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Abortion and the War on Women

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Abortion and the War on Women BIBLE STUDY ABORTION AND THE WAR ON WOMEN Sex-selective abortion has taken 163 million girls. What can we do about it? uthor Mara Hvistendahl tells the story of a young man, Puneet Bedi, who went to work during the night shift at a hospital maternity ward in India. He hoped to witness aA birth. What he saw instead was horrifying. “Minutes after catching a glimpse of the labor room,” Hvistendahl says, “Bedi was intercepted by a cat with something bloody dangling from its mouth. It wasn’t until he saw a five-month-old fetus discarded on an uncovered tray, lying in a pool of blood, that he realized what the cat had eaten.” The baby was a girl, killed for that reason alone. Referring to the book Unnatural Selection, by Mara Hvistendahl, Liautaud talks about the war on women that has resulted in the loss of 163 million females in Asia through sex-selective abortion and infanticide because of cultural prejudice against girls and women. Her questions are poignant: “Why, then, if perhaps the largest crime against humanity is happening under our noses, have we heard so little about it? And what, if anything, is the church doing to slow down the holocaust?” Scripture: Genesis 1:26–28; Psalm 127:3–5; 139:13–16; Luke 10:38–42; Ephesians 5:22–33 Based on: “Genocide in Shades of Pink,” by Marian V. Liautaud, CHRISTIANITY TODAY, December 2012 1 ©2012 Christianity Today ChristianBibleStudies.com Christianity Today Bible Study ABORTION AND THE WAR ON WOMEN How to use this resource for a group study HOW TO USE THIS RESOURCE FOR A GROUP STUDY This Bible study can be used for an individual or a group. If you intend to lead a group study, follow these simple suggestions. Make enough copies of the article for everyone 1 in the group. If you would like your group to have more information, feel free to copy the Leader’s Guide for them as well. Don’t feel that you have to use all the material in the study. Almost all of 2 our studies have more information than you can get through in one session, so feel free to pick and choose the teaching information and questions that will meet the needs of your group. Use the teaching content of the study in any of these ways: for your own background and information; to read aloud (or summarize) to the group; for the group to read silently. Make sure your group agrees to complete confidentiality. This is essential 3 to getting people to open up. When working through the questions, be willing to make yourself 4 vulnerable. It’s important for your group to know that others share their experiences. Make honesty and openness a priority in your group. 5 Begin and end the session in prayer. 2 ©2012 Christianity Today ChristianBibleStudies.com Christianity Today Bible Study ABORTION AND THE WAR ON WOMEN Leader’s Guide Part 1 IDENTIFY THE CURRENT ISSUE Note to Leader: Provide for each participant the article “Genocide in Shades of Pink,” from CHRISTIANITY TODAY magazine, included at the end of this study. Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, an organization advocating against forced abortions in China, says the issue of gendercide highlights a fundamental contradiction in the so-called pro-choice movement: “You can’t promote or protect women while at the same time promoting abortion. Gendercide is neither a pro-life nor a pro-choice issue—it’s a human rights issue.” What then is a human being, and, further, what is a female? This study will show why the Bible’s answers to these questions can make all the difference. Discussion Starters: [Q] Are you pro-life or pro-choice, or some combination? How did you reach this conclusion? [Q] Do you believe abortion is a fundamental right for women? Why or why not? [Q] Have you known anyone facing an unwanted pregnancy? How did you counsel her? [Q] What cultural or political issues touch upon the dignity of human life? How well- versed are you in these issues? [Q] In your experience, are boys or girls treated better by our culture? Give examples. Part 2 DISCOVER THE ETERNAL PRINCIPLES Teaching Point One: Male and female are created in the image of God. “Culturally speaking, boys have always been favored over girls throughout the world—even, until recently, in the United States,” Liautaud notes. “Boys carry on the family name. They become their parents’ retirement plan in many cultures. They cost less to marry off and often have better access to education and political influence. Religious beliefs often bolster the preference: Some Asian communities persist in the deep-seated belief that ancestors are worshiped in the afterlife through the male line.” The creation account of Adam and Eve helps us clearly see the equal dignity of men and women, boys and girls, in God’s eyes. Read Genesis 1:26–28. 3 ©2012 Christianity Today ChristianBibleStudies.com Christianity Today Bible Study ABORTION AND THE WAR ON WOMEN Leader’s Guide [Q] What does it mean that both men and women are made in God’s image? [Q] What are men and women expected to do in the world as a consequence of their identity as God’s image-bearers? [Q] Verse 27 makes explicit what is implied in verse 26—the image of God is to be borne by male and female, without qualification. What does this say about the sanctity of all human life? [Q] How did the corruption of verse 28 as a result of the Fall lead to the miserable treatment of females in so many parts of the world? Teaching Point Two: Men and women have intrinsic worth even in the womb. Liautaud writes about the ongoing gendercide in Asia and parts of Europe: “In Half the Sky, Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn confirm the scope of the problem: More girls have been killed in the past 50 years than men in all the wars of the 20th century. In countries like China and India, hearing ‘It’s a girl’ is not cause for celebration; it’s a death sentence.” Yet God’s Word tells us of our intrinsic worth, even in the womb. Read Psalm 139:13–16. [Q] If God knit us together, who owns us? What does this say about abortion and about our intrinsic worth? [Q] In verse 14, David exults that he is “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Imagine a priceless work of art on the table in front of you. Then imagine taking a knife or a hammer to it. How is abortion like that illustration? How is it different? [Q] In verses 15–16, David talks about how the Lord saw both his forming and his future (“all the days ordained for me”). How does the fact that God is sovereign over all our days—even those days that no one else sees—speak of our intrinsic worth? Teaching Point Three: All children are a blessing. In China every year, the government forces mothers to undergo 1.2 million abortions, not counting untold numbers of voluntary, sex-selective abortions. Much of the carnage is caused by the government’s one-child policy, along with the cultural preference for boys. One China activist says, “Though no one could forget the Tiananmen movement, even more than 20 years later, few people seem to realize that three little words—one-child policy—resulted in what amounts to an hourly Tiananmen massacre, for the past 30 years, in broad daylight, 4 ©2012 Christianity Today ChristianBibleStudies.com Christianity Today Bible Study ABORTION AND THE WAR ON WOMEN Leader’s Guide right under the world’s nose.” The Bible, of course, has a different view of children—male and female. Read Psalm 127:3–5. [Q] In verses 3–4, what words does the Psalmist use to describe children? What metaphors would you use to describe the blessing of children? [Q] Verse 5 lifts up the value of large families, like quivers full of arrows. Why do you think the culture today has other ideas about family size? [Q] How might people without children experience the blessings of them? Teaching Point Four: Women are indispensable and vital members of the church. Changes in attitudes toward children—and especially females—must begin in the church, which is well situated in places such as China to make a difference. Notes Pastor Rick Warren, “The only organization big enough to stop this issue is the church. In 10 million villages, they may have nothing else, but they will always have a church. If we’re going to stop something at the grassroots level, it has to be done through the church. It has the most volunteers, and the local pastor, who’s marrying and burying his people, his beloved. He has more credibility in his community than any ngo or I could ever have.” There is, of course, ample biblical precedent for recognizing the dignity of women. Jesus himself treated women as important and valuable, as worthy of learning God’s Word. Read Luke 10:38–42. [Q] Clearly, Jesus had a real friendship, a relationship of respect, with these women. How does Jesus model proper treatment of women in the church? [Q] Mary was listening to Jesus, acting as a full disciple learning from her Master (v. 39). What does this say about the obligation and privilege of women to be followers of Christ? [Q] Martha wants Mary to pitch in with traditional “women’s work” (v. 40), and there is nothing wrong with seeking help in our daily tasks.
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