When the decayed torso of Laci Peterson washed up on shore, her unborn baby did as well. Here lies a moral dilemma for even pro-abortionists to deal with. Laci was at least eight months pregnant. The baby was certainly viable. Immediately NOW (National Organization for Women) protested when a double murder charge was leveled against Scott Peterson, Laci’s husband. In NOW logic, it’s not a baby until it’s out of the womb and breathing on his or her own.
Laci Peterson was an American woman who was the subject of a highly publicized murder case after she disappeared while eight months pregnant with her first child. She was reportedly last seen alive on December 24, 2002. Her husband, Scott Peterson, was later convicted of first-degree murder for her death, and second-degree murder for the death of their unborn son, Conner.
The pro-abortionists claim their movement is for “choice.” Rarely do you hear a pro-abortionist refer to abortion as “abortion.” It’s always “choice.” NOW logic means that a fetus is a nondescript mass of tissue unless the mother chooses to refer to the mass as a baby and decides to keep him or her. Only a wanted baby is a human being. A fetus not “chosen” remains a fetus that can be disposed of whenever the burden of pregnancy becomes too much for her to bear.
There is no doubt that Laci Peterson wanted her “fetus”; therefore, in NOW logic, the fetus magically became a baby. Choice makes all the difference. Scott Peterson, therefore, violated Laci’s choice by killing her and her chosen fetus-baby, which became a baby when she made her choice. This means that Scott Peterson had to be charged with double homicide.
When a representative from NOW protested the double homicide charge, the response was immediate and negative. Since mouthing off about a “fetus” not being a “baby,” representatives from NOW backed off from their initial statements. They’ve backed themselves into a logical corner. Most Americans know that Laci and her baby were killed.
Pregnant women don’t go around saying things like, “I just felt the fetus move.” The more usual response is, “I felt my baby kick!” Sophisticated imaging shows babies moving around in the mother’s womb. Anyone who sees these pictures know that they are not looking at a fetus. It’s a baby! Only NOW with its murderous agenda can’t see the obvious.
Several states are beginning to understand the moral dilemma they’ve created with liberalized abortion laws. What happens when a pregnant woman is killed by her husband or boyfriend? Is it a double homicide? Some states say yes. The statute in Georgia is clear and pertains directly to the Laci Peterson case: “A person commits the offense of feticide if he willfully kills an unborn child so far developed as to be ordinarily called ‘quick’ by any injury to the mother of such child, which would be murder if it resulted in the death of such mother. A person convicted of the offense of feticide shall be punished by imprisonment for life.” Similar provision is made for “feticide by vehicle,” the death of an unborn so far developed as to be ordinarily called “quick,” that is, living. NOW’s verbal misstep is forcing pro-abortionists to reconsider laws protecting preborn babies. Laci would be happy about that.
By This Standard
God’s Law is Christianity’s tool of dominion. This is where any discussion of God’s law ultimately arrives: the issue of dominion. Ask yourself: Who is to rule on earth, Christ or Satan? Whose followers have the ethically acceptable tool of dominion, Christ’s or Satan’s? What is this tool of dominion, the Biblically revealed law of God, or the law of self-proclaimed autonomous man? Whose word is sovereign, God’s or man’s?
Thinking Straight in a Crooked World
The nursery rhyme ‘There Was a Crooked Man’ is an appropriate description of how sin affects us and our world. We live in a crooked world of ideas evaluated by crooked people. Left to our crooked nature, we can never fully understand what God has planned for us and His world. God has not left us without a corrective solution. He has given us a reliable reference point in the Bible so we can identify the crookedness and straighten it.
Author: Gary DeMar
Gary—who served as President of American Vision for thirty-five years—is a graduate of Western Michigan University (1973) and earned his M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary in 1979. Author of countless essays, news articles, and more than 27 book titles, he has been featured by nearly every major news media outlet. Gary also has hosted The Gary DeMar Show, History Unwrapped, and the Gary DeMar’s Vantage Point Webshow and is a regular contributor to AmericanVision.org. Gary has lived in the Atlanta area since 1979 with his wife, Carol. They have two married sons and are enjoying being grandparents. Gary and Carol are members of Midway Presbyterian Church (PCA).
