Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D.

It’s been a little more than 33 years since the proverbial camel poked "his nose into the tent" and now nearly the whole camel has barged his way into the sanctity of human life tent, trampling the sanctity of life each step of the way. Here is what I mean. On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down the now infamous Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. When I added up the abortion statistics over those 33 years I was horrified to see the total… about 49,000,000 pre-born children have been killed. But there is more. Regularly, partially born children, children that are ¾ delivered, are killed in the most heinous way. Infanticide is quietly practiced on imperfect babies or babies that are "accidentally" born when the abortion is botched. And embryonic stem cell research is widening. Christian friend, though some people are taken aback when I say this, it is none the less true: Our society is no better, and in fact is worse than Nazi Germany under Adolph Hitler. About six million Jews were killed in the Nazi Holocaust. Eight times that number have been killed so far in the American Abortion Holocaust to date with more being killed daily. I fear that many Bible believing Baptists either have become calloused, or when they are confronted with such big numbers, they have no perspective of the magnitude of the slaughter. Let me try to bring the numbers into some understandable framework for you. If terrorists or calamity were to kill every last person in Spain and Portugal, wipe out the entire population of both countries, this would be equivalent to the number of babies that have been killed by abortion since Roe v. Wade. The equivalence of two entire countries wiped out! We are beginning to see the ramifications of having 16% of the American population killed by abortion. The effects will worsen as the years go on, but that is a topic for another article.

So what are Christians to do? Many are tempted to throw up their hands and say, "the problem is too great for me to do anything that will help." That is not true. It was not that many years ago when a handful of Baptist pastors and laymen got together and started Baptists For Life of Wisconsin. To be sure we started small, but little is much when God is in it! Today there are three Crisis Pregnancy Centers and a fourth one in the works. Many babies have been saved and literally hundreds of people have come to the Lord through the witness of the workers at these centers. In fact, there are many things you can and should do. Below are just a few.

First, seek to win others to the Lord. This is the command of God (2 Corinthians 5:20). Those who trust Christ as Savior are less likely to get an abortion.

Second, know the biblical basis for the sanctity of human life and share it with others. We are "to shine as lights" in "the midst of a crooked and perverse nation." Genesis 9:6 says, "in the image of God made he man." Therefore one man is not to shed the blood of (kill) another, even the pre-born. The Bible also indicates that life begins before birth, at conception. We see this in Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." Luke 1:15 says of John the Baptist "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." Dr. John Gill says, "he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb" means, "whilst in his mother's womb." To put it bluntly, it is not a blob of tissue, but a baby. We were fashioned by God in our mother’s womb (see Job 31:15 and Psalm 139:13-16).

Third, we must know and share with others what the Bible says about sexual morality. Premarital sexual relationships are sinful (1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2; Ephesians 5:3). Adultery is sin (Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:19). Homosexual relationships are sin (Romans 1:26-27). While I do not know the exact percentage, I do know that many women get abortions because they have been immoral.

Fourth, know some basic facts about the development of a pre-born baby so that you can share them with others. Facts like these…

The unborn baby’s heart begins to form 18 days after conception.

There is a measurable heartbeat 21-24 days after conception.

The baby’s brain begins to form on day 23 -

brain waves are produced by 6 weeks.

At 8 weeks after conception, the stomach, liver, and kidneys of the baby are

functioning, and fingerprints have formed.

At 9 weeks, the unborn child can feel pain.

At 9 weeks the unborn child squints, swallows, moves tongue, and makes fist.

At 18 weeks the unborn child’s vocal cords work and the baby can cry.

At 20 weeks the unborn child has hair on head, weighs one pound, 12 inches long.

At 24 weeks, 56% of babies survive premature birth.

Finally, encourage your pastor and deacons to support our fundamental Baptist pro-life outreaches by inviting pro-life speakers, encouraging people to work in our crisis pregnancy centers, supporting them financially, and praying continually.