October 12, 2024
I’ll start with a quick review of abortion in America. The U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion on January 22, 1973 with the famous Roe v. Wade decision. There was much shock and outrage at this decision, especially from the Catholic Church who for many years spoke out forcefully in defense of life. Unfortunately, that outrage did not include most mainline Protestant churches.
With little or no information being preached in many Protestant churches, the abortion industry filled that void with lie upon lie upon lie. Young men, women, boys and girls heard that abortion is safe, abortion is legal, that it’s not a baby just a clump of cells, etc., etc. What these same young people did not hear is that life begins at conception, an unborn baby’s heart is beating at just 22 days, brain waves can be detected as early as 8 weeks, and that babies feel pain at 24 weeks. The abortion industry certainly did not share the details of how a baby is actually aborted. I will spare you those horrific details, but trust me, you would be sickened to know. For those wanting more facts, please look on YouTube for the testimony of Dr. Anthony Levatino. He was an abortionist who came to know the horror of abortion and testified before congress on his experience. It is just facts, no pictures.
From January 1973 to today, the lives of more than 65,000,000 babies have been ended in the United States alone. I can only imagine how horrific the number of worldwide abortions must be. Each of these babies is a unique human being created in the image of God Himself. How grieved and angry He must be!
On November 5, Missourians will vote on Amendment #3, erroneously titled the “Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative.” The full amendment is a full-page of single space print. The limited ballot language has been reduced to six confusing paragraphs. And as they say, the devil is in the details. A quick list of what will happen with the passage of this amendment is below:
• Abortion will be legal in Missouri for the full nine months of pregnancy.
• Missouri’s parental consent laws will be eliminated, not only for abortions but for transgender drugs and surgeries.
• All 51 of Missouri’s laws regulating abortion would be immediately struck down.
• Transgender drugs and surgeries for minors would be legalized.
• The rights of parents to object to the trans gendering of their children would be eliminated.
• Taxpayer monies would be used to pay for abortions and trans gendering.
• Women and girls injured in an abortion would have no right to sue for malpractice.
No Christian and certainly no parent could possibly believe any of these far-reaching effects have any merit. Unfortunately, many people have never heard of Amendment #3 and are unaware of the serious and over-reaching consequences should this amendment pass.
As a devout Christian, I am shocked that many pastors in our community are not addressing abortion or Amendment #3. If I were to come face to face with a pastor who refuses to speak out on abortion, this is what I would say!
• Constitution Attorney Michael Whitehead works with Alliance Defending Freedom and has argued several cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Whitehead wrote a Legal Memo on the rights of churches on ballot initiatives such as Amendment #3. The memo lays out the facts that pastors of churches have every right to preach from the pulpit, at public meetings, rallies, on TV and radio, host meetings at Church, and more on ballot initiatives like Amendment #3.
• Faced with your right to speak on ballot initiatives, what keeps you from speaking out?
• Do you believe what God has to say about life in the womb – Jeremiah 1:5, Proverbs 24:10-12, Psalm 139:13-16, Exodus 21:22-25, Matthew 18:10 & 14, Luke 1:40-41, and the list goes on?
• Do people in your church deserve to know what God’s Word says about life?
• If there are pro-abortion people in your church, the question is why? Perhaps because they have not heard the truths about abortion from their pastor?
• Who do you fear more – people in your congregation who are pro-abortion, or God Himself?
• Do you agree that human life is judged by a heartbeat and by brain waves?
• Since unborn babies have both a heartbeat and brain waves, do they not deserve the same recognition of life as humans do?
• If you, as God’s representative, don’t tell young people in your church the truths about unborn life and abortion, where are they to get that information? Perhaps from Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the country?
• When these same young people are faced with a crisis pregnancy or that of a friend, should they be expected to know that abortion is wrong even though their pastor has never told them what God’s Word says?
• If these young people proceed with an abortion and take the life of their unborn child, do you think that you will be judged complicit in the death of those babies since you failed to tell them that abortion is wrong?
If pastors are honest with themselves, they will have to answer yes to most of these questions and should examine their consciences on the others.
Finally, to anyone reading this editorial who considers themselves to be pro-life and attends a church where the pastor does not speak out, please visit with him. Please point out the many, many verses about God’s view of life. Please ask him the above questions. Please show him Dr. Anthony Levatino’s testimony before Congress that can be found on YouTube. Please strongly encourage him to speak out in defense of life and at the same time give biblical truth and counsel to young men and women who may one day be faced with a life-or-death decision in an unplanned pregnancy situation.
Passionately Pro-Life,
Bill and Carol Lewis
Lee’s Summit, MO
