Abortion has been the single largest issue for conservative voters since the 1980s. More than 60 million babies have been murdered in America since Roe v Wade in 1973. Just as Abel’s blood cried out to God, so too the blood of these aborted babies has a voice and it cries out to God. The horror of that thought factors in the minds of Christians across America. I remember when I was finally old enough to vote. I was going to be sure to vote for the most pro-life candidate. It dawned on me that now the existence of abortion in my nation was my fault. It was no longer my parents’ generation’s fault. Now I was complicit. Until abortion was outlawed like the murder it is, innocent blood would be on my hands.
How can we end abortion in America? One vote seems like such a small drop in the bucket. The fight to end abortion can seem hopeless at times, but we must not lose heart. Even though the intermediate goal of the pro-life movement was to see the end of Roe v Wade, I never thought I would live in that world. But God had other plans and showed our nation mercy. In His providence God relegated Roe v Wade to the trashbin of history. We Christians should take heart. And the pro-life movement continues to march – and march it should – until abortion has ceased from our land. And the question remains rattling around in our minds: How can we end abortion in America?
To end abortion in America, we must start by ending abortion in Iowa. How can we end abortion in Iowa? We must not view this war over abortion as a political one. We must see it as a spiritual war with political implications. The answer then to this spiritual war is the gospel and repentance. The only way to present the gospel and call for repentance is to start by calling sin by its biblical name. Abortion is murder. Repentance then calls us to treat abortion as a crime, to treat it the same way we treat murder.
How does the gospel fit into this? In the Garden of Eden, Eve gave Adam the forbidden fruit to eat. In that moment Adam rejected God’s authority. Adam decided that he would take God’s place, that he would reject God’s Word, and that he would do what was right in his own eyes. Adam chose evil. Every nation in the world has followed in Adam’s footsteps. Every nation has rejected the authority of God over the lives of their people. Every nation has chosen to be evil. The state of Iowa has chosen to be evil. Iowa has rejected God’s authority and lets its residents murder unborn babies. Both the civil government and the men and women of Iowa have rejected God’s authority and have chosen abortion.
But, you disagree and say, “I haven’t gotten an abortion myself.” That is true. Neither have I. Should we take a sigh of relief? God in His Word has told us about innocent blood and how it affects a community. Let’s look a little at that scenario. The people were to pray this prayer, “Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. Provide atonement, O LORD, for Your people, whom You have redeemed and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people” (Deut. 21:7-8). As you look at the horror of abortion, many of us can truly say: “Our hands have not shed this blood.” But can we also say, “Our eyes have not seen it”? There are abortion clinics scattered throughout Iowa from Sioux City to Cedar Rapids. There are two in Iowa City. We know where we in Iowa have located these abortion clinics. Our eyes have seen it. We can look up what hours they perform these abortions. And yet we have not outlawed abortion. We are accomplices to this murder.
But the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ gives us the way out of our predicament. God so loved the world that He sent His only-begotten Son to become man, to live a perfect life, and then to die in the place of His enemies, to take the punishment that we justly deserve, so that whoever believes on Him would not perish but have eternal life. Have you murdered your unborn child? There is hope. Repent and look to Jesus. He can deliver you from the judgment you justly deserve, forgive you of your sins, and separate those sins from you as far as the east is from the west. Go and sin no more: stop murdering the unborn. If you continue to murder your unborn children, you have not repented. Are you complicit in the murder of your unborn neighbors because you live in Iowa where we have not outlawed abortion? There is hope. Repent and look to Jesus. He can deliver you from the judgment you justly deserve, forgive you of your sins, and separate those sins from you as far as the east is from the west. Go and sin no more: outlaw the murder of the unborn in the state of Iowa. Until it is outlawed, there is still innocent blood on your hands.
Now that we see that we are the reason abortion is not outlawed. How do we outlaw abortion? What would be good laws to make? Abortion is murder. The way to outlaw abortion is to treat it as murder. If we are to repent of this sin, there is one, clear goal that we must march towards: No abortion clinics must be permitted in Iowa. In addition, any resident of Iowa who murders an unborn child must be held accountable for that murder in the same way they would be if the child were born. Any medical professional who murders or assists in the murder of an unborn Iowan resident must be held accountable for murder. Any corporation or business which murders or assists in the murder of an unborn Iowan resident must be held accountable for murder. Any man who resides in Iowa and willingly assists in procuring an abortion to murder his child must be held accountable for murder. Any woman not under duress who procures an abortion to murder her own child must be held accountable for murder. Ultimately, there is no other way to protect the lives of our unborn Iowan residents: the state of Iowa must outlaw abortion and treat it as murder. When that day comes, we will have ended abortion in Iowa. This is repentance. This is what it means to go and sin no more.
When we have protected the lives of our unborn Iowan residents, the implications of that law will affect the rest of America. If we permit the individuals involved to prosecute in civil courts as well, then no abortionists will do business with Iowans. No one will ship abortion pills to Iowa. No clinics will perform abortions on Iowan residents. Eventually, the Supreme Court will have to adjudicate cases about it. If by the mercy and kindness of God we are able to outlaw abortion in Iowa, we in Iowa will have led the way towards the day when abortion is outlawed in these United States.
Mr. Moody,
God bless you for having the courage to stand up for abolition! I stand with you, brother!