Why I Am Pro-Life — A Pro-life vs. Pro-choice Testimony
by Pastor Jim Feeney, Ph.D.

My wife was several months pregnant and was hemorrhaging badly. We raced to the hospital, where her obstetrician met us at the emergency room. After a brief exam, the doctor told me, “Jim, it’s not good. Yesterday, during your wife's office visit, I heard the baby’s heartbeat, but there is none today.”

On the reasonable assumption that she had miscarried, the doctor arranged to have her moved to the operating room for the needed D&C. But first — thank the Lord! — he suggested an ultrasound to be absolutely certain that the unborn baby had expired. There we had the shock of our lives!

Right there on the ultrasound screen, clearly visible even to our untrained eyes, was our baby, alive and well and kicking about in the womb — a little, tiny, moving (and quite alive!) human being.

Then we noticed a dark oval on the ultrasound screen, just above our living baby. And that explained the hemorrhaging. It was the deceased twin of our living baby. This precious little one had apparently expired in the womb before developing. The technical term used by the doctor was a “blighted ovum.”

The doctor succeeded in controlling the bleeding and sent us home. Six months later my wife delivered our son John, who at the time of this writing is an honor student in college. All because a doctor had a “hunch” and decided to do an ultrasound before the needed D&C — a procedure which unwittingly would have killed John. That obstetrician’s ultrasound hunch saved our son’s life!

Thank you for taking the time to read this testimony. It will help you to understand why I am avidly "pro-life" rather than "pro-choice". What did I see on that sonogram screen? I saw a tiny, moving, living child. I saw little, developing arms and legs. I saw motion, moving, kicking. I saw a human being! Very little, yes, but clearly, unequivocally a human being.

I do not intend to jump into the scientific and medical debates going on between the pro-life and the pro-choice camps. I’m not a trained, credible spokesman in those technical disciplines.

I believe that I am a credible spokesman on the biblical issues relating to the pro-life position. And my intent in the following bible study is to offer SIX GOOD REASONS, BIBLICALLY, TO BE "PRO-LIFE" rather than "pro-choice".

1) I am pro-life because, unlike all other creatures, men and women are made in the image and likeness of God.

Genesis 1:26-27; 9:6 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.... [27] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.... [9:6] “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.”

•• God Almighty singled mankind out for the unique privilege of being created in His image and likeness.

•• Therefore, men and women are of infinitely greater worth than other animals, birds, fish, and all other living creatures. This was God’s choice at the time of creation.

•• One of the Ten Commandments is: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). Why? Remember, God has made man in His image. Abortion is the calculated taking of a life created in God’s image.

2) I am pro-life, not "pro-choice", because God Almighty is the author and giver of life.

Nehemiah 9:6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

Job 12:10 In [God’s] hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

•• Life proceeds from God. Genesis 2:7 says that “God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”

•• Life comes from God; God is for life — that is, God is “pro”-life.

3) I am pro-life because the alternative is death.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life...

•• The abortion industry is a culture of death. The sanctity of life movement is a culture of life. What a contrast!

• God says, “Choose life!” That is God's "choice" — life!

• Don’t fall for the semantic deception that labels people as “pro-life” or “pro-choice.” That “choice” is a choice for death — the death of the unborn child. God says, “Choose life!”

•• 1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

• Death is an enemy! Post-abortion counseling reveals that many women have been traumatized by the later realization that they have opted for death rather than life for their unborn babies.

4) I am pro-life, not "pro-choice", because there is abundant evidence in the bible that God looks upon unborn children in the womb as human persons, with human emotions and possessing the human sin nature from conception.

Luke 1:39-44 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped FOR JOY. [bold and caps emphasis mine]

Psalm 51:5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

•• The unborn John the Baptist, while still in his mother’s womb, is said to have “leaped for joy” as Mary (pregnant with Jesus) approached.

•• King David (Psalm 51:5) acknowledged that the uniquely human characteristic of sinfulness was in him from the time of his conception. Only humans can have sin attributed to them. David in the womb possessed the human sin nature.

5) I am pro-life because every child in the womb has potential for productive service to God.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

•• God called Jeremiah to his future ministry as a prophet before he was born.

•• My wife and I prayed for each of our four children, while they were still in the womb, concerning their service to God.

6) I am pro-life because children are a God-given blessing, a source of happiness, a reward and a heritage from God.

Psalm 127:3-5a Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed [KJV: Happy] is the man whose quiver is full of them.

•• My wife and I continually thank God for our four children. We pray for them daily, even now after they have grown up.

•• Was raising them hard work? Certainly. Were there times of hardship and tiredness? Of course. But the blessings of children far outweighed any short-term difficulties or inconveniences.

• Indeed, “The fruit of the womb is [God’s] reward” (Psalm 127:3, KJV).

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Summary of Six Good Reasons Why I Am Pro-Life:

• Men and women are made in the image of God.

• God Himself is for life. He is the author and giver of life.

• The alternative to life is death. Death is an enemy.

• There is abundant evidence in the bible that God looks upon unborn children in the womb as human persons, with human emotions and already possessing the human sin nature.

• Every child in the womb has potential for God’s service.

• Children are a heritage from God, a reward from Him, a God-given source of blessing and happiness.

“Therefore choose life!”
(Deuteronomy 30:19, KJV)

If you live in Southcentral Alaska and find yourself in need of crisis pregnancy counseling, including an opportunity for a free early obstetrical ultrasound, I encourage you to contact the compassionate people at the CPC Pregnancy Center of Anchorage.

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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of the Zondervan Corporation. All rights reserved.

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© 2005, James H. Feeney, All rights reserved.
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