Abortion Ends. Now What?

I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. (Exod. 23:20) 

It is customary to celebrate happy occasions. There are even days of remembrance where we honor those who have died in service to the country. Every year since President Reagan began The Sanctity of Human Life Sunday,  we commemorate the national edict that declared it was permissible to kill a baby in the womb. 

Hundreds of thousands march on this day either in Washington D.C. or in their own communities to protest this atrocity. Clearly, a pro-life awareness is very real in our country as undercover investigators flesh out the dark economic motives to propagandize women so they are willing to kill their offspring and not be ashamed about doing so. 

Many Christians yearly, especially on the Sunday close to the January 22 Supreme Court ruling, pray that abortion will end. Are these truly sincere prayers?  

R.J. Rushdoony in discussing prayer cautions that we should be careful what we pray for,   

This warning is timely in every age and in every place. Insincere prayer is offensive to God and a dangerous thing. Let us examine, therefore, our prayers: what are we asking for, and do we really want our prayers to be answered?[1] 

Some might counter that those who pray to end this atrocity are most decidedly sincere in their petition. Rushdoony cites a personal example, 

Not too long ago, a man from another community expressed his distaste for all prayers for peace: he was against them, did not want peace, and doubted that many people honestly desired it. If we have real international peace, he argued, it will mean economic ruin for all of us. It will release men from the army and create unemployment, rob farmers and businessmen of their surest market, and create an international disaster. He was ready to take an occasional war, he declared, in preference to permanent tragedy. [2] 

Although few would outwardly applaud this attitude, it did reveal that he had considered the consequences of these prayers. In other words, do we consider the work and responsibility entailed if God grants our petitions on face value? 

Prayers for justice are similar. So many people are ready to pray for justice who would be the last to desire it, if justice became a reality. If God tomorrow brought justice to bear on every community in the world, it would overturn every community and most families of the world. As the psalmist observed, “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” (Ps. 130:3). Justice on earth would create tomorrow a greater revolution than any the world has seen or imagined. Do we really want justice when we pray for it? (ibid.)[3] 

Our prayers should be consistent with God’s law-word and our requests must never be contrary to His definitions. Thus, peace and justice need to be understood in terms of how God defines them and our petitions should be made accordingly. 

Abortion ends. Now what? Will the sins that lead to abortion be eradicated by a stroke of a pen? Will fornication, exploitation, and irresponsibility suddenly be absent because some law was passed and enforced? When those who pray to end abortion do not prepare for what that would be like in reality, is there a double-mindedness at work? 

Are new orphanages springing up? Are individual Christian families seeking out women whose “lovers” abandoned them and their children? If the society does not change morally and ethically at the family level, what will be the aftermath of abortion becoming illegal once again? Keep in mind that abortion was illegal when the population at large acknowledged and believed as law the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” 

Am I encouraging people to forego any participation in protests or gatherings to end abortion? No. What I am saying is just as God told the children of Israel in Exodus 23:20, we must work the ground God has given us and seek to extend our dominion in and according to the Word of God. God will give us ground as we are ready to reign in the name of Jesus Christ in line with His law. We must not wait until man’s law changes. We must be extending the rule and law of our Lord actively, unashamedly, and with an eye to victory.

[1] R. J. Rushdoony, Good Morning, Friends Vol. 3, (Vallecito, CA:  Ross House Books 2018), 135.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid., 136