The issue, I'm convinced, in WA's current abortion debate is not abortion at all. Certainly, various arguments have been and continue to be raised as to whether or not abortion ought to be permitted, and under what conditions. I do not disqualify the arguments as irrelevant. But neither the argument of the Silent Scream, nor any argument that the woman is boss of her own body, nor any argument in between these two, reaches to the heart of the issue. The issue, at bottom, is not the child or the mother; the issue is whether people will acknowledge that God is God. I say this because God in His Word is crystal clear on His condemnation of abortion.

Abortion is Murder⤒🔗

To expel a living foetus from the womb before it has reached the stage where it can live by itself is murder. Consider die following data from Scripture:

After the Lord had purged a sin-hardened human race from the earth with the flood, He spoke these words to the father of the new mankind:

Whoever sheds man's blood. By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.Genesis 9:6

The Lord's point is clear: since the human race is made in the image of God, it is not permissible for any man to take the life of another without permission from God. Matters of life and death God has reserved for Himself alone.

The unborn child is in the eyes of God as much 'human' as a born child, let alone an adult

The adult David observed himself in the mirror, and marvels at how wonderfully and fearfully God had made him so many years ago in his mother's womb (Psalm 139:14). He says:

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skilfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

Notice that David does not see a change in the identity of who or what was in the womb compared to who or what David is as an adult. He uses the pronouns 'I' and 'my' to refer to his time in the womb. He wasn't a mass of cells that 'became' David on the day of his birth. Rather, he was 'himself' from the moment of conception.

Similarly, the Lord spoke this word to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you Were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

Notice again that the Lord refers to the unborn Jeremiah as 'you', and not as an indefinite, pre-person 'thing'. The adult Jeremiah is the same entity as the unborn foetus of so many years ago.

When Mary came to visit her, Elizabeth greeted her with the words, As soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.Luke 1:44

The term used here for 'babe' is the common word for child; it is used of Jesus in the manger (Luke 2:12).

With these and various other texts God the Holy Spirit records in Scripture that to God the unborn foetus is as much 'human' as a born child, let alone an adult.

That the unborn are protected by God is evident from a command God gave to His people at Mount Sinai:

If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.Exodus 21:22-25

A passage as this certainly makes evident that God values unborn life, and His protection extends also to the womb.

In sum, there can be no two interpretations of God's thoughts regarding the identity of the unborn foetus. This foetus is a human, created in the image of God, as special to Him as any other person. Whoever terminates the life of an unborn child is guilty before God of the sin of murder.

The Issue←⤒🔗

Since the Lord God has spoken clearly on the issue, it is for people – creatures as we are – humbly to accept His will. We cannot plead ignorance concerning God's thoughts on the matter.

But if that is the case, then any effort to justify abortion is at bottom a rejection of God's thoughts on the matter, and therefore a rejection of God as God. In the current debate in WA, the bottom line is whether or not people (creatures made by God!) will recognise that God has condemned abortion. Will His Godhead be acknowledged??

Let God be God!!←⤒🔗

The question of whether God is acknowledged as the God He is, however, cuts two ways. In the community at large, God's Godness is not acknowledged, and hence abortion is a point of discussion.

But if God is indeed God, further consequences follow, consequences which the people of God need to take into account. I refer specifically to the fact that God has sent His Son into the world to save the lost – people like you and me. In a chapter gripping for its horridness, the Lord describes the lostness that characterised Israel before God came to them with His salvation. Says the Lord to Israel in Ezekiel 16:

As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born (vss 4f).

I put to my readers that here is the same sense of rejection we associate with abortion. The difference is simply that the picture presented in Ezekiel 16 moves the time of rejection to the moment of birth, while in abortions the rejection occurs some months earlier.

The same chapter of Scripture records how rejected and despicable Israel was found by God:

And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' I made you thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare. When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, says the Lord GOD. Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your wrists, and a chain on your neck. And I put a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate pastry of fine flour, honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and succeeded to royalty. Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you, says the Lord GOD (16:6-14).

It is because Israel had received so much that Israel was also to give much for the benefit of her neighbours. In fact, it is a principle of Scripture that God's people, simply because they have received so much in Jesus Christ, are also to give readily and cheerfully. As God loved us, we are to love another.

Specific to the abortion debate: there are reasons why abortions are sought. God in His wisdom allows a pregnancy, but on the part of the mother (and possibly father) there is a sense of desperation: 'I can't/won't cope with the responsibilities of receiving a child'. A sense of gratitude to God for the love He has shown us must prompt love for the (unwanted) child and for the mother (and possibly father) rejecting the child. We ourselves were rejected, and then loved; now it's our privilege to love and assist others in their lostness.

God's Godness cuts two ways. His Word is to be acknowledged when our state confronts the question of rewriting the abortion law. His Word is also to be acknowledged when Christians consider what opportunities they may have to help and love the despairing and the rejected. Let us seize the window of opportunity God has placed before us to consider ways and means to help those around us who consider aborting the person inside.

If Christians do not act in accordance with the Word's second cut, we certainly cannot expect society to acknowledge the Word's first cut.