You Shall Not Murder
If there was ever a commandment or a moral law that made the world a better place, surely the sixth commandment would fulfill that criteria. After all, every person on the planet benefits from such a philosophy. I would prefer not to be murdered and I assume even the most profligate and immoral person on the planet would hold the same sentiment.
Common sense though it may be, 2024 America operates with different moral reasoning (I would argue that it isn't moral reasoning at all but rather "moral emoting" but stay with me for the sake of argument). In America 2024, murder can be acceptable under certain circumstances. For instance, if a mother or father finds an unplanned pregnancy to be inconvenient or otherwise undesirable, America 2024 celebrates the decision to terminate the life of the child. This action we call abortion somehow enshrines liberty, enlightenment and progress.
What is the act we call abortion? Webster's defines abortion as: "the termination of a pregnancy after, accompanied by, resulting in, or closely followed by the death of the embryo or fetus." According to this definition, abortion requires administering death to a living creature. The most important question to answer is what is this living being? Fetus is probably the favorite term because it sounds scientific and sterile. But a fetus is a baby, pure and simple. And a baby is a human being. When does a baby become a human being? Is it in the first trimester? Is it in the second? The third? Is it after birth? At two years of age? At five years of age? At twelve years of age? At twenty one? This is the wrong question to ask.
The right question to ask is whether the baby was ever not a human being. From the moment of conception a baby has unique DNA and is a separate creation from his/her mother. This is why the slogan "My body, my choice" is so erroneous. The baby isn't the mother's body at all. The baby has his/her own body just as much as an adult. The difference between a baby in the womb at 6 weeks and a newborn at 6 weeks is developmental not ontological. Both are human beings, both are persons and both have value and worth before God. This is not some clump of sells or mass of tissue. This is a baby. This is a human life.
Abortion then is a euphemism. What is a woman aborting? A pregnancy. A baby. Another human life. Therefore, abortion is actually murder, nothing less. How exactly is this something to celebrate? In reality, it is something to mourn. If our culture spoke truthfully about what occurred in an abortion we would sound like barbarians. After all, violently dismembering a helpless infant sounds horribly gruesome. But reproductive freedom? That sounds quite reasonable. But it isn't.
This is why Christians speak about this issue. Abortion isn't a political issue. It is a moral issue. The Christian view of abortion isn't about imposing morality on others, it's about making the world a better place. And a world in which abortion doesn't exist would be a better world.