For over 30 years I have been speaking to various audiences, both secular and faith-based, about the American atrocity known as Abortion on Demand. The beginnings of that journey unfolded in a university campus lecture hall in 1978, where I had just finished giving a speech on the ethical basis for the Pro-Life position. It was the first presentation I had ever given on the subject. As the leader of an on-campus ministry, I along with my leadership team had decided to offer a series of lectures on controversial subjects. Our goal was to elicit dialogue on campus about various issues, and to contrast the ethics of the Christian position with those of the secular stand. I had never researched the issue of abortion in my life up until that time; in fact, the only reason I brought the speech was because, in a literal drawing of the straws, the topic had fallen to me.

My speech had not been religious in content, nor had I referred to the Scriptures in any way. My defense of the unborn had been passionate but reasoned and respectful to both sides of the argument. Nevertheless, I’ll never forget the sight of the chairman of the Women’s Studies department charging down the aisle as I concluded my lecture, shoving startled people aside so that she could get to me and personally pour her rage upon me for the position I had taken. Her face reddened with an anger that was so out of control that spittle rolled down from her lips, she drove her finger with memorable force into my chest, locked my eyes with hers, and roared at me these words: “No matter what you say or what you do, that baby in that womb belongs to me! It will live or die based on my decision and no one else’s! I own that baby and all rights to its life until its very first breath!”

I was stunned by her words. The arrogance shocked me, the rage unnerved me, and the idea that a sense of out-of-control entitlement to the life of another was viewed by her to be unquestioned did not settle well with me. I don’t remember my words of response to her very clearly (I was only 22 years old), but I do remember that in that moment I made a decision: in the face of that kind of mindless rage and arrogant control over the lives of others, there needed to be at least one voice raised in the defense of the one truly helpless person in this woman’s equation: the unborn child. As I gazed at the angry women gathered around behind this campus leader, many of them adorned in T-shirts with images of coat hangers emblazoned on them, I further realized the implacable nature of their anger against the unborn, and my decision solidified: I would always seek the opportunity to speak out for the innocent against this kind of a mob mentality. Since that day, I have spoken in many venues to many different audiences about both the ethics and the Scriptural truths concerning the rights of the unborn.

I know that messages on this topic tend to turn over questions within people who are struck with an understanding that they have not managed this issue well at some point in their lives. Some are grappling for the first time with significant but long-suppressed emotions because they have been involved personally in an abortion decision. Others are working in professional positions (such as physicians or pharmacists) that press them into ethical decisions about unborn life, and they often need counsel.

I am often struck by the incomplete knowledge that even some of our best and most informed church members have on this issue. Though the ethical issues surrounding unborn life have now been front and center in our media culture for a generation, many of the key implications are yet ungrasped by people.

To me, bringing forth the ethical issues in the Scripture regarding the unborn is really not a controversial action, but rather an obvious obligation of any pastor. I can think of no better way to bring the Scriptures into the real-life struggles of my people than by “tying exposition to issues”. I encourage any pastor who has wondered about the benefit and impact of this kind of teaching to do what I was led to do 30 years ago: explore the possibility of opening the Scriptures to your congregation about the implications of ethics and life.