Proverbs 11:1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.
One reoccurring problem with proposed life bills or bills that would limit abortion in some way is that they often lack any kind of real penalty towards any who would be involved in the murder of a pre-born child. It seems at best the bill prescribes that a board of medicine would decide the penalty for the doctor who committed such a heinous crime and these penalties are nothing more than a glorified slap on the hand at worst.
Consider Iowa, where Dennis Tibben is the Executive Director of the Iowa Board of Medicine. Tibben formerly worked for Planned Parenthood and he is the one who would decide the penalties under Iowa’s current heartbeat bill. How just do you think those penalties would be? The man worked for an organization where their main “justification” of existence is making sure that babies would be murdered in the womb.
Iowa’s current laws concerning life are not only unjust in that they do not rightly recognize life at conception, but they are at best a suggestion with no tangible penalties for those who would break the law. In reality, Iowa’s heartbeat bill is worse than a suggestion; it is a joke that mocks the justice God demands from all civil authorities.
Can you imagine if laws were passed without penalties in other areas of life? Just think: you are driving down the road and see a 55mph sign but if you go 110, not only does the cop not pull you over, but there is no ticket that will be sent to you, just a sign that becomes a suggestion of how fast you should safely drive, but no penalty. Now imagine the legislature convening and spending hours of their time and thousands of taxpayers’ dollars just to “fix” the problem by lowering the stated MPH on the sign while simultaneously arguing that a penalty is not necessary — no tickets! There would be no change in how people would drive the road as the enforcement mechanism would be non-existent.
For legitimate justice to be established in any law, there must be real tangible penalties. A precept without a penalty is merely a suggestion. This truth is all the more felt when you consider the life of the pre-born. Abortion is a much weightier matter than something like speeding on the highway; abortion is the greatest injustice the world has ever seen; yet here we are trying to make virtue signaling laws that are void of all penalties to correct this injustice.
Any law that seeks to end abortion and save the lives of the pre-born must include penalties. These penalties must be criminal infractions against the abortionist, and every abortionist should stand trial for the crime they have committed. The Iowa Board of Medicine should have nothing to do with the administering of this justice as that should be left to the judicial branch and process and then the executive branch should follow through with the just punishment on the abortionist.
When legislators, or anyone else for that matter, cry out that abortion is murder and then refuse to entertain — let alone enact — penalties for the murder of a pre-born child, they are merely virtue signaling and puffing their chests out to make themselves feel good. Yes, the doctors who rip children limb from limb or prescribe poison to would-be mothers to kill the child in the womb should be punished.
The doctors who commit such great crimes are not the only abortionists of the day; consider California’s SB 345 that grants protection to the prescriber of those who would prescribe and send an abortion pill to those who are out of state. While the doctor who prescribed the poison pill certainly has committed a crime, the primary abortionist in that type of scenario is the would-be mother of the child. The prescriber merely provides the resources and encouragement for the woman to wield an instrument of murder against her own child. She murders her child thousands of miles and often several states away from the prescriber of the poison, often alone in her room, and possibly without anyone else ever knowing. She is the one who is primarily responsible for murder.
I can already hear the screeches of “but what if she was coerced?” And “You don’t understand the emotions that the woman is going through in times like this, you must have compassion!” If she was coerced, then those doing the coercing should face the penalty; that is how the justice system works — unless there are no penalties for the crime that is.
Now, what about that second knee-jerk reaction most people have towards punishing a would-be mother who murders her child in the womb? While it is true that a woman may be in the midst of great emotion and while difficult circumstances may stir up compassion, to make a would-be mother exempt from penalty is nothing more than creating a special murder privilege for her. No one should have a special murder privilege, for to deprive the innocent of life is the most heinous of crimes, no matter what your circumstances are.
For those who are still not convinced, I would once again present the proposition that a precept without a penalty is merely a suggestion. For proof of this, consider the reporting that The Washington Post did on an “abortion pill pipeline” where a small group of doctors in blue states were on pace for prescribing 42,000 abortions in states where abortion is “illegal”. The reality is that if the would-be mother has a special murder privilege towards the child in her womb, babies are not safe or protected.
So where do we go from here? We must rise up and demand that our legislators not only put together bills that end abortion with no exceptions but also rightly punish those who commit baby murder. The abortionist must be punished, and that includes doctors, those who are coercing would-be mothers, and yes, would-be mothers themselves if we want to please God and stop baby murder in our land.”
Author: Sam Jones
Pastor Sam completed an intense pastoral internship at Hagerman Baptist Church and served as a chaplain at Heritage Care Center in Iowa Falls, Iowa before accepting the call to pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Hudson, Iowa. He loves people and his goal is to make disciples of Christ by personally, prayerfully, and persistently investing the Word of God into others.
Amen Pastor Sam!