I was born three days before my mother’s 40th birthday.  To say I was a surprise is an understatement.  I truly believe that they were going to name me “oops”.   That being said, I am truly grateful that God convicted them regarding the sanctity of the life that my mother was carrying within her. 

Prior to 1973, abortions were allowed in some states but restricted or almost banned in others. Every state legislature made their own decision on whether to allow abortions and under what circumstances.  There was no Federal Law in regards to abortion.   Then, in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court gave us Roe v. Wade. It declared a Texas anti-abortion statute unconstitutional and, in doing so, affected abortion laws in many other states.

The Supreme Court justices ruled that, throughout the U.S.:

• During the first three months of pregnancy, a woman and her physician may jointly decide to terminate a pregnancy. No significant state interference is allowed.
• Later in pregnancy, states can restrict abortion access with laws but only if they are intended to protect the woman’s health.
• Once the fetus is viable, an abortion must still be available if the woman’s health or life are at risk. State governments are free to pass legislation that will allow or prohibit late-term abortions — those on a viable fetus — for other reasons.

The new Obamanation of a Healthcare Reform, err, Health Insurance Reform, err, Healthcare Reform Bill that has just been passed says the following about abortions: 

Federal premium or cost‐sharing subsidies may not be used to purchase coverage for abortion if coverage extends beyond saving the life of the woman or in cases of rape or incest. If an individual who receives federal assistance purchases coverage in a plan that chooses to cover abortion services beyond those for which federal funds are permitted, those federal subsidy funds (for premiums or cost‐sharing) must not be used for the purchase of the abortion coverage and must be segregated from private premium payments or state funds.  

At least two lawsuits have been filed challenging the new healthcare law on religious grounds.

One was filed by a Michigan-based group, the Thomas More Law Center. The other was filed on behalf of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., which was founded by the late Jerry Falwell.

Both groups oppose abortion and take the stance that forcing individuals to participate in a healthcare system that supports abortionsis in violation of their First Amendment right to freely follow their sincerely held religious beliefs. It will be interesting to see how these lawsuits progress.

Regarding the issue of abortion itself, the  latest arguments that you hear from the pro-abortion crowd are like this one from atheism.about.com: 

Whether the fetus is declared a person from a scientific, religious, or legal perspective, this would not necessarily mean that abortion is wrong. A woman could assert a right to control her body such that even if the fetus is a person, it has no legal claim to use it. Could an adult claim a right to being hooked up to someone’s body? No — it might not be ethical to refuse the use of one’s body to save the life of another, but it couldn’t be forced by the law.

And from Salon.com:

The attempt to change the vocabulary around embryos is part of a larger strategy to elevate the fetus to ‘personhood’ under the 14th Amendment — and an effort to overturn Roe,” says Suzanne Martinez, vice president for public policy at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Relative ethics and morality sure make self-deluded attempts at logic easier, don’t they?

Here are some thoughts from The Book provided by The Author of Life:

Did not He who made me in the womb make him, And the same one fashion us in the womb? (Job 31:15)

Yet Thou art He who didst bring me forth from the womb; Thou didst make me trust when upon my mother’s breasts. Upon Thee I was cast from birth; Thou hast been my God from my mother’s womb. (Psalm 22:9-10)

For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Thy works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from Thee, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Thy book they were all written, The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. (Psalm 139:13-16)

Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, `Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen. (Isaiah 44:2)

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone, (Isaiah 44:24)

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

Why,  even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not;  you are of more value than many sparrows.”(Luke 12:7 )

From the scientific perspective, Dr. Carlo Bellieni, in his book “Dawn of the I: Pain, Memory, Desire, Dream of the Fetus,” says:

As soon as it is born, the child shows in a scientifically demonstrable way that it recognizes its mother’s voice and distinguishes it from that of a stranger. Where has he learned that voice other than in the maternal womb?

There are also direct proofs. For example, we register how the movements and cardiac frequency of the fetus vary if we transmit unexpected sounds through the uterine wall. And we see that at first the fetus is startled, then it gets used to it, just like we do when we hear something that does not interest us.

In fact, the scientific evidence is immense. We cannot understand how it can be thought that it becomes a person at a certain point, perhaps when coming out of the uterus.

From the physical point of view, at the birth very little really changes: Air enters the lungs, the arrival of blood from the placenta is interrupted, the type of circulation of blood in the heart changes, and not much more.

As I often say, only blind faith in magic arts or some strange divinity can lead one to think that there is a “human” quality leap at a given moment — certainly not science.

I know that there are some of you that read my blog that are non-believers.  For you and for my Christian brothers and sisters, I offer the following closing thoughts: 

There is a curious unique enzyme found in the human body.   Laminin is defined by the Webster Medical Dictionary as a “glycoprotein that is a component of connective tissue basement membrane and that promotes cell adhesion.”  In other words, a glue within the body.

Colossians 1:15-17 tells us:

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Sources:  religioustolerance.org, csmonitor.com, atheism.about.com, salon.com, godandscience.org, bible.com, truthorfiction.com,zenit.org