In the Canadian courts there was a recent case of a mother who gave birth but concealed the new-born child. The consequences of the ruling are unclear.
The trial judge was especially bothered that, “he could not identify the moment on the gestational spectrum when a fetus becomes the body of a child for the purpose of [this law against concealing].”
Tried under the law that bans concealing the body of a child with intent to conceal its birth, regardless of whether it died “before, during, or after birth,” she was acquitted because the Crown had no evidence about when the baby girl actually died. A judge struck out the possibility of a child that died “before” birth, leaving the Crown unable to prove that she died “during or after.” Indeed, forensics could only determine the baby was “at or near full term” in April, 2006, when a building superintendent discovered it, wrapped in towels, in a garbage bag on the balcony of a Mississauga, Ont., apartment vacated by someone close by.
This only goes to show the terrible mess our legislators are in regarding abortion. Some will argue that a fetus is not a human in the womb at all, or not until the second or even third trimester of gestation. That is until, a mother, who wants her baby to live, is injured by an assailant, or is in a car accident and the insurance company is sued for the loss of the child. There are cases where a hospital is sued for malpractice leading to the loss of a child's life while in the womb. Drug companies can also be sued for malpractice because of not warning of harm to pregnant mothers and their unborn children. The whole legal issue is a mess for it is a morally bankrupt approach. The bible is very clear that life begins at conception.
Psa 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psa 139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Psa 139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect - This whole verse is very obscure, but the “idea” in this expression clearly is, “Before I had shape or form thou didst see what I was to be.” The single word in the original translated “my substance, yet being unperfect,” is גלם gôlem. It occurs only in this place, though the verb - גלם gâlam - is found in 2Ki_2:8, where it is used in reference to the mantle of Elijah: "And Elijah took his mantle, and 'wrapped it together,'” etc. That is, he rolled it up, or he folded it. The noun, then, means that which “is” rolled or wrapped together; that which is folded up, and hence, is applicable to anything folded up or undeveloped; and would thus most aptly denote the embryo, or the foetus, where all the members of the body are as yet folded up, or undeveloped; that is, before they have assumed their distinct form and proportions.
This is undoubtedly the idea here. Before the embryo had any such form that its future size, shape, or proportions could be marked by the eye of man, it was clearly and distinctly known by God.
And in thy book - Where thou recordest all things. Perhaps the allusion here would be to the book of an architect or draftsman, who, before his work is begun, draws his plan, or sketches it for the direction of the workmen.
The Bible is clear on the existence of human life in the womb. Science is also clear that life takes place in the womb and at the point of fertilization.
"Almost all higher animals start their lives from a single cell, the fertilized ovum (zygote)... The time of fertilization represents the starting point in the life history, or ontogeny, of the individual."
[Carlson, Bruce M. Patten's Foundations of Embryology. 6th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996, p. 3]
"Although life is a continuous process, fertilization is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed.... The combination of 23 chromosomes present in each pronucleus results in 46 chromosomes in the zygote. Thus the diploid number is restored and the embryonic genome is formed. The embryo now exists as a genetic unity."
[O'Rahilly, Ronan and M�ller, Fabiola. Human Embryology & Teratology. 2nd edition. New York: Wiley-Liss, 1996, pp. 8, 29. This textbook lists "pre-embryo" among "discarded and replaced terms" in modern embryology, describing it as "ill-defined and inaccurate" (p. 12}]"biologists use the term embryo to describe the single cell stage, the two-cell stage, and all subsequent stages up until a time when recognizable humanlike limbs and facial features begin to appear between six to eight weeks after fertilization....
"[A] number of specialists working in the field of human reproduction have suggested that we stop using the word embryo to describe the developing entity that exists for the first two weeks after fertilization. In its place, they proposed the term pre-embryo....
"I'll let you in on a secret. The term pre-embryo has been embraced wholeheartedly by IVF[in vetro fertilization] practitioners for reasons that are political, not scientific. The new term is used to provide the illusion that there is something profoundly different between what we nonmedical biologists still call a six-day-old embryo and what we and everyone else call a sixteen-day-old embryo.
"The term pre-embryo is useful in the political arena -- where decisions are made about whether to allow early embryo (now called pre-embryo) experimentation -- as well as in the confines of a doctor's office, where it can be used to allay moral concerns that might be expressed by IVF patients. 'Don't worry,' a doctor might say, 'it's only pre-embryos that we're manipulating or freezing. They won't turn into real human embryos until after we've put them back into your body.'"
[Silver, Lee M. Remaking Eden: Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World. New York: Avon Books, 1997, p. 39]
The Levitical law on the loss of life in the womb treated the child as of full human value.
Exo 21:22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.Exo 21:23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,
Our Canadian Judge could not identify the moment on the gestational spectrum when a fetus becomes the body of a child. Let him read the Bible Ex. 21 and Psalm 139. That will do it.
It is never right to take life out of convenience to cover up wrong choices.
A Prolife poster read:
Abortion has never been about choiceIt's about escaping the consequences of your choicesBy taking all choices away from another human being.
The problem is that two wrongs do not make a right. It is best to face the sin that led to the creation of an unwanted pregnancy and do the right thing by supporting the life that is in the womb. In this society there is no such thing as an unwanted child as there are thousands on long lists waiting to adopt a child into loving and caring families. If your circumstances do not allow you to keep the child in your womb then allow some couple to be parents to raise your child to be the person God intended it to be.
Lastly, let me say that there is mercy with God for those who come to see the crime of their previous abortion/s, and many do. Guilt is a terrible thing to live with and guilt always catches up with anyone who chooses abortion. That life you carried in the womb is a fact, and an eternal fact. Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse you from the sin of killing that infant in the womb. Praise God there is mercy for you through repentance unto life.
The Lord Jesus said,
"All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men." Matthew 12:31
But until you acknowledge that abortion is a sin and confess it to the Lord, you will carry that load of guilt to your grave and on into eternity. How shall you do at the judgment seat of Christ? Today, the Lord says,
"Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest..."Matthew 11:28
The reality is that without repentance from all sin, that on the judgment day, He will say depart from me ye cursed. Choose rest for your soul by confessing your sin to the Saviour who came into the world to wash away our sins in His own precious blood. That is the good news of the gospel.
