Life On the Move

In Psalm 139, we are reminded of our Creator, the One who has formed us in His image.  The Psalmist declares this:
13For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.14I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.15My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

When we look in the mirror, we can see a person who is made by God.  We have been given a physical structure that has its own design and molecular structure.  We each have a unique DNA.  We have been given the benefit of physical senses to experience life around us.  We have been entrusted with souls - with minds, wills, and emotions, and we have a spirit through which we can reach out and connect with the Creator of the Universe.  We serve a Savior who gave His life so that, in receiving Him, we can experience abundant life - life that is full and meaningful.  We can rejoice that God has given us life!

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One of my favorite pro-life Scriptures is found in Job 31:
13"If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant When they complained against me,14What then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?15Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?

One of the signs of a culture that is in decline is a general devaluation of life.   While Roe vs. Wade in 1973 did not start that general mindset, it certainly played a key role in facilitating it.

And, a new report by the nation's largest abortion provider Planned Parenthood cements a contention that abortion is alive and well in America - but as I'll share later on, there is cause for hope.   LifeSiteNews.com reports that Planned Parenthood performed 327,653 abortions and received more than $528 million in tax dollars, according to its annual report for the last fiscal year.  That amount of funding accounted for 41 percent of its $1.3 billion budget.

That represents an increase of 487 abortions over 2012, when the organization performed 327,166 abortions and received $540.6 million in tax revenues.

Life Decisions International (LDI) announced that 313 corporations have opted to end their funding of Planned Parenthood, depriving the organization of $42 million in revenue.

During the period covered by the report – from July 2013 to June 30, 2014 – abortions accounted for 94 percent of their services to pregnant women, according to an analysis performed by the Susan B. Anthony List.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, SBA List President, is quoted as saying that “The abortion rate may be declining across America, but not in Planned Parenthood clinics. Their latest annual report is fresh evidence that Planned Parenthood remains an abortion-centered, profit-driven business...Meanwhile, their already limited cancer screenings, prenatal services, adoption referrals – and even contraception services – continue to drop.”

But, in a number of areas, those of us who hold to a view that life is sacred, consistent with the viewpoint that is furthered in God's Word, have much about which to be encouraged:

Number of pro-life laws: UP

For one thing, according to LifeSiteNews.com, a new report from the Guttmacher Institute shows that during 2014, a total of 341 new pro-life laws were introduced in 15 state legislatures, but only 26 became law. As a result, more than half (57 percent) of women now live in a state with pro-life protections.  But, the sum total since 2010 is impressive: states enacted 231 pro-life laws between 2010 and 2014, with more than half the country now considered “hostile to abortion,” according to the abortion industry think tank.

States with four or five restrictions on abortion were deemed “hostile” in its reckoning, researchers from Guttmacher said in a press release Monday.

As of the end of 2014, 27 states are “hostile to abortion,” with 18 labeled “extremely hostile” – e.g., they had passed five or more pro-life laws. Those numbers have more than doubled since 2000, when 13 states had adopted at least four such statutes and none had five.

And as Kim Trobee of CitizenLink pointed out on The Meeting House last week, Congress could take up the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban abortion at 20 weeks, the point at which scientific research has indicated that a pre-born child can feel pain.

Number of abortion clinics: DOWN

And, access to abortion is in decline.  LifeNews.com cites a new survey conducted by Operation Rescue of all abortion facilities in the United States, which confirmed that the abortion clinic closure trend continued strongly in 2014.

In all, 73 abortion facilities shut down for all or part of the year. The total number of all remaining abortion clinics in the US is currently 739. Surgical abortion facilities account for 551 of that total while the number of medication-only abortion facilities stands at 188.

Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, is quoted as saying: "We are continuing to witness the implosion of the abortion cartel in America...The only things that are preventing total collapse are court injunctions that are blocking several state abortion safety laws from being enforced. Once those laws clear the courts, we expect to see even more dangerous abortion facilities close. This is great news for women and babies because when abortion clinics close, lives are saved.”

Pro-life sentiment: UP

Blogger Jill Stanek reported on a May 2014 Gallup poll that said that 47% of Americans considered themselves “pro-choice,” while 46% said they were “pro-life.” She points out that in 1995, 56% of the public considered themselves pro-choice and only 33% pro-life. But the lines slowly drew closer until 2009, when for the first time a majority of Americans (51%) said they were pro-life. Since then, six of 10 Gallup polls have come down on the pro-life side. One poll showed a tie.

The poll also found 50% of Americans think abortion should be legal “only under certain circumstances.” When you add the pro-life position that abortion should be legal in all circumstances, that comes to 71% who think abortion should either be restricted or outlawed. 

Stanek said that those numbers were somewhat close to a Politico poll, which found 80% of Americans want abortion restricted.

We can be encouraged - and as Kirk Walden pointed out at the Sav-a-Life gala in Montgomery in November and on The Meeting House program, believers who are committed to the preservation of life can be actively involved in presenting a better choice to women who are considering abortion, making life the "first choice."

We have the potential to change hearts, pointing to a Savior who gave His life so that we may live more abundantly, in relationship with Himself.   And, every child in the womb deserves that opportunity!