Abortion: Picturing the worldwide loss

Absurd and terrible tragedies easily catch the public’s eye: senseless shootings, the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, the planned execution of 33 North Korean Christians. Yet while it is right and good to bring the world’s attention to these tragedies, and while the victims must be mourned and spoken for, there is a question we must ask ourselves.

How do we largely ignore the enormous tragedy that happens every day, worldwide?

The World Health Organization estimates that 40-50 million abortions are performed every year worldwide. The Guttmacher Institute agrees that “[m]ore than 40 million abortions are performed worldwide each year.”

Taking the the lowest estimate of 40 million abortions every year, this comes out to nearly 110,000 abortions every day.

• This means that every day, 460 Malaysia Airlines Flights are lost – but babies are their passengers.

• Every day, 3,333 executions of 33 people each are ordered – but babies are the ones who suffer this brutality.

• Every day, 4,074 Sandy Hook Shootings happen – every one of the 27 victims, each time, being a child.

• Every day, 9,166 Aurora Theater Shootings happen – with 12 babies dying each time.

• Sixty Hurricane Katrinas happen every day – with 1,833 confirmed fatalities each time.

• Every two-and-a-half days, the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami repeats itself – accumulating 280,000 dead bodies along the way.

• Every two to two and a half days, the Somalian famine that spanned two and a half years repeats itself – killing 258,000 helpless children every time.

• Every five to nine days, the Rwandan Genocide – taking the lives of 500,000-1,000,000 people – happens again.

• Every day, 110,000 stonings of Soraya M. or Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow take place – abortions are often just as cruel and filled with pain and suffering.

The point is not that these terrible tragedies should not be discussed. They should be shouted from the rooftops. Yet at the same time, how can we decry death and pain and suffering, while ignoring widespread cruelty and killings that happen every day? We cannot allow only the sensational to capture our hearts.

Is 110,000 a day, 40-50 million a year, simply too big for us to comprehend? Have we ever taken the time to picture it? Have we ever realized the magnitude of how many babies are being killed every day, worldwide? Because every day abortion isn’t ended, 110,000 die again.

When we see signs, asking for prayer for Flight MH370, do we stop to pray? But do we also pray, every day, for 460 flights’ worth of babies who are put to death?

When we sign a petition, write a letter, or speak a prayer for the release of the 33 North Korean Christians, do we also ask for deliverance for the 3,333 times 33 babies who are sentenced to die every day?

Stop wherever you are.

Picture the enormous loss of life every day because of abortion. Think about the tragedies that touch your heart, and consider how many times that same number of babies die over and over and over again. And ask yourself:

Are you allowing it or ending it?