A Baby is a Baby is a Baby
In summary, the theologically based view of the sanctity of life adopted by the People of Alabama encompasses the following: 1. God made every person in His image; 2. each person therefore has a value that far exceeds the ability of human beings to calculate; and 3. human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself. Section 36.06 recognizes that this is true of unborn human life no less than it is of all other human life — that even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing His glory.
The People of Alabama have declared the public policy of this State to be that unborn human life is sacred. We believe that each human being, from the moment of conception, is made in the image of God, created by Him to reflect His likeness. It is as if the People of Alabama took what was spoken of the prophet Jeremiah and applied it to every unborn person in this state: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, Before you were born I sanctified you" (Jeremiah 1:5,NKJV 1982). -Alabama Chief Justice Tom Parker
Back in February, the Alabama Supreme Court ignited a firestorm with a ruling declaring embryos in IVF clinics to be human beings, and thus worthy of all legal protections afforded any and all other human beings. As the Chief Justice wrote, those embryos are “extrauterine children.”
Now, one would think that such a clear statement of the sanctity of human life, which both science and biblical theology say begins at the moment of conception (fertilization), would have been lauded by ALL pro-lifers, but especially evangelicals. Sadly, it was not so.
It seems with each passing court decision, we are learning just how non-pro-life the so-called pro-life movement really is. We, in the Abolition of Abortion Movement have already discovered this sad reality upon any mention of potential penalties or punishments for anyone intentionally participating in the murder of an unborn baby. And now we find it out once again with a ruling from a State Supreme Court that referred to God 41 times. We should be shouting “hallelujah!” in the Pro-Life camp. But instead, many evangelicals and otherwise conservative Republicans immediately allowed themselves to be manipulated by lies and economic manipulation.
The IVF clinics in Alabama shut down. That’s called bullying. Those clinics had no reasons to close their doors other than fear-mongering and a desire to continue their multi-billion (yes, billion with a ‘b’) dollar business without any governmental scrutiny or regulation.
And the pro-abortion lobby went ballistic pandering lie after lie. IVF was not banned in Alabama. Not even a hint of such non-sense was in this ruling. Access to IVF was not curtailed in Alabama. The only thing the Alabama Supreme Court ruling did was to protect innocent human babies from being intentionally frozen into infinity or discarded or willfully destroyed. In other words, the Court upheld the “Right to Life” for all human beings in the State of Alabama. For 50+ years, the pro-life movement has argued that the location of human life has no bearing on that person’s right to life. Babies inside or outside the womb, and elderly in nursing homes, deserve the same legal protections as human beings.
But within weeks, the spineless Republican Legislature crafted a new law granting legal immunity to IVF businesses, and that law was signed by Republican Governor Kay Ivey, who heretofore would have been considered one of the more truly Christian conservative governors in our Nation. The speed with which these “proud pro-life” politicians caved was stunning. Are there any Christians who still think Christianly in our land?
A few. A remnant. About a dozen courageous pro-life leaders from Live Action, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Them Before Us, and Catholic Vote, sent a scathing letter to Governor Ivey. They stood in righteous opposition to IVF bill (SB 159/HB 237). But, to no avail.
President of Them Before Us, Katie Faust, probably hit the nail on the head when explaining what in the world had just happened: “If it had been an anti-abortion ruling, Republicans would’ve cheered. ‘Finally, a major institution that recognizes that children have a right to life!’ But because the ruling targeted the baby-making industry and not the baby-taking industry, Republicans balked.”
I suspect something even deeper lurks under the surface here, though. What really raised so many hackles here, even among so-called pro-lifers, was not so much the insistence that embryos are human, but the Chief Justice’s insinuation that taking or discarding or destroying human life incurs the wrath of a Holy God. That kind of biblical language is simply not tolerated by politicians on either side of the aisle today. It’s not even tolerated in many churches!
But it’s absolutely unflinchingly true, nonetheless.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image” (Genesis 9:6).
The shedding of innocent blood pollutes the land in God’s viewpoint (Numbers 35:33). How polluted must America be in God’s pure eyes?
By the way, none of this means I am dogmatically anti-IVF. I do urge strong caution for any Christian couple considering it. And I extol the beauty of adoption. But, I believe if Christian married couples pursue the IVF option methodically, only working with doctors and clinics that are robustly pro-life, guaranteeing them protection and eventual implantation of every single embryo, it can be a means of God granting them children of their own. But great caution must be exercised to ensure the methods employed by the clinic are not sloppy or haphazard (i.e., creating and implanting way too many embryos, or leaving embryos forever frozen).
Human life is unique among creation. God made humans in His own image, to reflect His glory and to multiply His glory. God sent His Son Jesus to save sinful humans from their sins and to make a way for them to live in His glorious presence forever and ever. God did not do so for gorillas, or even angels. For anyone who truly believes the Word of God, the issue of legal protections for ALL human beings wherever they are and whatever stage of life they are in, should be a non-negotiable no-brainer.
And for Abolitionists like me, we shall never rest until abortion is illegal in the United States of America, and every single human baby is afforded not just the legal protections all other humans are, and not just the right to life, but even the right to the opportunity to actually live. And therein lies the disastrous conundrum facing us all because of the atrocious ways the IVF industry has been allowed to operate in this country for decades.
God help us. We are a Nation deeply polluted by bloodguilt.
And there’s only one sacrifice God accepts to absolve sinners of such guilt: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:23-25).
For Further Reading: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/alabamas-new-ivf-law-slams-the-door-on-protections-for-the-most-vulnerable-pro-life-leaders/?utm_source=daily-usa-2024-03-14&utm_medium=email
by Keith McWhorter