Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. – Proverbs 31:8–9
42 years ago today the Supreme Court of the United States issued one of its landmark decisions. The court deemed abortion to be a fundamental right under the United States Constitution. What many people may not know is the decision was not as close as we would expect today. Of the nine justices, seven voted in favor and two dissented. Many of the hotly debated arguments before the Supreme Court in more recent times have been 5-4 or 4-5. If today’s court heard the formal arguments on abortion today we might expect a 5-4 or 4-5 decision.
I believe this decision has brought about grave consequences similar to those of ancient Israel. If you have read the Bible you may remember back in the book of Numbers chapters 13 and 14 there was a 10 to 2 decision. That decision resulted in Israel wondering in the wilderness for 40 years “until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness.” (So much for political correctness, but it is biblically correct. Numbers 14:33). Have we wondered long enough? Has our generation died in the wilderness?
To be honest, when you consider the numbers what we have allowed is nauseating. Over the past 42 years it is estimated there have been between 58 and 60 million abortions in the United States. MILLIONS! Abortions millions should not be thrown around like our government throws around millions of dollars. Those numbers represent whole nations. In the news, today we hear a lot about the civil war taking place in Syria. Syria has an estimated 22 million people. What we have done in the last 42 years is equal to wiping out the entire nation of Syria nearly three times. I don’t imagine our popularity would be very high in the Middle East or around the world if our nation had committed such criminal acts. How do you think God, the giver of life, view us? Can you see His longsuffering and mercy now? When will we turn around and correct a wrong turn made over 40 years ago? I know it is a male ego thing not to turn the car around after a wrong turn, but come on… it has been 42 years. Men haven’t we disregarded the voices of women and children long enough? What about the voice of God?
Here is a quick and startling look at abortion by the numbers.
• 1 out of every 66 deaths in the WORLD is an American abortion.
• 1 out of every 4 deaths in America is an American Abortion.
• Half of the deaths in the world are from abortions.
• Abortion is the leading cause of death in the world. It kills as many people as ALL of the other causes of death combined.
• We have lost more Americans through abortions (64 times more) than we did in all of our wars (12 wars) combined.
Every year our nation sets a day aside to honor our fallen war heroes it is called Memorial Day. Each year there are thousands of churches in America who recognize Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. Different churches recognize this day on different Sundays. Either the Sunday before or after January 22.
For the past two years we our home church has done something visible to honor the victims of abortion. Last year we did a 60 balloon release (30 blue & 30 pink) along with placing 60 white crosses in our graveyard along the roadside. 1 cross represents approximately 1 million aborted lives. It is startling if you let it sink in.
Take some time today to pray for the unborn and our nation in light of this Landmark Decision. It may not have made its “landmark” in the cemeteries across our land, but it has certainly made a “landmark” on our souls and the soul of a nation.
Here are some additional resources
http://www.rheaofhope.org/ – This is our local pregnancy center.
http://www.choiceschattanooga.org/ – This is a pregnancy center in Chattanooga.
http://www.memorialfortheunborn.org/ – Just as there are Holocaust museums around the world for those who were wrongly put to death there is also one for those who died wrongfully through abortion. The site of the memorial is a former abortion clinic in Chattanooga, TN.
http://www.attwn.org/ – This is the website of Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood Director, who now helps people leave the grips of employment by the abortion industry.