Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 139:556 (Oct 1982)
Article: The Abortion Epidemic: America’s Silent Holocaust
Author: J. Carl Laney

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BSac 139:556 (Oct 82) p. 342

The Abortion Epidemic: America’s Silent Holocaust

J. Carl Laney

[J. Carl Laney, Associate Professor of Biblical Literature, Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, Portland, Oregon]

Abortions last year terminated one-third of all pregnancies in America. Since the Supreme Court’s decision of 1973 (Roe vs. Wade), the annual number of abortions performed in the United States has risen from 744,600 to 1.5 million.1 Nontherapeutic abortion is in fact a 20th-century form of birth control. It has become the second most common surgical procedure, circumcision being the first. Abortion on demand is without question the greatest moral issue facing America today. No other contemporary moral problem in this country results in the deaths of over a million innocent, unborn children each year. Since 1973, eight million unborn babies have died in hospitals and abortion clinics throughout America.

Many Christians today are not sufficiently informed about abortion to form a scripturally based opinion on this issue. Others would like to remain neutral. They do not advocate abortion, but would not prohibit a woman from having one. In an interview on abortion, a California physician stated, “I feel I have the obligation to take care of patients. I don’t feel I should enforce my own personal views, especially since I’m not so convinced that [abortion] is ungodly or unbiblical.”2 Still others would identify with the “Pro-Choice” crusaders who contend that abortion is a right that women must have. They would argue that all other rights—social, economic, political—depend on the fundamental right of a woman to control her own body.3

BSac 139:556 (Oct 82) p. 343

Abortion is a contemporary moral problem which must be addressed scripturally. The purpose of this article is to provide sufficient biblical truth and factual data to enable the reader to formulate not only a scriptural view on the abortion issue, but also a plan of action to help end the silent holocaust.

What Is an Abortion?

Abortion is the act of bringing forth young prematurely.4 A spontaneous abortion is one which takes place naturally—a situation over which the mother has no control. This is usually referred to as a miscarriage. An induced abortion is one which is brought about by medical means. In the hospitals and abortion clinics in America the term is used to refer to the destruction of the unborn child in the womb or the extraction of the immature child from the womb in order to end its life. Induced abortion ...

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