Grab a seat. This one is hard to believe.
Many newspapers across our country feature a weekly human interest story about newlyweds and how they found love. The New York Times is no different with their “Vows” section.
Recently Udonis Haslem, NBA star for the Miami Heat, and his new wife, Faith Rein, were given their moment in the spotlight. The “college sweethearts” part was endearing—but hold on to your hat as they share something unique.
“Their first challenge took place the following spring when she became pregnant,” the article says. “It was her junior and his senior year, and he had begun training for the NBA draft. Despite the pregnancy, she was busy with track meets and helping him complete homework. The timing was bad.”
“I am not a huge fan of abortion, but we both had sports careers, plus we could not financially handle a baby,” the paper quotes Haslem saying.
“Udonis appreciated that I was willing to have an abortion,” Rein then says. “I found him caring, supportive, and nurturing and all over me to be sure I was OK. I saw another side of him during that difficult time and fell deeply in love. He had a big heart and was the whole package.”
Come again? Will this be the wave of the future for wedding announcements unless we experience a true awakening in America?
This is why I am so passionate about equipping believers to better engage lost people and people who are deceived regarding the sanctity of life issue in our culture. I invite you to join me as authentic salt-and-light Christians.
Pro-abortion websites and publications are not remaining silent. They are excited about this kind of development in the world’s most prominent newspaper and are doing their part to equip people on the other side.
The Frisky site lauded it like this: “Haslem and Rein represent a real-world American couple who wanted to plan their family the way they thought it best. And the New York Times … should be commended for openly discussing abortion in the pages of Vows.”
Salon called it significant: “It’s just eight sentences in the much longer piece, but it’s significant to see such a frank discussion of abortion in a wedding announcement.”
“Steps forward!” proclaims the sex-saturated women’s magazine Cosmo. “Couples like Haslem and Rein, whose prenuptial courtship lasted longer than many full-fledged marriages do these days, took steps forward at precisely the time they were ready and made sure that benchmarks in their relationship occurred on their own terms—and that’s great to see in the pages of the Times.”
Enough!
Here’s the deal: The secular forces are very aggressive in equipping their own and trying to reach as many as they can with their viewpoint. Are we prepared to winsomely and accurately address this issue in the marketplace? In our neighborhoods, schools, workplaces and wherever, we must know the proper responses to the arguments that continue to be raised.
In this week’s commentary, we’ll take a look at some of the most common objections that are raised and the proper biblical responses. We’ll continue in the coming weeks until we have truly had an exhaustive study that gets us ready to help persuade people and save little babies’ lives. I encourage you to download this material, keep it on file, and quote it for yourself, your family, your church and your friends who care about “speak[ing] up for those who cannot speak for themselves,” as Proverbs 31:8 tells us.
Let’s get started.
Responses to the 10 Most Common Objections to Pro-Life Ideals, Part 1
1. “Isn’t abortion merely terminating a pregnancy?” There are two points to consider here. First, recognize the euphemism. We shouldn’t just say that abortion “terminates a pregnancy.” Abortion takes the life of an unborn child. The unborn child is a person, not an abstraction or a “product of conception.”
Second, abortion does not merely “terminate a pregnancy.” Can you imagine a headline like this: “Lee Harvey Oswald Terminates Kennedy’s Presidency”? At conception, the entire genetic code is present, which determines what a person will look like as an adult. By the 18th day, the heart has begun to beat. By the 30th day, all major structures of the body are evident—launched for development!
2. “Isn’t this a political issue best left to politicians, judges, public opinion polls or states to decide?” Actually, this is primarily a moral issue for which we are all accountable. Judeo-Christian foundations in America have always upheld the sanctity of life, and it is only since a Supreme Court decision in 1973 that abortion was considered legal throughout the land. Millions believe this was a tragic error, like prior decisions regarding black Americans, and want to see protection for the unborn restored.
We gasp when someone cites that Adolf Hitler exterminated 6 million innocent Jews. But unless we see a reversal of this horrendous abortion decision, we will add another 5 million aborted babies to the statistics on abortion in a few more years, taking us to the 60 million mark. That is 10 times the innocent lives snuffed out than what Hitler did!
Let’s do one more, and then we’ll pick up part 2 next week.
3. “Isn’t it unfair for a candidate’s position on abortion to be a single-issue litmus test to qualify or disqualify him or her for elected office?” A single issue should not qualify someone for office, but a single issue can disqualify him. This must be examined, since you can judge the character of a person by how he or she treats those who can do nothing for him. The dignity of human life is, in a sense, a thread that touches upon our life connection with the poor, the elderly, the disabled, the prisoner, the AIDS patient, the sex slave or any of life’s most vulnerable.
To the charge that we are “single issue voters,” simply point out that there are numerous single issues that disqualify a person for office. Endorsements of rape, bribery, corporate fraud or bigotry are just a few examples. If we have laws forbidding cruelty to animals (ask football superstar Michael Vick if he now realizes the crime to maim, mutilate or kill an animal is legit), why not the same concern for innocent, unborn little babies?
We don’t vote for candidates simply because they uphold the sanctity of life—they must be called and competent. Yet this does reveal a person’s moral character and ethics in a very clear way. I personally have a conviction to never support a candidate who endorses abortion.
In the midst of a generation celebrating abortions in wedding announcements and where pro-abortionists, including many deceived and cowardly politicians and even pastors, will not speak up for those that are perishing, God is raising up those with courage and conviction to care for the “least of these” little ones.
Can we count you among us?
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who wholeheartedly supported the sanctity of life, said it best: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
May we, as courageous Christians, shake off any apathy and speak out for justice and the unborn. Let’s be at the vanguard of a historic turnaround that history will record.
Larry Tomczak is a best-selling author and cultural commentator with over 40 years of trusted ministry experience. His passion is to bring perspective, analysis and insight from a biblical worldview. He loves people and loves awakening them to today’s cultural realities and the responses needed for the bride of Christ—His church—to become influential in all spheres of life once again.
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