Spreading Pro-life Alternatives Now a Crime in France

This bill “targets those who operate pro-life websites or provide information about abortion alternatives.” The punishment for violating this new law? Up to two years in prison and $30,000 in fines.

France doesn’t want anyone learning information that challenges the belief that abortion is acceptable. The director of the European Centre for Law and Justice said,

Publishing the Christian teaching that abortion is a crime could be seen as putting pressure on people. . . . The simple sharing of information that might upset moral conscience could be sufficient to constitute a crime.

Silencing—or attempting to silence—those who disagree is an increasingly common tactic used by secularists to promote their agenda. It’s happening here in America with gay “marriage” and gender issues, and it’s happening in France in regards to abortion. This is a troubling trend for religious freedom and freedom of speech across the Western world, not to mention the consequences for the unborn.

And what of the woman that doesn’t fully realize what she’s doing because it’s intentionally hidden from her, and the incredible emotional pain she may suffer when she finds out. Many women have reported regretting their abortions and wishing they would’ve fully understood what they were doing at the time. Apparently this sort of guilt is ok with the French government.

Video of Happy People with Down Syndrome “Inappropriate”

This isn’t the first time France has shown a disdain for pro-life messages. For Global Down Syndrome Day in 2014, the Global Down Syndrome Foundation released a touching video showing children and adults with Down syndrome and their moms, smiling, laughing, and hugging. The video, Dear Future Mom, was an answer to a letter they received:

I’m expecting a baby. I’ve discovered he has Down syndrome. I’m scared: what kind of life will my child have?

The video was an attempt to show what people with Down syndrome can accomplish. Things like going to school, travelling, having a job or an apartment—just like anyone else.

What they are saying is that people with disabilities don’t matter as much as the sensibilities of some people.

Earlier this week the French Council of State upheld a ban on this video, saying it was ‘“inappropriate’ and believed it [was] ‘likely to disturb the conscience of women who had lawfully made different personal life choices.’” So to avoid offending people who may have chosen to abort their babies who were diagnosed with Down syndrome, the French court deemed this video “inappropriate.”

Really, what they are saying is that people with disabilities don’t matter as much as the sensibilities of some people. Watch the video for yourself. The only thing disturbing is that anyone would see this video with its beautiful children and message as disturbing!!

One commentator wrote on this decision,

The court has said, in effect, that the lives of Down syndrome people — and by inescapable implication, the lives of many other disabled people — matter less than the serenity of people who have acted on one or more of three vicious principles: That the lives of the disabled are not worth living. Or that the lives of the disabled are of negligible value next to the desire of parents to have a child who has no special, meaning inconvenient, needs. Or that government should suppress the voices of Down syndrome children in order to guarantee other people’s right not to be disturbed by reminders that they have made lethal choices on the basis of one or both of the first two inappropriate principles.

Abortion Is Murder

That little fertilized egg is a human being.

Because abortion kills a human being, abortion is murder—there’s no way to get around it. The moment the egg is fertilized, all the unique genetic material needed to build a human being is present—that little fertilized egg is a human being.

Humans are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27). And because of this, all human life has value. Those with disabilities or an extra chromosome aren’t worth less—they have the same value as any other image bearer, and their lives deserve to be saved and the parents deserve to fully understand any decision before they make it.

Spreading the Pro-Life Message at the Creation Museum

A pro-life ministry, Save the Storks, recently visited the Creation Museum with their special buses. Save the Storks partners with pregnancy care centers, making them mobile so they can travel around the country and park in shopping centers, on campuses, or even in front of abortion clinics.

These buses—I’m told that there are 28 with 15 more in production—feature ultrasound machines to offer women a free ultrasound as well as pregnancy testing. These buses are incredibly effective—four out of every five women who board the bus make an informed decision to choose life for their unborn baby.

We were excited they stopped by the Creation Museum and gave me a peek inside the bus. You can learn more about Save the Storks in this Facebook Live video:

Learn more about God’s grace regarding disability in a presentation by Stacia McKeever from Embrace, our Answers for Women’s 2016 conference. Disabilities: Finding Hope in God’s Goodness and Truth is available at our online store separately or as part of the complete conference series. Learn more at AnswersinGenesis.org/store.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.