Comments on: Abortion

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 18:35:26 +0000

Larry – Agree all around. The big “take-aways” for me was definitely about two things: sacrifice on the part of believers, and only God changes people’s hearts about this topic. Thanks for sharing your testimony about this.

Judy – It’s definitely hard to say about NYC specifically, I think determining why the number was so high there was outside the scope of the report quoted. As far as the morning after pill goes, I don’t think that was even included, based on this image, which breaks it down by the type of procedure carried out, and doesn’t include “emergency contraception”, or “postcoital contraception”, as it’s formally called.

Based on that, it would seem the number could be quite abit higher if the morning-after pill was included.

By: judy

judy — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:54:08 +0000

wow, that is a high number…but it says that they’re defining induced abortions as the termination of a known, or suspected, pregnancy…so that makes me wonder if they’re including usage of the “morning after” pill.
also, i would be willing to bet money on the fact that a lot of people GO TO nyc to have an abortion so no one “back home” would realize it happened. a friend of mine had one when i lived out in kansas, and she went two states over before she felt comfortable enough to have it done. ((she’d already had two preemies and just couldn’t handle the thought of having another.)) i’m sure not all the women in nyc are like, using it as a form of bc, which is what that number seems to suggest cause JESUS its a high number. ^^

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 15:44:47 +0000

Eric,
Thanks for the insightful post. Abortion is a shameful and sickening stain on this nation and nothing breaks the heart of God (or brings about His anger) quite like the shedding of innocent blood. Several things come to mind when I think of finding a solution to this horrible problem.
First, I think of the often quoted verse from 2 Cronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” The fault and solution lies squarely in the hands of those who are called by His name, Christians. We as the Body of Christ need to allow God to break our hearts with the things that break His heart, which will lead to the humility and repentance needed to move God’s hand to heal this sick nation.
Secondly, I think of the spiritual blindness that is on those who haven’t had their minds renewed by the Holy Spirit and the word of God. In my former life before coming to know Jesus, I was guilty of going along with the aborton of my own child. My mindset at the time was “stop this pregnancy before it becomes a baby”. I was blind to the fact that it already was a baby and that I was participating in murder and the shedding of innocent blood. Thankfully, I have been forgiven for this horrible sin because I confessed it (agreeing with God) and repented (changed my mind). This is what needs to happen to many many people. They need to agree with God and change their minds about abortion, but that can only be done through humility. The bottom line is only God can change hearts. We can however be used in that process by being obedient to speak and pray as His Spirit leads.
Thanks for letting me add my 2 cents.

By: anon

anon — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:14:30 +0000

Couple things:
1) Don’t discount the effectiveness of prayer (I know that wasn’t your intent).

John 14:13-14 says “13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Note that He doesn’t rule out radical change in people’s hearts, nor does he rule out broad-reaching ambiguous prayers. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you understanding of the people who are going through an abortion decision. Ask Him to let you know those people personally. Prayer and fasting is much more effective than we acknowledge, but begin to acknowledge it and it will grow your faith!

2) Don’t limit your prayer and intercession to just the act of abortion. The decision always begins long before the act. Pray for those you know who are having sex and are not married, that they would be awakened to the consequences. Even pray that God would drive a stake between their relationship. Pray for college kids and teenagers who are deceived into thinking that “everyone else is doing it”; pray that the Lord plants an unshakable truth in their hearts. Pray that the Lord would even speak to pregnant mothers through little children, that the little voices would speak God’s truth.

3) Also be sure to pray for reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace for people who have chosen to abort. We have all sinned, and in many cases this is the pivotal circumstance that God will use to change many more lives for His glory.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:54:29 +0000

Hi Judy, long time no talk =). Thanks for commenting.

The info I was pulling from was this:

1. Goto this link
2. Search for the number 776. It’s in the fourth paragraph under the Header that is labeled Results. It’s nearly at the top of the entire document. The entire sentence reads: “The abortion ratios by state or area of occurrence ranged from 40 per 1,000 live births in Idaho to 776 per 1,000 in NYC.” The sentence before it indicates that it was from 2002.

Also, I realize that 776 per 1,000 in New York City is the highest in the country, but it’s also the most populous city in the U.S. and probably the most famous or second most famous after L.A. worldwide. The rate is substantially lower elsewhere in the country, but even a rate of 250 per 1,000 live births is 20%, which is still shockingly high to me.

Though it may seem odd or just me trying to be sensationalist, I really think God drew me to the 776/1,000 stat to shock me out of complacency and inaction on the topic.

By: judy

judy — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:43:05 +0000

howdy.

i went to the cdc website and cannot find the statistics listed in your blog…so…idk, you might want to go verify those bc that seems like an unusually high number, especially since the rate of abortion has been down lately.

i found this:

“The 6 million-plus pregnancies in 1996 in the U.S. resulted in 3.9 million births, 1.3 million induced abortions, and almost a million fetal deaths. This means that 62 percent of pregnancies ended in a live birth, 22 percent ended in abortion, and 16 percent ended in a miscarriage or stillbirth. Trends in birth, abortion, and fetal loss have varied over the past 20 years, but since 1990 the rates for all three have declined: live births, down 8 percent; induced abortions, down 16 percent; and fetal loss, down 4 percent.”

but its only current to 1999.

you might want to link to respectable sources of statistics and information if you want to ah….idk get the word out or whatever? ^^ ((i’m personally pro-choice, but you’re certainly entitled to your opinion as well. i just think you need properly documented sources, ESPECIALLY if your current ones are kinda freaking you out.))