Question of the Week: If God Is Against Abortion, Why Does He Allow Miscarriages?
In order to properly respond to these kind of questions, the reason this objection came up first needs to be examined. If the moral equivocation of Abortion and allowing a Miscarriage are made out to be the same because the result is the death of a child, then there’s no argument to be had. Both of us agree that abortion is ending a child’s life and is therefore a bad thing to consciously pursue.
If the moral accusation is being made against God for violating His own standards by committing murder, the point still stands that the person trying to justify abortion has admitted to it being murder.
And if the moral justification is being made that God ends the lives of children, therefore we also share that right; then the issue is that of clarifying to the person that they do not share exclusive rights that God has.
The goal in any conversation should be for both parties involved to listen to each other. The problem is that like many terms used in arguments in favor of abortion, definitions of terms are changed on a whim. Listening doesn’t mean agreeing. Talking doesn’t mean that there isn’t going to be a conflict of ideas. And conflict isn’t a bad thing when it’s addressing a serious issue. If those in favor of abortion are correct and legitimate rights are being taken away from people in the name of a lie, that needs to be addressed and corrected. Likewise, if those against abortion are correct and human lives are being ended at the hands and will of their own mothers, that also needs to be addressed and corrected as well.
Good Philosophy has to exist if for no other reason than that bad philosophy needs to be answered. -C.S. Lewis
Claim #1: God Allowing a Miscarriage and a Mother Allowing an Abortion are the same thing.
The goal of this claim is meant to prove that if our beliefs are consistent, then we’re believing in a God who permits the same thing that takes place during abortions. We obviously don’t want to disagree with our God. But we need to be careful to define our terms as well. A Mother aborting her child is a decision she consciously pursues. A Miscarriage is not something God consciously pursues. There is not a single example in scripture of God causing a miscarriage in scripture the way those trying to prove its virtue make it out to be. The loss of the child is the only common factor between a miscarriage and abortion. The only assumption being made in both arguments is that a child is being lost, which is what the person supporting abortion is hopefully trying to disprove and not prove. And ironically, that leaves the actual topic of the conversation on the losing end of the person using this to support abortion. If there is actually something wrong with ending a child’s life, then they’ve admitted what the Pro-Life position is trying to prove. At worst, all that’s been established is that God is as cruel as a mother pursuing an abortion for killing their child. At best, they’ve proven that God’s inaction is the same thing as a Mother’s action. Either way, it’s a nonsensical claim to make.
Claim #2: If Abortion is Murder Then God is a Murderer.
The goal of this claim is meant to prove that the act of taking a child’s life is immoral for all people at all places at all times. This includes God. The problem with this attempt to dodge the issue is the same as the previous blunder. It fails to understand that there is a difference between us and God. God can create out of nothing. We can’t. God existed before the universe without a beginning. We didn’t. God is the standard for morality and ethics. We aren’t. God is the giver and taker of life. We aren’t. If the accusation of biblical murder is being leveled against the God of the Bible for ending lives, then at least define the term murder biblically. The only reason why taking someone’s life is ultimately deemed an evil is because it’s taking an exclusive right of God into our hands. If you’re going to accuse God of a crime you decided was evil, He isn’t going to care about your opinions. If you’re going to accuse God of a violation of His character without understanding what is meant by; “God, violation, and His character” then we shouldn’t pay any mind to their conclusions. Ultimately, the problem with this claim is that it falsely equivocates murder with killing, and grants the Pro-Life position the main point it’s trying to prove. People shouldn’t be given the power to determine when their baby dies. That power belongs to God alone.
Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
Genesis 9:5-6 (NKJV)
“The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.”
1 Samuel 2:6 (NKJV)
Claim #3: God Kills Babies So Why Can’t Their Mothers?
Hopefully anyone reading this out loud can conclude why that doesn’t make any sense. In light of what’s been said, the problems the assumptions behind these claims cause for the person trying to prove something from them, and the fact that the real issue is granted to the Pro-Life position in every one of them, these aren’t the kind of arguments that someone trying to justify abortion should make unanswered and uncorrected. Just because God allows something doesn’t mean He’s the cause of it. Just because God does something doesn’t give us the right to do it. And just because a life is ended in one instance without being anyone’s fault doesn’t mean that ending the lives of children in every instance should be viewed the same way.
A Reason For Hope is a ministry of Calvary Christian Fellowship of Tucson
Listen: Monday – Friday 5-6pm, on 106.3FM Reach Radio
Email your questions:
Follow on CCF Facebook: facebook.com/ccftucson
Watch our Frequently Asked Questions on YouTube.
