The Abortion Epidemic

One Minute of Deaths
One Minute of Deaths

If you have never visited the World Clock, it is sobering. In addition to world times, the World Clock displays sickness & injury incidence, the number of various food animals slaughtered, and more over the course of a year, a month, or even from the point you click on the “Now” button. It is the “Deaths” display which most firmly catches my attention.

I click the “Now” button and watched the numbers increase over the course of about a minute (1:06 to be precise).

During that minute (keeping in mind all of these are estimates): One person fell to their death … Two people killed themselves … There were no war casualties, but there were seven people who died from sexually transmitted disease or HIV/AIDS.

One-hundred and twenty-eight deaths in toto.

One minute, 128 deaths… That is, until you include abortions.

Eighty-seven abortions in just one minute, bringing the total count up to two-hundred and fifteen deaths.

Assuming the accuracy of the statistics used by the World Clock, abortion is the world’s single greatest killer.

More than war. More than heart disease.

Your reaction to that figure largely depends upon when you believe life begins. If a person doesn’t become a person until they are born, then the abortion figure isn’t nearly as tragic. Chances are, then, that you are a Democrat and have been wondering about how there could possibly be zero war casualties during that minute time span given the fact that Bush is still in office.

If, however, you believe that life begins at conception, then that abortion figure is horrifying. It gets worse, though. According to the World Clock, since the beginning of 2008 there have been 26,523,604 abortions worldwide. More than war. More than disease. More than injury.

Twenty-six and a half million human beings slaughtered by means of abortion.

A sense of proportion: Based on July, 2007 census data… If the entire cities of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, and Philadelphia were laid to waste, the abortion death count would still be higher.

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

Twenty-six and a half million image bearers slaughtered?

“Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image. Genesis 9:6

Given that governments no longer punish the wicked, it is no surprise at all that sins of the most deplorable sort are so widespread.

Think about these things whenever you hear America described as a “Christian nation.” America is a nation populated and governed by people who, for the most part, care a great deal more about the economy than millions upon millions of innocents slaughtered each year.

For every 3.3 births, there is an abortion.

How should we as God-fearing Christians react to such wholesale feticide?

23 thoughts on “The Abortion Epidemic”

  1. This is fascinating, Rick. I personally am not convinced that life begins at conception, but it clearly there is a point where a baby becomes more than just a “fetus.”

    Questions of when life really begins and when it really ends are, as Obama said, probably above all of our pay grades. I differ with him, though, in that, since we really cannot answer it, we should be conservative in our definition of when life begins. Hence, while I do not really believe there is a new life that exists upon conception, one has to draw the line somewhere, and conception is the most conservative point. After all, we really do not know, do we?

    Again, thanks for a well-researched and interesting article. It’s gotten me to thinking again.

  2. I see that abortion figure as a great thing, think about how much less populated the planet is thanks to abortion. We don’t need more people, the planet is already starting to get over crowded. People control is a must just as it is with any animal.

  3. No secret that the crux of the matter is the question of when life begins; if a human life begins at conception, then not only are two people parents the moment they make a baby, then those same people are murderers should they abort the baby.

    Science doesn’t seem suited to telling us when life begins — scientists will be debating the question long after we’re gone. Even if scientists rule that life begins at birth, the decision is an arbitrary guess based upon an arbitrary definition of life interpreted through evolutionist terms.

    And quite frankly, under those same conditions, all life is meaningless and abortion, murder, and so on don’t amount to anything of meaningful effect — What is the source of meaning, after all?

    I trust the answer to the same source I that I trust for the life after death answer: He who gives life and takes it away, the Lord Yahweh.

    -=-=-

    And because it was brought up, I’ll just say that if overpopulation is truly a problem (I don’t believe it is), then not only is abortion an answer, but so is suicide.

    “If you’re not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem,” as they say.

    Gratefully, I don’t have to be hypocritical in being anti-abortion.

  4. I don’t think all killing is murder and there are some circumstances when abortion is legitimate (e.g. eptopic pregnancy). I don’t know how many of those abortions in the world clock were voluntary, for resaons such as selfishness or irresponsibility. I do know that if I had lost a baby due to pregnancy complications and s/he had to be aborted, I would be pretty unhappy to have you accuse me of slaughter.

    We don’t need more people, the planet is already starting to get over crowded. People control is a must just as it is with any animal.

    If you think people (who, as Rick said, are made in the image of God) should be controlled, appeal to people to implement control by not making more people!

    Also, if life starts at conception, then God kills off a lot more of his creations than we know. It’s expected that women have many more conceptions than diagnosed, but the fetus dies too early to realise they’re pregnant.

  5. kristarella: “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away.” I don’t doubt that the Lord takes a great many lives; as Creator, that’s entirely His prerogative, as I’m sure you’d agree.

    And you’re right, certain medical crises may cost the life of the fetus. I apologize if it came off that way; I’m not condemning that. I’d have to study the Pentateuch a bit more, but if I’m not mistaken the life of the mother is given a higher level of protection in God’s Law than the baby which she carries. (Perhaps someone can chime in who knows for sure?)

    Regarding viewing a “clump of undifferentiated cells as a person,” I admit that can be difficult. That’s why I disbelieve that science is equipped to answer the question of when life begins. At what point does a fetus bear God’s image? At what point are body, soul, and spirit present?

    Those questions are necessarily outside the realm of empirical evidence and a theological answer must be provided. On a personal level, I would prefer to err on the side of conservatism. I’d hate to be the person or committee to decide that a human life becomes “human” at a certain point if, in fact, life begins earlier than that. Know what I mean?

    Ultimately, it’s simply yet extremely comforting knowing that God is sovereign and is thus in control over the lives of man — whether in the womb or out.

  6. “…the planet is already starting to get over crowded.” Obviously, some people have not traveled the midwestern United States. Not ten miles from my house are literally THOUSANDS of acres that are uninhabited–wide open prairies. The sense of “overpopulation” is simply because a lot of people are living on the same square mile in some cities.

    Good post, Rick.

  7. Yes, it is God’s prerogative to do as he wills. However, he works for his purposes, for his glory. Obviously I don’t know the mind of the Lord, but it would seem very strange to me that making people and killing them without anyone knowing about it would bring him glory.
    I guess we shall see.

    You’re right. Science cannot answer those questions, since God is the life-giver and science tries to answer those questions apart from God. Maybe science + Bible can answer those questions, but maybe not.

  8. Keith’s solution is simplistic and unrealistic (and probably not exactly where Obama is), but on the right track.

    Note that no matter what is done, there will always be abortions. It does seem that the numbers could be considerably less.

    Abstinence only education is not effective. That does not mean that abstinence shouldn’t be taught. But proper use of birth control should also be taught (most people are going to end up using (or trying to use) birth control at some point in their life.

    Giving up a baby for adoption needs to get a more positive spin in the culture. A woman facing the situation needs to see adoption as a positive, good thing to do.

    Men (and women) need to better understand that sex is a two way street. It should not take place unless both parties are fully consenting.

  9. Senior: Regarding the last line of your comment… “It should not take place unless both parties are fully consenting.”

    Do you mean fully consenting in having sex, or fully consenting in possibly conceiving a child?

  10. I believe Senior means the latter, and I agree: two people should not have sex if they’re not aware of (and accept dealing with – in a humane way) the possible consequences.

  11. I mean that both parties are fully consenting to sex.

    There is plenty of sex happening in which one party (usually the woman) does not really want to have sex, but is subtly (or not so subtly) coerced into it. Not really rape, but…

    We also need to figure out how to raise our children with enough self esteem that they don’t turn to sex (among other things) in an attempt to feel good.

  12. Keith,

    Unless I misunderstand something, your solution is that people refrain from sex unless…married? want children?…well, I’m not clear about what the “what” would be there…

    Still, you are asking for a lot of sex to be refrained from (I wonder how many married women have abortions? Married couples should refrain also?). So, yes. It CAN’T be done.

    It can be cut back on, and I stated above that abstinence should be taught. It would help, but it isn’t a solution.

  13. Senior:
    Will I agree that in today’s society, my solution is view as “puritanical,” it’s obviously the Bible approach for starters.

    I am not against birth control, either by medication or surgery. I also understand that “accidents” happen to married couples. However, the Center for Disease Control reports that 82% of all abortions are performed on unmarried women. Sounds like a moral problem to me. And of the “accidents,” I’m pretty sure there are lots of couples that would LOVE to adopt a baby, regardless of how it was conceived.

    Other stats from the CDC:
    — 47% of women who have abortions had at least one previous abortion
    — On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 3/4 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner (AGI).

    I still say it can be done…obviously lots of people don’t want to try. It’s easier just to “elminate the problem.” In the words of Barack Obama: “We don’t want them punished with a baby.” (Emphasis mine).

    For the record, I believe life begins at conception.

  14. Oh, guess I got it wrong that Senior meant consenting to the consequences of sex rather than sex itself. Yes, there is a lot of rape that goes on, it’s very sad and one of the reasons I don’t read the news very often. However, I believe that it’s a surprisingly small proportion of people that have abortions after rape.

  15. Thanks Keith. Yeah, I didn’t think a high proportion of rapes resulted in pregnancy. However, I think a lot of women think that the only time they’d have an abortion was if they conceived from being raped, but I think very few of those cases actually get an abortion.

    Latest from kristarella: Event of the day: car crash

  16. Quoting Anon:“get off the internet, we dont like your kind here.”
    Quoting Jesus:“they will not come to the light for their deeds are evil.”
    Just thought I’d say it’s been said before.

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