In Sunday School this past week, we explored Issue 1, on the Ohio ballot this November. This issue, if passed, would enshrine “reproductive freedom” (i.e. abortion) into the Ohio Constitution. For the full text of Issue 1, and information to help sort through the legal language see the website seethelanguage.com
Even before examining a Christian worldview on the topic of abortion, Issue 1 is problematic on many levels.
- There is no age restriction of “an individual,” or any provision regarding parental consent for minors. It would strike all parental rights from Ohio law in regard to any “reproductive decision.”
- The clause “but not limited to” could potentially be applied to all sorts of “reproductive decision” including transgender surgeries, human cloning, gender selective abortions, harvesting body parts… The language is so vague, it opens the door to all kinds of interpretations.
- The proposed amendment appears to allow room for restrictions “after fetal viability” but doesn’t define that term, and goes on to undermine any meaningful limitations.
- The phrase “in no case may such an abortion be prohibited if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient’s treating physician it is necessary…,” would legalize abortion through all 9 months of pregnancy, pending the subjective opinion of an abortionist.
Scripture calls us to value life, including the life of the unborn. A baby in the womb is not a “potential life,” but a life with great potential. God knew us while we were still in our mother’s womb (Ps. 139:13-16). He formed our inward parts and saw our unformed substance. Today we are able to see the incredible development of human life through ultrasounds and medical technology. We can hear the heart of a baby beating even before that child is born. God had a plan and a purpose for our lives, even before we were born (Jeremiah 1:4-5). In the ancient world, children had few rights and were valued much lower than adults, but Jesus cared for all of the “little ones” and was deeply protective of them (Mt. 18:1-6).
The pro-life argument is very simple: It is wrong to intentionally kill innocent human beings, abortion intentionally kills innocent human beings, therefore abortion is morally wrong.
For a more thorough discussion of this important issue, see our recent message “Finding Our Bearing on the Abortion Debate”
Please refer to these other helpful resources:
John Piper discusses abortion in this video