Psalm 139;13-14 states, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;…” If this is God’s literal handiwork is this something we have any right to be destroying?
The Bible delves further into the matter, however, and gives more clues that would lead one to believe that an unborn child is living. In Jeremiah 1:5 it states, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you as a prophet to the nations.” This verse is clearly stating that God has a relationship with the unborn; even to an extent He knows them on a personal level before they are even conceived in the womb. He has a plan for these unborn babies before they are born or even conceived. Who are we to interrupt God’s plans?
And if those passages are not enough to believe that the Bible has something to say about the humanity of the unborn child, then these next verses are nearly explicit in their meaning. Judges 13:7 states that Samson was a devoted servant to God “from the womb to the day of his death”. A fetus that is not living cannot be much of servant, but a human child can. And lastly, Luke 1:15 states, in reference to John the Baptist as a baby that, “He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.” This verse clearly shows that the unborn child is a living human. If an unborn child can be filled with the Holy Spirit it has a soul and if it has a soul it is a living human made in God’s image. It is a sacred life not a lifeless fetus. And the Bible is very clear about taking a life.
Haffner only has one biblical passage to back up her stance and that is Exodus 21:22-23 which supports the idea that an unborn child is a lesser being than the mother because of the passage which reads,
“When men fight and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact from him, the payment to be based on reckoning. But if other damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life …”
11 Week Old Human Fetus
It is from this that she draws the conclusion that the unborn child is the lesser person, or perhaps not a person. But sadly, Haffner is really misunderstanding the scripture. Most translations including the New International version and the New King James version have the words “premature birth” instead of miscarriage and older translations such as the King James version have the words “fruit come out”. These all refer to the child being born because of an action caused by the man in the fight. If the child is fine, then it is just monetary punishment, if the child is not fine however, then the penalty is death. The bible understood the sanctity of life in all forms, and it is time the Haffner understood the bible.
The scriptures clearly seem to state that a baby is a living human, and that killing a living human is wrong. Abortion would be killing a living human then and clearly condemned by the Bible. And as Haffner pointed out, it is our scriptural commandment to protect the most marginalized. I would say the helpless unborn child is by far the most marginalized of us all.
