Roe v. Wade Month—Part One

The 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade is this month (the case was decided on January 22, 1973), and Time magazine’s cover story for the January 14, 2013, issue claims, “40 Years Ago, Abortion-Rights Activists Won an Epic Victory with Roe v. Wade—They’ve Been Losing Ever Since.” But how true is this claim?

You know, there are many states that have passed laws requiring women seeking an abortion to first submit to a waiting period, counseling, parental consent (in the case of underage girls), or even an ultrasound. You can view a chart from our Answers magazine that details which states have which requirements, as well as any contested state laws, on this article.

Sadly, however, the number of abortions performed each year seems to be remaining consistent. You see, the National Right to Life’s statistics show that since Roe v. Wade was passed, more than 1.2 million abortions have been performed in the U.S. each year. The total number of abortions performed since Roe v. Wade is more than 54 million. That’s 54 million human beings who have been brutally murdered before birth—since 1973. (You can find these statistics at this link.) By the way—that’s almost three times the population of my homeland of Australia—really puts it in perspective, doesn’t it?

Now, last year, Answers magazine published an interview with Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association. He explained clearly why Christians should speak out against abortion:

In 1973, when Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, the court said that if it could ever be proved that the unborn is a person, it would be a gamechanger. That’s why AFA has been promoting personhood amendments. We want to see that question come before the U.S. Supreme Court again now that we have this new medical technology. . . . We need to keep our hands to the plow. There’s nowhere else for us to go to start over; this is it. We cannot abandon our role in the culture, including politics and government. . . . The main thing is that we shouldn’t give up or take the attitude that our vote doesn’t matter because to disengage or not participate or take a fatalistic attitude is to give up on God. God can send revival to our land.

And while I agree that believers must not abandon their place in our culture and that we must oppose abortion, I believe abortion is only the symptom of a bigger problem. For many years, I’ve said that even if we managed to change the laws about abortion, the culture would just change them back, if it continues to look to man’s word for ultimate authority instead of God’s Word.

You see, evolutionary ideas have destroyed the basis for the dignity of human life, which says that man is made in God’s image.

Think about it—if you get rid of spare cats, then why not get rid of spare kids? After all, we’re just animals in this evolutionary world! Sadly, that’s really what generations of kids are being taught.

By way of contrast, the evolutionary contention that man is only an animal provides no moral basis to oppose the murder of the unborn.

So, what can we do to stop abortion? That’s for tomorrow’s blog post.

For more information on the issue of abortion, I encourage you to read Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell’s (AiG–U.S.) articles:

• Semantics Don’t Change Truth
• Embryo Protection

Also, return to our website on Friday morning for another commentary on the Roe v. Wade anniversary—it will be our lead article.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken