…read the sign held by a young woman standing on the side of the road along my commute home from work today. Next to the sign, she held a picture (possibly of a baby…too small to tell for sure). The traffic was somewhat dense, so it took a while for me to approach her to even read what the handwritten sign said.
She couldn’t have been 20 years old, and I assumed that she was probably holding a sign about a car wash or charity event. Never could I have imagined that she was making such a powerful statement. Her facial expression gave no hint of it, and if you had noticed her face before seeing the sign, you might have thought her to be the average teenager. But as I slowly rolled by, I looked into her eyes, and I could see her pain and also her dignity.
“How courageous this you girl is,” I thought. In a society and time period where a statement such as hers is viewed as “intolerance” or “extremism”, this girl stood above any fears she might have had and delivered her message. Abortion is murder. Abortion is murder.
Perhaps a passerby might have ridiculed her or scoffed at her attempt at moral assertiveness. But if they did frown upon her, was it because abortion is not murder or because it is? Is it because she’s intolerant or because she’s right?
Moral, political, and even religious issues aside, it is the taking of a life. Anyone who has been fortunate enough to have children will know what I mean. A first-trimester ultrasound does not reveal a lifeless blob of cells. Organs have already begun to form. There is unquestionably life inside of a woman, even in the first trimester. This is a scientific fact, not a religious one.
Moving back to a moral perspective, we can conclude that taking the life of another unlawfully, without just cause, is murder. Of course a woman has a choice, but all of our choices have consequences. Stopping a life before it is ever born has consequences.
I wonder if that girl holding the sign had imagined herself inside of her mother. What if her mother had aborted her? What if she was never born? People in America have a difficult enough time dealing with death. Have they ever even imagined not even being given the chance to exist? But we are a selfish bunch. Our “needs” take precedence. If it is inconvenient to have a child, we kill it.
So, young woman, whoever you are, you are correct. Abortion is murder, and it is God who will hold all of us accountable for our actions. May He reward you accordingly.
“On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one killed a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he killed all of humanity: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all of humanity. Then although there came to them Our messengers with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.” (Qur’an 5:32)
