Abortion and Religion

As a woman reluctantly approaches all the abortion information, she is likely to come across the pros and cons of abortion. She will read about the "right to have" an abortion versus the "wrong in having" an abortion.

However, no matter what her political persuasion, it always comes down to a very intimate, personal decision that no woman makes without some degree of emotional trauma. All of the options -- abortion, or raising the baby, or allowing another family to adopt the baby -- can carry emotional pain and personal sacrifice. But what you usually don't find in any abortion information, either pro or con, is a clear statement of what God offers this woman. He has something to say to her in the midst of her pain and confusion.

You see, God is larger than our confined spaces and limited views. He sees situations from the vantage point of what he can do for those who will turn to him. So to the woman who is considering an abortion, he might want her to hear his heart: "The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made."1

When the Bible says that God is "good to all; he has compassion on all he has made," that means he is able to be good to both, to be compassionate to both the woman and the baby. The woman may feel she is in a trapped, polarized position. Either she can be compassionate to herself, given all her circumstances, and have the abortion; or she can be compassionate to the baby, allowing it to be born. Yet God says he is "good to all; he has compassion on all he has made." He must have solutions we don't see. God must know that if the woman will look to him to provide, he is capable of meeting her needs and the baby's needs.

It is God's character to respond to those who will turn to him and obey him. "The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes...