Abortion Clinic Throws Away Live Baby

This is seriously sickening. Although this incident happened during the Bush administration, I still wonder how Obama reacts to things like this. If you read my blog all that often you know that I am not a fan of George "I said Jesus to get votes" Bush and I also have some issues with Obama as well. I also am not posting this story as proof of why abortion is wrong and sick. But this has to be startling for us. Read the story and then realize that this guy killed a real, live, human baby and at the most will only get 15 years! How is this possible? He murdered a human by torturing him or her. He put a live baby in a biohazard bag with the afterbirth. They can't determine how the baby died, but however the baby died it was a form of torture and abuse. What is insane is that this is about the time these teens got for torturing and killing a puppy. So now puppies and humans are equals?

I am very saddened to hear stories like this and wonder how far this has to go before people see the murder that is happening. I honestly pray for this "doctor" and pray that he would see the error of his ways and turn to Jesus. Because, at this point, he is a murderer and will be in hell forever. The grace that is found in this story is that the baby will be heaven, where there will be no torture and no pain. Below is the story.

The Associated Press
6:55 AM EST, March 4, 2009

MIAMI - An abortion clinic owner is accused of delivering a live baby during a botched procedure and then throwing the infant away.

Belkis Gonzalez, 42, was arrested Tuesday and charged with practicing medicine without a license and tampering with evidence, both felonies, said Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade State Attorney's office. If found guilty, Gonzalez would face at least a year in prison and up to 15 years.

The teenage mother, Sycloria Williams, has filed a lawsuit alleging that Gonzalez knocked the infant off the chair where she had given birth, and then scooped the baby, placenta and afterbirth into a red plastic biohazard bag, and threw it out.

The clinic's doctor, Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique, had been scheduled to perform the procedure, but Williams went into labor after being given drugs to dilate her cervix and waiting for hours for Renelique to arrive, the suit said. The doctor has said he had been on his way to the Hialeah clinic when he was called to treat another patient who was bleeding.

Last month, the Board of Medicine revoked Renelique's license for committing medical malpractice, delegating responsibility to unlicensed personnel and failing to keep an accurate medical record.

Williams was 23 weeks pregnant when the incident happened in 2006.

Authorities were unable to definitively determine the cause of death -- and Gonzalez's role in it -- because the baby's body had decomposed by the time it was found eight days later, said Griffith, the attorney's office spokesman.

Gonzalez was being held on $50,000 bond. A hearing was scheduled for this morning. It was unclear if she had an attorney.

HT: Th'eternal Promise

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Obama Video: Any Thoughts?

Any thoughts on the video put out by a Catholic group?

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A Christian Response to the Freedom of Choice Act

It looks as though the Freedom of Choice Act is gaining ground now that our new President has taken office. I guess it should be no surprise and this was one of the reasons I didn't vote for him (I actually didn't vote at all, read this post on why I didn't). Here are some specifics, that I believe to be accurate, but if I am wrong please let me know:

If FOCA passes, pro-abortion principles will be codified into federal law. It would sweep away common sense regulations states have imposed, such as parental notification when minors seek abortions, waiting periods and counseling, or restrictions on state funding for abortions. It would also win the 'battle in the courts' by winning in the legislative venue.
American Issues Project (I don't agree with the whole article, because I think protesting with signs and marches is a little odd)

But, now that it is coming, what should the Christian do in response to this? Does this mean that I must pray for the demise of our President? Does this mean that I should not pay taxes? Below are some quick things I believe we should be doing as Christians.

We must still rely on our God that he is in control. We don't know why God would allow such a thing to be passed, but we do know that God works out all things for good for those who trust in Him. At this time we don't know how this could be, and we might never know. But if the FOCA passes, it does not negate the fact that God is in control of all things. Sometimes he allows evil to be done to work out his final will and his final purposes.

We must pray for our President. This does not mean that we pray that this passes, but we must pray that Obama comes to faith in Jesus Christ. We must pray for those Christians that come in direct contact with President Obama, like Pastor Rick Warren. We must pray that God would give our President knowledge and insight on what is right as our leader. We must pray that he would see the error in this legislation and change his mind. We must also pray that if this does go through that God's glory would be seen through this. Can God's glory be shown through evil? Yes, of course it can, sometimes we just can't see it right away.

We must still pay our taxes. This really stinks to be honest. I don't like the idea of my tax money to be paying for abortions, even though it has been for quite awhile since my taxes support Planned Parenthood. But, my taxes are also sent off to give Iraq by the millions every month too. My taxes help pay for overspending by our government, wars that I don't agree with and many other things that make me cringe. Not only this but Christ and Paul both said to pay taxes even while the governments they were involved with were highly scandalous. We know that the Holy Spirit inspired all of Scripture. Christ and Paul spoke of paying our taxes and afterwards, Christ was crucified and Nero burnt Christians at the stake to light up his gardens, all with tax money paid in part by Christians themselves. Think of this. Christ paid, in part, for his own crucifixion with the money that was found in the mouth of the fish. No doubt, we still have to pay our taxes. No doubt God's plan also came to fruition because of it.

Be careful how you speak to others about this. We need to be careful how we talk to others about this bill and about abortion in general. Do I believe that all abortion is sin? Yes, I do. Do I believe that it is murder? Yes, I do. But, the fact still remains that when I am speaking to others, I do not know their walk of life or what their past entails. I would hope that we would all be careful with how we speak to people who have had abortions in the past. Was it wrong? Yes. But, should we be gentle on how we broach the subject with them and show them their error? Yes. Too many times I have seen or found people to be very upfront with their thoughts on this that although their words are truth, the way that they go about it makes it sound like they should have a pitch fork and torch so that they can burn their enemies. This is why I am not a big proponent of picketing with signs and screaming. I just don't know how this helps. I believe how we can help is to speak to the individuals who are going through these decisions and tough times, but that would take some personal time from watching TV and finding all the verses in the Bible that shows you're right and they are wrong.

In the end, do I disagree with the FOCA? Yes. It really gives me a sick feeling of what it entails. Does this give me the right to pray for my President's demise or failure? I do not believe so. Does this make me long for the days of Christ's coming? Yes. Does this make me want to live more for Christ now, and proclaim his mercies and goodness to others? Yes.

I pray that we, as Christians, can be the salt of the earth and cities on the hill through this. I also pray that we wouldn't' be cities on the hill with high walls around us where we attack all those who come to our gates.

Soli Deo Gloria.

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Is Abortion Sin?

I would like to give a quick survey of why I believe abortion is wrong. I know that the post title may sound like I am asking if it is wrong, but it is really there so that those asking the question can find a biblical answer.

People have many questions on the topic of abortion. What I would like to quickly go over in this post is:

Is Abortion Wrong?
When is a Baby, well, a Baby?
Is there ever a time where abortion is okay?

Is Abortion Wrong?

The definition of abortion given by Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary states that an abortion is defined as:
the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus

The term termination and death means that one is taking away the chance of, or the actuality of life from another. This is, in reality, is killing another. To give a biblical reason for why abortion is seen as wrong we find it explicitly in Exodus 21

"If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise."
Exodus 21:22-25

This passage as a whole is dealing with personal injuries and starts off by saying that if you kill a man you shall surely be put to death (Ex 21:1) and put right after the 10 Commandments are given to the people. Basically what Exodus 21 is trying to do is give some practical laws for all to understand so that there is no questioning. It would be like me telling my 5 year old, "You cannot go upstairs" and then following that up with saying, "this means you can't go on the stairs, you can't play on the stairs and don't even go near the stairs." What God is doing is giving some clearer understanding to the people of what it means to "not murder."

God gives a clear understanding that murder extends even to the unborn infant. You will notice that no age restriction is given to the pregnancy but just states that if a fight breaks out and one man hits a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely, and that baby dies, the man shall die. And here is the key point of the entire passage: But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life.

Notice that the man's life that inflicts the injury is no more important than the baby that lies within the mother. He will have to pay with his own life, because he took another's.

So, is abortion wrong? Yes, because it takes another's life. The women today are lucky that we are not living like the Theonomists wish we were living or they would be put to death alongside their unborn child.

When is a Baby, well, a Baby?

Biblically there is no chapter and verse to go to outright to say when a baby is truly a baby. I will say that Exodus does not give us a time frame of when a baby would be considered a non-life. Even further we find evidence of the view that God sees children as children well before the human eye or for that matter a computer's eye could see the formation of an actual child. I am not going to get into science, because I suck at science, but I will give you some interesting evidence from Scripture of when God sees his children.

The first is found in Jeremiah 1:5

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."
Jeremiah 1:5

Notice that God knew Jeremiah before he was even formed in the womb. This would seem to be speaking of a child in the womb before the fetus is made to have bones, ears, fingers, etc. Whatever age that God is speaking of, we know that is before the baby Jeremiah has been even formed in the womb. The term "knew" (yada in Hebrew) here is also a very deep relational word to mean "love." It is a very intimate word used all through the Old Testament. So intimate that it is also used of when a man and woman come together to have sexual relations. We find this in Genesis 4 when Adam knew Eve and Eve conceived and gave birth to a son.

So, with Jeremiah we find that a life is a life before it is even formed, because God doesn't love intimately objects, or mere raw flesh, but he loves the one who has a soul, a spirit, who when left to grow in the stomach of the woman, will come out a child and reveal the glory of God.

Another time we find the same thing said from David.

For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
Psalm 139:13-16

They key term used here is that David speaks of his unformed substance. This seems to be pointing to the time before many would call David a human being. This is probably speaking of the time as the sperm and egg come together to create what will later become a formed substance in the womb. Notice that his days on the earth had not yet started, but when they did start they were going to be ordained for him. David's psalm here is a beautiful one to show God's omniscience and omnipresence and he praises God that he knew him and loved him before he even had substance. Again, for God, the baby is a baby long before many of us will notice the affects on the mother.

So, if this is true. That the babies we find in Jeremiah and David were in fact babies before they were formed or had substance. That they were loved and given commission long before their formation, we must ask, "if they were to be aborted before birth, is this murder?" I would give a resounding yes, because as we look to Exodus 21 it is very clear that one life is traded for another. Since the baby is a baby even before it is formed, any abortion is murder in the eyes of God who knows and loves that baby before the mother and father have a chance to.

Is there ever a time where abortion is okay?

Because of my belief in the baby being a life well before it is formed (I would believe that at the time of conception) and that taking that life is murder according to the word of God, then there is never a time that abortion is okay. Never.

Let me hit some of the times I have heard that is supposedly "okay"

1. Rape or Rape by incest

Although my heart goes out deeply for those who have been raped, I believe that the one who should be punished is the one who raped the poor woman and not the baby. By aborting the child, the child is the one taking the brunt of the punishment. The one who raped the girl will only get time in jail and will not die. With these laws established, the one who pays the highest price is not the girl or the man, but the baby. Why should an innocent child take the brunt of the punishment?

Will this be hard to raise a child that came from rape? It could be. But the woman is going to be going through many struggles and deep pain because of the rape and the baby could actually be a huge blessing of promise to the woman, not a curse. I truly believe that the Psalmist got it right when he states:

...children are a gift of the Lord
Psalm 127:3

Sure children of rape are not in the context but they are never kept out of the description either. If children are a gift from the Lord, this means that even those that were born out of wedlock in any circumstance are, in fact, a gift from God. Think of this. Out of one of the most gruesome sins possible, a beautiful child is given. A most beautiful gift. It is like finding a diamond from the dirty piece of coal. (not the mother being the coal, but the act that the baby was conceived)

2. What about aborting a child to save the mother from dying in child birth?

As David states, "you have ordained all my days..." If we believe this then we do not take out a child to save another's life. My wife and I have talked at length about this. She has repeatedly told me that she would be crushed to know that her life was spared by killing her baby. Again, children are a gift from the Lord and God is in complete control of every event around us. My hope is not in this world and to die is far greater because we are with Christ, so I would not kill in order to save another. This would be the hardest decision of my life and I cannot say what is right in every circumstance. The reason I say this is that this is a decision for every family, and it should be talked about in length before any birth.

I would just be very careful here as decisions are made. Understand that God is control and that his will must be done and that truly every child is a blessing from God.

As Christians, we need to understand that abortion is very much wrong. That the baby is a life very early, if not at the time of conception. I like how one of my pastor's put it. He said,

"People like to ask when a baby is truly a baby. I tell them, leave it alone and see what happens"

Just as one doesn't get close to a cliff of a mountain because of the impending danger, neither should we mess around with making excuses for what is murder and what is not. Stay away from that cliff's ledge. I would always lean towards not messing with God's children, it is a very big deal and with it much judgment comes.

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