Why Abortion Is Not Freedom

The largest abortion clinic in Ohio has launched a sad billboard campaign throughout the Cleveland area "to shift the public conversation on abortion away from black-and-white political rhetoric." Each billboard features the phrase "Abortion is" with a different fill-in-the-blank. These billboards are truly horrible, incredibly inconsistent, and a complete misrepresentation of what abortion truly is—the murder of a child.

These billboards forgot to call abortion what it is: homicide, murder, death, cruel, barbaric, child-sacrifice, anti-women, and anti-life. Here are a few of the billboards, along with my commentary.

• "Abortion is safer than childbirth." This is a ludicrous claim. In the United States, the infant mortality rate (while high for a developed nation) is 6.1 per 1,000 births for the first year of life. The infant mortality rate for abortion is nearly 100%. How could something that kills millions of children ever be called "safe"? It's certainly not safe for those children!
• "Abortion is gender equality." No, women have abortions while men often have no say in whether or not their child is murdered. And statistics show 64% of women felt pressured to get an abortion. Also, if this is about "women's rights," what about the millions of girls who never got even the most basic right—the right to life? It isn't gender equality—it's murder in the name of "progress."
• "Abortion is life saving." Life saving? The intention is that a child dies every time—their life certainly isn't saved—and very, very rarely is an abortion done to save the mother's life (although abortion activists act as if this happens all the time).
• "Abortion is normal." If killing a child is "normal" for this nation—which sadly it is—our nation needs to repent of mass murder and seek God's forgiveness for killing individuals made fearfully and wonderfully in his image (Genesis 1:27; Psalm 139:14).
• "Abortion is a blessing." No, it is not! God's Word says, "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward." (Psalm 127:3). Childbirth and adoption are blessings!
• "Abortion is a family value." Only if your family values murder!

Killing your child in any other context would be considered murder—not a "parenting decision."

• "Abortion is a parenting decision." Killing your child in any other context would be considered murder—not a "parenting decision."
• "Abortion is a second chance." But not for the child!
• "Abortion is necessary." No. Abortion is murder. Obeying our Creator God's rules for life is what is necessary!
• "Abortion is a healthcare" and "good medicine." No, abortion is homicide and the opposite of health care—the child gets the opposite of healthcare.
• "Abortion is liberty." When an abortion is performed, the person didn't ask for liberty, they asked for death—the death of a child—the sacrifice of a child to the "god of self."
• "Abortion is hope." Abortion is death. But there is hope even after abortion because Jesus Christ came and died in our place, taking the penalty of our sins for us—even the sin of abortion. There's forgiveness, hope, and new life freely available to all through Christ and what he has done for us. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

These new billboards illustrate Romans 1:29–31:

They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them (emphasis added).

Instead of pointing people toward killing their child, we need to affirm the sanctity of every human life, born or unborn. And we need to offer moms and dads real help and gospel hope, as so many pro-life organizations and pregnancy care centers around the world do.

The president, CEO, and founder of Answers in Genesis-US, the highly acclaimed Creation Museum, and the world-renowned Ark Encounter, Ken Ham is one of the most in-demand Christian speakers in North America.

First published at Ken Ham's Blog.