Abortion, Rescuing, and Your Action

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Founder & Teacher, desiringGod.org

How many Americans thought it was OK to kill tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers in order to say no to national aggression, but think it is not OK to block an abortion clinic (without any violence) in order to say no to killing unborn children?

With regard to peaceful rescuing I stand where I did three years ago: It is not a crime to trespass to save human life. If a child is choking on a toy in his back yard surrounded by a fence that says, KEEP OUT, NO TRESPASSING, it is not a sin or a crime to jump the fence and try to save the child. If a child is trapped in the second story of a burning home, it is not a sin or a crime to put a ladder to the window and enter without permission to save that child. If a blind child is trapped in the median of a busy street and about to step into traffic, it is not a sin or a crime to cross the street and guide him to safety even if the sign says, “Cross only at crosswalk”. If a child is drowning in a lake where the sign says, “No swimming” it is not a sin or a crime to rush into the water and rescue him.

A word from God: The whole book of Esther was written to praise her courage and righteousness when she “illegally” risked her life to save the Jews. “I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).

Therefore I support our people rescuing in Fargo and Wichita. Karen Sorenson is still imprisoned in Bismarck and David Buck remains in jail in Wichita. I thank God for those of you who have ministered to them, even traveling to visit them.

The struggle for life in our land is not going away or diminishing. If you are hoping that it will go away and not demand from you a commitment, you are making a grave mistake.

One magazine called the emerging conflict the “new civil war”. The stakes are certainly as high or higher than the stakes in the first civil war. In the first one humans were denied their humanity and then enslaved; in the new one humans are denied their humanity and then killed. In the Dred Scot Decision of 1857 the Supreme Court determined in a 7-2 decision that slaves were not legal persons and were therefore not protected under the Constitution. In 1973 the Supreme Court, by another 7-2 decision determined that unborn children also were not legal persons and therefore not protected under the Constitution.

Even though abortionists have taken up arms against unborn children and attack them with violence almost every day, I pray that God will spare us further aimed conflict, and that the battle for life can be won by prayer, persuasion, and peaceful action.

Three action items for you to consider:

  1. Sunday, Sept. 22, noon: Bethlehem’s prayer rally at Midwest Health Center for Women a short walk from our building.
  2. Sunday, Sept. 22, 3:00 p.m.: Memorial service for 39,000 lost lives. Franky Schaeffer speaking across from St. Paul’s Planned Parenthood on Ford Parkway.
  3. October 6, early afternoon: major rally and Jerico walk around Ramsey hospital.

For the awesome gift of life,

Pastor John