Abortion: American’s Other War

By: Dr. John G. Weldon; ©2012

As difficult as this subject is, there is some good news. Polls indicate that most Americans now generally side with the pro-life position rather than the deadly pro-choice position. So, in part, a hard fought battle has been won and there is hope that the dedicated and difficult work of so many Christians (and many non-Christians) will eventually pay off.

Abortion: American’s Other War

Revised from John Ankerberg, John Weldon, When Does Life Begin and 39 Other Tough Questions about Abortion

Introduction

As difficult as this subject is, there is some good news. Polls indicate that most Americans now generally side with the pro-life position rather than the deadly pro-choice position. So, in part, a hard fought battle has been won and there is hope that the dedicated and difficult work of so many Christians (and many non-Christians) will eventually pay off.

Without a doubt it has already paid off in many children who are alive today who otherwise wouldn’t be.

I can only be thankful that my mother never chose to abort me when she could have and that, even though born three months premature at 2.2 pounds in 1948, I still survived; something of a miracle 65 years ago, especially with the doctors telling my frazzled parents one day that I would survive, the next day that I wouldn’t, off and on until I eventually stabilized. I never really understood why I had survived until I became a Christian in 1971.

Somehow, this is a question pro-choice people rarely seem to ask themselves – are they happy or not that their mother never chose to abort them? And if they are happy to be alive, how can actively support a cause that brings death to so many millions of children?

American Deaths Resulting from War

As a Catholic leader once said, the most dangerous place on earth is a mother’s womb. If I think about such a statement for a moment, it’s really rather striking.

It seems to me nothing less than remarkable that many of the same people and groups who support the choice of abortion oppose war in general.

How can they do this when, simultaneously, they ignore the literal Holocaust that continues to be waged against innocent pre-born children in America, right in their own backyard? The prevalence of abortion is equally appalling as millions of Americans die at the hand of American doctors—and these deaths are typically legal!

Consider a chart contrast that will hopefully speak louder than words. In the Table below, I have listed all the wars fought by the American nation. The casualties represent rounded figures for all American combat and direct combat-related deaths. Each cross represents 100,000 deaths; a hyphen in parentheses (-), or no cross, represents a figure of less than 100,000 deaths.

Below are all the war deaths throughout American history. Those wars having sufficient casualties to actually warrant at least one cross are placed in bold:

Revolutionary War (-) (25,000)

The War of 1812-14 (-) (20,000)

Indian Wars (-) (2,000)

Mexican-American War (-) (13,000)

Civil War ++++++ (600,000)

Spanish American War (-) (2,500)

Philippine War (-) (4,200)

World War I ++ (120,000)

World War II ++++++ (600,000)

Korean War (-) (55,000)

Vietnam War (-) (56,000)

Both Gulf Wars (-) (4,300)

Afghanistan War (-) (1000+)

14 Others (-) (< 1,000)

In sum, out of almost 30 wars, the American dead represent a total of about 1.5 million people. However, the vast majority of these deaths occurred in just 3 wars. Yet in less than 40 years, millions more have been killed through abortion than all of the American casualties of war combined. The abortion war is the most unrelenting, costly, cruel and brutal war of all wars.

Where Have All the Children Gone?

But worst of all, the combat is entirely one-sided. In fact, these children in the womb are entirely innocent victims of the deliberate brutality of a nation that has allowed such tragedy to take place.

Modern American Abortion Deaths — At least 50,000,000+

In light of the total number of American war deaths cited above, now consider the number of modern American abortion deaths for contrast. Again, each cross will represent 100,000 deaths – of unborn American children – often by the most gruesome manner possible (and frequently painful or, I can only suspect given the methods, even torturous to the pre-born child). The words “death” “gruesome” and “torturous” are apt descriptions of war.

Here are the abortion casualties as represented by crosses:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That’s 15 crosses for all the American dead in conventional wars and over 550 crosses for all the American dead in abortion mills. In other words, through abortion we have destroyed almost 40 times the number of people who have died in all American wars since the nation was founded.

Sadly, the above statistics comprise merely a shadow of global abortion rates. The West currently suffers under the incalculable weight of the “invisible” disappearance of some 200 million of its people who have been aborted in the womb in the last generation alone. These are people who would otherwise be productive members of society and enjoying the same “perks” to life everyone else does.

The 200 million figure is a rough “guesstimate” based on global statistics. Given the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute statistics, 40 million children per year have been aborted globally since 1980. “… that would already make for 1.12 billion preborn babies killed. ‘There simply isn’t anything close,’ said Stephen Phelan of Human Life International. ‘Over the many years since this has become a practice, even legalized in many countries, you’re over a billion.’ ‘There’s definitely nothing to compare.'”^[1]

At least 1 billion dead children – unthinkable.

Just the Facts, Please

Scientific and medical facts prove beyond doubt that human life begins at conception, as documented in many books, including scientific and medical texts. Abortion is therefore the taking of a human life. We must continue to uphold the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves on this issue (Proverbs 31:8) and not tire of doing what is good (2 Thessalonians 3:13).

(For documentation for all these issues and answers to about three dozen additional questions see my When Does Life Begin? from Amazon.com^[2] which Conservative Book Club termed “the best pro-life manual available, anywhere.”

Recommended Resources

John Ankerberg, John Weldon, “Was the Supreme Court Wrong in the Roe v. Wade Decision?” Ankerberg.com; http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/apologetics/AP0705W3.htm and other on-site resources including:

“What Do Leading Authorities Say about When Life Begins?; http://www.jashow.org/Articles/social-issues/SI1006W3.htm = Scott Klusendorf, Pro-Life 101: A Step-by-Step Guide to Making Your Case Persuasively = Norma McCorvey, Andy Meisler, I Am Roe: My Life, Roe V. Wade, and Freedom of Choice

Randy Alcorn, Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Arguments Expanded & Updated

Erika Bachiochi (Ed.), The Cost of Choice: Women Evaluate the Impact of Abortion

Bernard N. Nathanson, The Hand of God: A Journey from Death to Life by the Abortion Doctor Who Changed His Mind

Scott Klusendorf, The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture

R.C. Sproul, Greg Bailey, Abortion: A Rational Look at An Emotional Issue

Norma McCorvey, Gary Thomas, Won by Love: Norma McCorvey, Jane Roe of Roe V. Wade, Speaks Out for the Unborn As She Shares Her New Conviction for Life

Notes

1. ↑ James Tillman, “New Report Suggests Over 1 Billion Abortions Committed: Pro-Life Activists,” Life Site News, October 16, 2009; http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archive/ldn/2009/oct/09101604
2. ↑ Hard copy: http://www.amazon.com/When-Does-Life-BeginAnkerberg/dp/1561210307/ref=sr_1_cc_3?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1330018587&sr=1-3-catcorr Kindle e-book: http://www.amazon.com/Begin-Other-Questions-Abortion-ebook/dp/B004HO5KAU)