I was recently reading an article about a woman who started a petition to change Canada’s law that says a person who kills a pregnant woman will only be charged with one murder rather than two. I agree with her idea here, I just wish that justice would be applied equally. However she said it in a way that was peculiar. This was all in response to a recent murder committed that involved a pregnant woman. She said, “It was two lives lost in my opinion. I’m sure at 30 weeks gestation she planned on having the baby and raising her. I just think the law should be changed. If nothing can come of it for her baby, at least it could change for any future women and children that it would happen to.”
What if she didn’t plan on having the baby? Would it be OK for her to kill the child by having an abortion? I don’t know this woman’s personal beliefs regarding abortion and I am not accusing her of being pro-death. However, I’m afraid this attitude that says “So long as you plan on having the child it is legitimate” is sending a mixed message to the culture. Essentially, it’s the same attitude we fight in schools that leads to bullying.
Abortion and bullying go hand in hand. We teach our children to not bully one another because they all have inherit worth, which is good and true. They do all have inherit worth as they are all made in God’s image and worthy of dignity and respect from all. But then we turn around and say to a pregnant teenager, “If you don’t want to have this baby, we can just terminate it.”These are two completely contradictory teachings. One says, “Don’t bully people because they are different from you. Whether they’re small, big, black, white, straight, gay, have a disability or some other kind of difference, you cannot bully them.” Then the other says, “You can discard your baby because it’s not REALLY a human being. It’s not like you and I. It can’t walk or talk or take care of itself. It’s different from us, so go ahead and get rid of it”.
Abortion is the height of bullying. We cannot tell our kids to not bully one another, while also encouraging abortion as a good and viable option when one is “inconvenienced” by a surprise pregnancy. And if Canada does change it’s laws about the murder of a pregnant woman, it will have to do so with glaring hypocrisy that could rival the mighty sun in brightness. Unless of course they also outlaw abortion.
I am against bullying for the same reason I am against abortion; both seek to degrade, shame and destroy the beauty of God in a human being that He has created in His image and loves dearly.
