We often hear the slogan ‘my body, my choice!’ It is said by women everywhere. They want autonomy over their pregnancies. Women are demanding something they cannot have and they go about it by excluding 2 key factors that are involved in this discussion.
One article that was published at The Christian Post called How technology has changed views on abortion is filled with some good information. For example:
…we now know that when an egg and sperm meet at the moment of conception, a brand new life’s DNA is immediately formed; a unique life that has never existed before and will never exist again…
We now know that at eight weeks of gestation, brain waves can be detected, at nine weeks the baby is kicking and swimming, and at 10 weeks every organ is in place and the baby can begin to hear. At weeks 11 and 12, teeth begin to form, fingernails develop, and the baby can turn his or her head and smile. At 13 weeks, babies start to feel pain and the baby can grasp objects in his or her hand and all organ systems are functioning! These are remarkable developments. Life begins at conception, and rapid, significant fetal development begins immediately thereafter with all of the aforementioned milestones occurring just in the first trimester. Many women who are considering abortion do not realize how developed their child is at the earliest stages of life.
Then the author goes on to make the following statements:
to empower women to choose life…
I want to see mothers empowered to choose the healthiest decision for themselves and their unborn babies: Life.
As wonderful as the author’s sentiments and goals are, she left out 2 very important aspects that are involved with the abortion discussion– God and Fathers. The article, while published in a Christian newspaper, does not mention God once. Not even a Bible verse to support her views.
Fathers are absent as well even though the child is his as well. At no time did God give women the authority over life and death nor did he give them the authority to say who can live or die. Yet, both the secular world and many in the Christian world think that since it is the woman’s body, it is her choice.
Here is what one person said in the comment section when we said that fathers were absent from the discussion:
When men’s internal organs, bones, muscles, nervous system, and hormones undergo the changes mothers do for nine-plus months (and for some women impacts to their whole lives), sure men can have “involvement”. Until then their contribution of less than 0.1% of a teaspoon doesn’t give them anything!!
That attitude is not rare in this discussion and it is certainly not right nor biblical. The child is as much of the father’s as it is the mothers as neither parent can have a child on their own. That attitude shows a gross misunderstanding of the roles of the man and the woman.
Women were made for the man and Paul stated this very clearly in 1 Cor. 11:9. How were they made? They were made to be the helpmeet as well as the person who bears the children. The man or father may not have to endure those physical changes but they have to provide for the expecting woman, make sure her needs are met, and so on.
The man has his role in the pregnancy and it is NOT going to be the same as the woman’s. This difference does not make the father inferior or have no rights in what happens to the child. His role is very important and he has as much say in this issue as the woman the body being destroyed is from him as well.
The Bible addresses that point as well when it says in 1 Cor. 7:4 the following:
The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
It is not the woman’s choice when it comes to abortion. Her body belongs to her husband and vice versa. This is also a complicated issue for pregnancies occur outside of marriage and to be honest, that part of the discussion needs further study.
From what we understand at this time having sex does not make the couple married:
However, the act of sex does not equal marriage. If that were so, there would be no such thing as premarital sex—once a couple had sex, they would be married. The Bible calls premarital sex “fornication.” It is repeatedly condemned in Scripture along with all other forms of sexual immorality
If an unmarried couple has sex, does that mean they are married? The Bible gives us no reason to believe this to be the case. The act of sexual relations may have made them for a moment physically joined, but that does not mean God has joined them together as husband and wife. Sex is an important aspect of marriage, the physical act of marriage. Sex between unmarried people, though, does not equal marriage (source)
However, that may not relieve women from the inclusion and authority of the father in this debate. Whether married or single, the child is still part of the man and his as well. You can argue all day long against this but this fact does not change. A single woman cannot have a baby without a man and she does not have sole ownership of the unborn child.
There is another important aspect missing from that article and from the abortion discussion– God. It is very important that men and women understand this aspect because it puts life in proper perspective. Look at this verse:
12 For as the woman originated from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman; and all things originate from God. (1 Cor. 11)
This should cause many people to pause and rethink the abortion issue. The unborn child is FROM GOD. It is not a human production although humans are involved, it is a spiritual production that was also designed by God.
Every child should be looked at as a gift from God as Eve did when Seth was born. IN Jeremiah 1:5, he is speaking to the prophet but there is nothing in the Bible that says this was a one-time event
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you;
In other words, God knows the unborn child is a human and he does things for different children long before they are born. Mothers and fathers need to consider God in the abortion issue. The ramifications of abortion go a lot further than the physical. Here is what the Bible says about the body and none of them exclude the unborn child:
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.( 1 Cor. 6)
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.( 1 Cor. 3)
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom. 12)
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.(1 Cor. 10– this includes bearing a child)
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,your whole body will be full of light.23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (Mt. 6)
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. (Ps. 100)
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