Pastor,

I would relish the opportunity to speak with you in person about this very important issue, but given that your time is limited, and so is mine, and maybe you and I don’t even know each other, I’ll have to be content with this short essay.

Perhaps you have heard of the movement to abolish abortion, and have simply assumed it is part of the pro life movement. Or maybe you know more, but disagree with it. Or maybe you’ve never heard of it at all. If you find any of these things to be true about yourself, then you’re in the right place. Keep reading!

The movement to abolish abortion is a movement that seeks to provide equal protection under the law for the preborn. Just as the abolitionists of slavery believed that the legal buying, selling, and owning of human beings should be completely abolished rather than regulated or gradually diminished, so we, the abolitionists of abortion believe that the legal destruction of human life in the womb ought to be completely abolished immediately, not regulated as healthcare, or incrementally diminished. 

There is a clear distinction between our approach and that of the pro life movement at large. You may (or may not) be surprised to hear that the pro life movement (including virtually all the major pro life organizations and their leadership) explicitly opposes the abolition of abortion. It’s not that they simply do not support equal protection under the law for the preborn. They oppose it. I’ve seen this with my own eyes for the last 6 years I’ve been involved as an abolitionist. 

While there are countless examples of this opposition, I will simply share with you the most glaring and egregious. In May 2022 the Louisiana House of Representatives was poised to pass a bill to abolish abortion, a bill that would provide equal protection under the law for the preborn. This would have been a massive win for the preborn in Louisiana, and a bellwether moment for the nation, as a sanctuary for protected life would have been created. It would have served as a beautiful example of what can be done, and frankly, what must be done in every other state.

They had the votes, and it was going to pass, but then the pro life movement descended upon the legislature and convinced them not to support it. On May 12, 2022, 76 pro life organizations signed a letter addressed “To all State Legislators in the United States of America,” saying, among other things:

“Women are victims of abortion and require our compassion and support as well as ready access to counseling and social services in the days, weeks, months, and years following an abortion. 

As national and state pro-life organizations, representing tens of millions of pro-life men, women, and children across the country, let us be clear: We state unequivocally that we do not support any measure seeking to criminalize or punish women and we stand firmly opposed to include [sic] such penalties in legislation.”

Some of the more notable signatories included National Right to Life, Americans United for Life, the Susan B. Anthony List, March for Life Action, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, the ERLC of the SBC, and the Pro-Life Action League. 

That women are victims of abortion and we would never support laws that would open them up to prosecution is the clear, official stance of the pro life movement.

The pro life movement purposefully opposed the bill of equal protection in Louisiana, and it was killed. Babies are still being murdered in Louisiana legally to this day. Here’s a 30-minute documentary produced by Apologia Studios that you might watch if you get the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k33epqzJIlM&t=7s 

Before I get into why equal protection for the preborn (including prosecuting mothers who have abortions) is good, and why opposing it is evil, it is important that I mention this: The movement to abolish abortion is an explicitly Christian movement. Every abolitionist organization that you come across embraces God and his Word as being at the center of our movement. Our beliefs are not based on the wisdom of man, or pragmatism, but on God’s Word of Truth. 

Conversely, the pro life movement is largely secular at this point. Sure, you can see the religious undertones of many pro life organizations, but most leaders in these organizations will balk when accused of defending the preborn out of religious conviction. “No, this isn’t my religious belief, it’s about human rights. It’s about science.” 

Human rights and science will only take you so far. The pro aborts have moved on from the argument that “it’s just a clump of cells.” They now openly admit that it’s a human, but claim the right to destroy it because of “bodily autonomy.” They simply balk at the suggestion that killing an innocent human being is inherently wrong. “By what standard?” they ask, and since the pro life movement has firmly planted their flag in secularism, their basis for morality is sinking sand.

As an abortion abolitionist, I have no problem telling you why murdering people is wrong: It’s because God says it’s wrong. Genesis 1:27 tells us that man and woman are made in God’s image. Genesis 9:6 tells all people not to shed the blood of man, lest by man their blood be shed, for man is made in the image of God. Our intrinsic value as humans is inexorably tied to religion, as it comes from the fact that we’re made in God’s image. We’re not just higher animals. We’re not just evolved star dust. The second greatest commandment is not just arbitrarily to “love your neighbor as yourself” because it sounds nice. It’s clearly tied to the greatest commandment to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might, because loving God’s image is the very clear next step after loving God himself. 

Since I’ve broached the topic of the Biblical case for abolition/equal protection, I’ll continue. 

Because at this point, the counter-argument might be, “Ok, sure, it’s clear that abortion is wrong, Biblically, but the Bible doesn’t prescribe any specific way to stop it. Aren’t abolition and pro-life-ism just two ways to get to the same goal?” 

No, and here’s why. 

We know murder is prohibited for everyone. We also know that the death penalty is ordained and prescribed by God (again, see Genesis 9:6 – also see Exodus 21:12, Leviticus 24:17, and Numbers 35:30-31) as punishment for murder. 

But does God consider abortion murder? 

Yes, and he prescribes the same punishment for damage or destruction of a human being in the womb as he does for a human outside the womb. See Exodus 21:22-25:

“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”

Life for life. The penalty for even the negligent destruction of a human being in the womb is death. 

There is no difference in eternal, intrinsic, moral value of a human inside the womb as outside the womb. Killing a baby in the womb is literally just as evil, and just as prohibited as killing one outside the womb. Yet we do not provide anywhere close to the same legal protection in Texas or anywhere else in the US for the preborn as we do for the born.

Every single US state that has reportedly “banned” abortion has not. Each of these states have laws that were carefully crafted by pro life organizations and their surrogate politicians that explicitly shield women from prosecution. The results are disastrous. Before I get into the numbers that are the result of these poorly-written laws, I’ll explain the Biblical reason for their failures. 

The reason is that God hates partiality.

To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong. – Proverbs 28:21

For God shows no partiality. – Romans 2:11

A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. – Proverbs 11:1

Partiality in judging is not good. Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,” will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them. – Proverbs 24:23b-25

These pro life laws are partial to mothers, and against the innocent preborn. Their justification includes wholly non-Biblical ideas like “the woman is the second victim of abortion” and “abortion is punishment enough.” 

You may have heard these arguments countless times from people in the pro life movement, but they are dead wrong, and more importantly, they are simply not Biblical. 

Are murderers the second victims of murder? Are rapists the second victims of rape? Are armed robbers the second victims of armed robbery? Are kidnappers the second victims of kidnapping? Are pimps the second victims of prostitution? 

No! Obviously not! 

If we want to get into the weeds with this, sure, someone might say that all human beings suffer because of their own sin, and in that sense might be considered victims of their sin, but even if we buy that line of thought, why don’t we then call rapists the second victims of rape? Because it’s demeaning, and insensitive to the actual victims of rape.

Similarly, it is wrong to call women the second victims of abortion when the blood of their innocent murdered children is crying out from the dirt. Babies are victims of abortion, not mothers.

Will women who have abortions suffer emotionally, psychologically, sometimes even physically as a result? Yes, many will. This is true of all murderers. Taking another human being’s life is traumatizing, as well it should be. But this is no justification for murder. Being emotionally distraught about a crime does not absolve the perpetrator of that crime before the law or before God. 

Ok, let’s say (just for argument’s sake) that you agree that abortion is murder, and it should be treated like murder, even so far as charging women who have abortions with murder (along with other participants). You may be wondering, what’s the big deal with incrementalism? Why not compromise? We’re trying to achieve a political goal here, and that takes time. It takes compromise. Shouldn’t we take the wins we can get where we  can get them? Won’t it just get it one step closer to our goal? 

Compromise is not inherently evil, but compromising with evil is. 

If you and I decide to meet up for lunch, and you want to get to a place next to your house, and I want to go to a place next to mine, and we decide to meet in the middle, that is just fine. That’s not a morally evil compromise.

However, if I say, “let’s murder 10 people,” and you say, “no, we shouldn’t murder anyone,” and you ultimately compromise with me and we agree to murder just 5 people, that is an unholy, sinful compromise. 

Proverbs 25:26 says, “Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.” 

In Genesis 19, the men of Sodom wished to rape the two angels visiting Lot, and Lot thought that it would be an acceptable solution to suggest what he believed to be the “lesser evil” by giving his two virgin daughters to raped by the mob. I don’t think either of us would say that was a morally acceptable decision on his part, and thankfully it was a solution the angels were unwilling to accept, and they blinded the mob. Later in the same chapter we see Lot reaping the fruits of what he had sown when his daughters essentially did to him what he was going to allow to be done to them in Sodom. 

Another great Biblical example is Exodus 10, in which Pharaoh offers – not once – but twice to let God’s people go! First he offers to let them go but not the children, just the adults (Exodus 10:10). Moses does not accept this offer. God sent him to liberate all his people, not just the adults. Then in verse 24 Pharaoh offers to let God’s people go, but not with their flocks and herds, and Moses says in verses 25-26, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the Lord our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the Lord until we arrive there.”

I don’t know about you, but I would have been tempted to take that deal. Wait, you’re going to let all of us go? We just can’t take our sheep? Peace out Pharaoh. But that wasn’t a full win for God, and Moses declined. 

Though there are plenty more examples, the last Biblical example of compromise I’ll share comes from the story of King David and his son, Solomon. 

Deuteronomy 17:14-20 gives Israel instructions about kings. As an aside, this is a great passage for Americans to study because our government is by the People and for the People. We don’t have an American king, but a Constitution, which places the responsibility of governance squarely on our shoulders. We are responsible for the government we have, and for the laws on our books. May we govern justly. 

In Deuteronomy 17 God says that this future king must not:

a) acquire many horses (or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses)
b) acquire many wives (lest his heart turn away)
c) acquire excess silver or gold

Also, he was supposed to write for himself a copy of the law, and study it all the days of his life, “that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.” 

We all know that David wasn’t a perfect king, but he actually did a pretty decent job of following Deuteronomy 17 (as far as I can tell) with one notable exception. He acquired many wives. We don’t know exactly how many wives he had, but 8 are named for us, and he also had at least 10 concubines. 

So, sure he had a lot of wives, but probably not a ton by ancient king standards. It seems like a relatively minor deviation from the command in Deuteronomy 17. A small compromise if you will. 

But its impact was disastrous. 

1 Kings 10:14-25 tells us of Solomon’s immense wealth. Verses 26-29 talk about his accumulation of horses and chariots, including horses he was importing from Egypt. 

Chapter 11:1-8 chronicles Solomon’s accumulation of 700 wives and 300 concubines and his heart being turned away to other gods: Ashtoreth, Milcom, Chemosh, and Molech. 

By compromising just a little on Deuteronomy 17, David demonstrated to his son that the whole passage just wasn’t that big a deal, and Solomon took that message and ran with it. 

This tragedy shows the multi-generational drift that comes from what one might consider small compromises. Sadly, the same is true with us. Prior to Roe v. Wade, no state treated abortion as murder. Despite anyone’s claim prior to 1973 that human life begins at conception, our laws didn’t reflect that truth. This was a moral compromise, and it’s one of the things that ultimately made the Roe decision possible. In Galatians Paul calls the law a “teacher” or a “tutor” depending on the translation. Generations of Americans have already been taught that human life in the womb is not as valuable or worthy of protection as life outside of it is. Despite the claims of many pro life people that human life begins at conception, our laws are teaching something different. Future generations (at least those that aren’t being killed off) will take note. 

While the Biblical case against compromising with evil is strong, it’s worth sharing the data as well. 

In 2020 (prior to both the Dobbs decision and the Texas Heartbeat Act) there were 53,949 abortions at abortion facilities in Texas. The Heartbeat Act went into effect in September 2021, and the state-reported number of abortions at Texas abortion facilities was 50,532, a 6.33% drop. 

But what this reporting did not take into account was the 936 abortion pills being ordered per month online from Aid Access and the 1,3981 women traveling out-of-state each month for the last four months of September, which brings the total number of abortions amongst Texas women in 2021 to 60,580, a 12.29% increase from the previous year. 

Pro life groups in Texas promised a drop in abortions of at least 90% to 95% due to the Heartbeat Act. Once it went into effect they initially claimed that abortions had effectively stopped in Texas. Slowly they began to back off those claims, and began to claim about a 50% reduction. But none of it was true. Abortions amongst Texas women increased in 2021. 

In 2021 at the same time that the Heartbeat Act was passed, the Texas Abortion Trigger Ban was also passed. It basically said that in the event that Roe v. Wade were overturned, it would make abortion illegal in Texas. On its face it sounds great, except for two big problems: 

1. The bill doesn’t treat abortion like murder – for anyone – not even the abortionist. It’s a felony, and can result in prison time, but it’s not murder under the law. This is a major problem.

2. The biggest loophole is that it does not allow for the prosecution of women. Section 170A.003 of the Texas Health Code says, “This chapter may not be construed to authorize the imposition of criminal, civil, or administrative liability or penalties on a pregnant female on whom an abortion is performed, induced, or attempted.” 

In other words, women have complete legal immunity for killing their own babies. 

And the results of that law are heartbreaking. Despite the 49-year tyranny of Roe v. Wade ending, abortion is still legal in Texas so long as the mother is the one who administers it, something that is easier than ever before. After the Dobbs decision orders for abortion pills online shot up, as did the number of women traveling out of state. The long and short of it is, we estimate that over 60,000 Texas women are still getting abortions each year, despite the end of Roe. 

If you’re curious about the numbers, I included a two-page summary paper of the data at the bottom of this post that includes links to our sources such as the Journal of the American Medical Academy, the Texas Policy Evaluation Project, and others. 

But the summary here is, in addition to compromising with evil being foolish at best and sinful at worst, it doesn’t actually work. Churchill understood this, and Chamberlain didn’t. Hitler and other genocidal maniacs are not to be reasoned or compromised with – that includes proponents of genocide through abortion.

This is a lot already, but there’s more to unpack. Allow me, for a moment, to make an argument based on a mixture of logic and emotion. 

When it comes right down to it, an individual may believe that human life begins at the moment of fertilization, or they may not. I know that you know when human life begins. 

So, here’s the question: Should a mother who murders her 5-day-old baby be charged with murder? Obviously yes! No question! 

Should that same mother be completely immune from prosecution if she happens to murder that baby 5-days before birth? 

What’s the difference? One person is born and the other is not. To provide legal protection for one and not the other is textbook partiality, which God calls an abomination. 

Saying one thing, and doing another is called hypocrisy.

And yes, often the argument is thrown around that, “women have been lied to.” But the biggest lie has been that the law doesn’t treat humans in the womb as human, even as the politicians who write those laws say that they believe human life begins at fertilization. So is the solution to keep lying to women with the same ineffective laws? 

No, the solution to the problem that “women have been lied to” is to stop lying to women. Tell them the truth. Abortion is murder. It’s evil. Write laws that reflect that.

(Sidenote: The original sin occurred after a woman was lied to. Satan lied to Eve. She believed Satan instead of God, and she ate the fruit. This lie didn’t somehow absolve her of responsibility for her sin, and frankly every sin is precipitated by lies we believe about ourselves and God.)

I’ve spoken with a number of women who had abortions, came to regret them, repented, reformed, and are now followers of Jesus Christ. When I have asked these women if they would have gone through with their abortion(s) if it had been treated as murder, they have said “no.” 

This brings me to an important point that should be made. Our goal is not to punish women. Our goal is not to imprison women by the thousands or millions. Our goal is to provide equal protection under the law to the preborn. It is our strong belief that when abortion is treated as murder, it will result in a significant drop in the number of women who attempt to get abortions. What supporting evidence do I have for this? 

There are a couple of things.

First, consider homicide numbers in America vs. abortion numbers. There are around 20,000 known homicides in the US each year. There are around 1 million abortions in the US each year, 50 times more than the number of murders (of born people). 

Why the massive difference?

Consequences.

If you murder a born person, you could be arrested, charged, tried, and convicted of murder resulting in life in prison or even the death penalty. 

The goal of homicide laws is to prevent murder, and the goal of laws that abolish abortion is to prevent abortion. If laws are in place that treat abortion as murder, we should expect there to be far fewer abortions.

The next piece of evidence is that while abortion is still legal in Texas and every other state, it has been restricted, and those restrictions have impacted the behavior of aborting mothers and abortionists alike. Are abortions still taking place? Yes, however, all parties are generally being very careful to stay within the bounds of the law. Abortionists have stopped operating in Texas because the legal liability is too high. They have retreated, and now abortion pills are being sent in from outside of the state. Women themselves don’t have to worry about incurring legal liability because of the way the laws are written, but in ordering abortion pills online from out-of-state, they are falling well within the guidelines of the existing law. 

It’s clear that laws about abortion do impact the behavior of those involved, and we should expect that trend to continue with an outright ban. 

So what about compassion for the woman?  

Yes we have compassion for the woman, which is why I want to take abortion off the table as an option, because as long as it’s an option legally, there are women who will choose it, but (and this is important) I must ask: where is the compassion for the preborn babies in the womb who are being slaughtered by the thousands every single day? 

There’s forgiveness for sin, even the sin of abortion, and we must preach that gospel to all until we are blue in the face, but let us not be silent about the plight of the innocent. The Bible makes it clear that we are to be protectors of the weak and innocent:

Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold  back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work? – Proverbs 24:11-12

Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. – Proverbs 31:8-9

With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? – Micah 6:6-8

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. – James 1:27

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. – Psalm 68:5. 

Pastor, I have to level with you. My point in writing all this is not to win an argument or make a point for my personal satisfaction. There is a “so what” to all this. 

America is in the midst of a genocide with a death toll of over 65 million since 1973. Texans have murdered over 4 millions babies in the womb since 1973. This genocide exists in the microcosm of the global abortion genocide, in which over 2 billion have been killed since 1980. 

This is a sin of our nation, of our people, and frankly every nation. But it’s also a sin of the church. Churches in America have been relatively quiet on the issue of abortion, and when they have spoken up, they have largely failed to hold up a standard of equal protection. How should we expect the church to lead when Jews are being carted away to death camps, when Tutsis are being hacked to death with machetes in the streets, when our black brothers and sisters are bought and sold in the marketplace? Should the church cry out in opposition, or like the Priest and the Levite in Jesus’ parable should we quietly walk to the other side of the road and pass by? 

The Church needs to lead, first in repentance, for our participation in this national and global genocide, for our apathy, for our blindness, and for our partiality in failing to advocate for the same kind of protection of the law for the preborn as the protection of the law that we born people enjoy (and maybe even our past opposition to equal protection). 

The Church must lead in equipping her own members. This issue requires education. It requires attention. It requires intentionality. It requires focus. It’s not a topic we can casually mention in passing and then say, “Yep, we covered it. All good now!” It requires a lot of time and effort. 

Lastly, the Church must lead in vocal advocacy for the preborn to society around us, to politicians, to everyone. Let it not be said that we sat silently while our preborn brothers and sisters were being dragged to death. They are mute. They cannot speak for themselves. 

Jesus commanded us in Matthew 7:12, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” 

The preborn cannot advocate for themselves. If you were rendered silent, and it was left to others to advocate for you, how would you want them to advocate? Would you want them to plead for equal protection under the law for you? Or would you want them to say, “Nah, if a certain class of people murders this guy, it’s going to be legal for them, and in fact, if anyone murders this guy, we’re not going to charge them with murder, it’ll be a felony, but not murder. After all, the person that murders him is a victim too.” 

Pastor, I’m not just asking you to agree with me. I’m asking you to be an abortion abolitionist from the pulpit and elsewhere. I’m asking you to lead in repentance at Harris Creek and in Waco. I’m asking you to get equipped on this issue, and work to equip others. I’m asking you to vocally advocate for the preborn to elected officials and the public. 

You might be asking yourself, “Yeah, but why me? Does every church, every pastor have to make such a big deal about this? I agree that some should, but why me?” 

I can’t tell you how many pastors I’ve tried to speak with about abortion. I used to do a lot of sidewalk advocacy in front of abortion centers, and sought pastors to come with me. I have reached out to hundreds of churches by email, phone, and in person. Something like a half dozen pastors ever went with me. 

The awful truth is, the vast majority of churches and pastors won’t touch this issue. Some don’t agree. Some just don’t get it. Some just don’t care. Whatever the case, the silence of the American church in the face of this genocide is deafening. 

I write this with a heavy heart and tears in my eyes. 

Will you take a chance with me ? Just spend some time thinking about what I’ve written. Pray about it. Seek the Holy Spirit. Repent with me. 

If you search the scriptures “to see if these things were so” and you find that they are, let me know, and let’s talk. I’m sure you have questions. 

If not, I’d just ask you to keep an open mind, and keep praying about it. 

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