’s Forgotten Issues

Last January marked the 40th anniversary of the infamous Roe Vs. Wade Supreme Court decision that opened the doors for widespread . That was a long time ago, but the debate still rages on. Pro-abortion advocates talk about the “Reproductive rights of women” while the pro-life side proclaims the importance of the “Right to life.” Those debates are pretty well known and are worth discussing, but I want to put them aside for the moment. There are two other very important abortion issues that have never made it (as far as I know) into the national debate.

Those two issues are racism and the effect that abortion has on women. Let’s take them one at a time.

It has long been reported that (1883-1966), the founder of (which has become the largest abortion provider in America) was a racist. She did make some comments that could be taken that way, but her actions leave no doubt. In 1939 she established the “Negro Project” and later the “Population Congress.” Both were supposed to eliminate poverty by keeping the poor from reproducing, and that primarily meant blacks. In her own words Margaret Sanger said, “The main objectives of the Population Congress is to…apply a stern and rigid policy of sterilization and segregation to that grade of population whose progeny [children] is already tainted, or whose inheritance is such that objectionable traits may be transmitted to offspring.”

Ms. Sanger’s intentions may just appear to be tainted by racism, but there is no question that the actions of Planned Parenthood today are overtly racist. Think about this: today 40% of all African-American pregnancies end in induced abortions. According to the Centers for Disease Control, abortion kills more blacks than the seven leading causes of death COMBINED. That includes heart disease, cancer, strokes, accidents, diabetes, murder, and lower respiratory diseases. [National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008.]

Rev. John Piper points out that, “Today 78% of Planned Parenthood clinics are in minority communities. . . . Every day 1,300 black babies are killed in America. 700 Hispanic babies die every day from abortion. Call this what you will – when the slaughter has an ethnic face and the percentages are double that of the white community and the killers are almost all white, something is going on here that ought to make the lovers of racial equality and racial harmony wake up.”

Here is the second abortion issue that is seldom discussed. How does abortion affect the mother? According to reports of the Department of Education and the Alan Guttmacher Institute as many as 91% of all women who have undergone an abortion suffer psychological problems, some are immediate and some are long-term. Some examples are anxiety, depression, regret, anger, a deep sense of loss, guilt, nightmares, marital problems, difficulty sleeping, flashbacks, hopelessness, psychotic reactions, and even suicide. [ See “Abortion: Pain or Pleasure?” by Howard W. Fisher, MD, in The Psychological Aspects of Abortion, D Mall and WF Watts, MD, ed, 1979]

Emotional stress is not the only problem. There are also physical consequences. A 1986 Lancet article states that “induced abortion before first-term pregnancy increases the risk of breast cancer.” Have you heard anything about that in the media? A 1978 Russian study published by Larissa Remennick in 1990, indicated that women who had aborted one or two pregnancies had a 200% increased chance of developing breast cancer. Those with three or more tripled their risk, her study found.

What can we learn from all of this? Abortion may be legal, but God’s law is more important than man’s law. The horrible consequences of abortion proves that God was right when He warned us that, “He who sows iniquity [evil] will reap vanity” (Proverbs 22:8). In other words, life does not go well when we disobey God’s law.

We must never forget, God’s grace is so great that it can even extend to murderers. Be assured that “…where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20). We know this is true because King David was guilty of murder, and yet God forgave him when he repented. David prayed, “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness” (Psalm 51:14). Moses was a murderer and so was Paul and God forgave them both when they turned to Him.

God’s willingness to forgive gives us hope. God is ready to forgive sin, even abortion, when a guilty person admits their guilt to Him and accepts the pardon that Jesus purchased on the Cross. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). I hope you will let Jesus forgive your sin and make you a completely new person. Don’t forget God’s amazing grace.

"The marriage bed is the most degenerating influence in the social order," Sanger said. (p. 23) [Quite the opposite of God's view on the matter: "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." (Hebrews 13:4)

"If your parents are stupid enough to deny you access to , and you are under 18, you can get it on your own. Call Planned Parenthood." Planned Parenthood advertisement, Dallas Observer, Jan. 30, 1986

Planned Parenthood's on & Marital Rights: PP has encouraged homosexuality and advocated compulsory sterilization of all who have two children. (Family Planning Perspectives (a PP publication), June, Oct. 1970)

Dr. Lena Levine in 1953, concerning Planned Parenthood's purpose and planned course of action: "... to be ready as educators and parents to help young people obtain sex satisfaction before marriage. By sanctioning sex before marriage we will prevent fear and guilt. We must also relieve those who have these ... feelings, and we must be ready to provide young boys and girls with the best contraceptive measures available so they will have the necessary means to achieve sexual satisfaction without having to risk possible pregnancy." (Planned Parenthood News, Summer 1953) ." ("Psycho-Sexual Development," quoted in Planned Parenthood News, Summer 1953, pg. 10)

Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) on March 9 introduced HR 1457, the Post-Abortion Depression Research and Care Act of 2007. The bill's "findings" section will read like heresy to groups such as Planned Parenthood, which claim that most women feel relief after an abortion and that any negative feelings last only "a little while."

HR 1457 cites evidence of "severe and long-term effects" of abortion on women, including depression, eating disorders, suicide attempts, intense grief, emotional numbness, rage, sexual dysfunction, and relationship difficulties. "Women who aborted a first pregnancy are four times more likely to report substance abuse compared to those who suffered a natural loss of their first pregnancy," the legislative text reads, "and they are five times more likely . . . than women who carried to term."

Depression and suicide statistics cited in the Pitts bill derive from a study released in 2006 by David Fergusson, a researcher from New Zealand who calls himself a pro-choice atheist. Fergusson's findings correlate with those of pro-life researchers at the Elliot Institute and elsewhere.