Womb Terrorism or Sanctity of Life?

 Well, I guess no one would think of abortion as womb terrorism.  I have been thinking much about why it should be termed as womb terrorism.

photo credit: Aswinth Chembath

First of all, let me state my position as a Christian.  I believe in the sanctity of life.  I believe that God values each life and has a great purpose for each life.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Genesis 1: 27)  What an honour to be created in the image of God and this happens but the first man and first woman made a mistake to disobey God and fell away from God's grace and favour.  This separation continues to the current generation and this fall is deep enough into the pit that the only possible rescue will be to reach out to the outstretched hands of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Even as He extends His hands, we too, as a fallen person need to reach out to grasp His hands.  

photo credit: Taylor Kopel

The life created by God begins in the womb, at least this is what the Bible says: 

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” 

- Psalm 139: 13-16)

So, besides medical reasons that concern the mother and child, what excuse does anyone have to murder a child in the womb?  I call it terrorism because it fits the description of terrorism very well.

I remember doing a short course on counter-terrorism with an European university in 2015 and the lecturer asked the students to share the names of groups that we would consider as terrorist groups.  I promptly added a well-known abortionist group based in the United States of America which pretends to care for the health of women.  And I explained why I thought this way.

We often associate terrorism to extreme violence: beheadings, burning down of buildings and vehicles, bomb blasts by insurgents.  Words like "change", "revolution", "rights" and even "religious or religion" are common.  All terrorists believe in an ideology which involves a drastic political or social change and there is strong exertion of force to achieve such a change.  It seems normal for us to associate "terrorists" to men because this is what the news media has shown us but over the years, we have seen female jihadists, female revolutionaries who are willing to die for their causes.  

While poverty may contribute to the raising of terrorists, it is not necessarily so.  Even the rich participate in these adventures and sometimes, the politics drive the quest for terrorism.  You see, men and women who do not value life are often looking for the thrill, the power to control others, the power to coerce others to conform to their ideologies through violence.  And after all, how do you think terrorist groups and acts are funded?  Someone or some people have the money.  

What happens to the terrorised? Are they kept in custody or trafficked? Are we then looking at a multi-billion dollar industry?

The victims of terror are well...terrorised!  They are forced to comply to shameful acts and unable to voice their objections; if they did, they will mostly die or be subject to further inhumane acts.  Women are violated physically, mentally and in many cases forced to recant their faith in Christ, especially in terrorism in the name of religion.  In some cases, even men experience these horrible enforcements.  The emotional well-being of the terrorised person is in shambles!  The terrorists can come from the social stratus of the rich or the poor, the educated and uneducated, the male or female, influencer or not regardless of nationalities.

photo by Manuel Schinner

Sadly, we do not see abortion as an act of terrorism. Say what you will but one cannot deny that Life begins at conception when the sperm of the man meets the egg of the woman. So, anyone attempting to shut this life down for selfish reason(s) is effectively a murderer.  In fact abortion meets the description of terrorism - albeit in the womb.  The victim is voiceless, helpless and at the mercy of the woman who is carrying this life. It is the most violent act of killing an innocent life and crushing every possibility of hope through this life.

Womb terrorism has claimed 42.7 million people in the world in 2020 and is the leading cause of death.  The world and especially the Church needs to be ashamed of this act of terrorism. We do not talk enough about this in church circles and our eyes are focused on the lesser evils.  

In a recent Facebook post on 7th January 2020, I wrote:

#wombterrorism So in 2018, 42 million died due to abortion; it was the leading cause of death in the world. 2019 - 58 million abortions, again #1 leading cause of death. 2020 - 42.7 million abortions, and yes again! It was the leading cause of death.

Question: Which gender kills babies?

Question: Which gender promotes the killing of babies?

Question: Which gender would be considered irresponsible and contributes towards decisions to abort babies?

You may not want to answer these questions but you know that there is a lot of work to be done to reach out to millions who contribute to “womb-terrorism”. I am not talking about abortions related to medical complications. 

Have you wondered why, except for pro-life groups and some individuals, there is hardly any grief or urgency to end this kind of terrorism? How many future presidents, medical workers, educationists, farmers, business persons, dedicated soldiers have we lost? Shame on us for being quiet. We are busy getting vaccinated to keep us alive when womb terrorism has been real for generations. We could be 'unknowingly' supporting womb terrorism with our silence and this is not just a 'woman-thing' but it involves the man too. Morality is definitely at stake here.

I guess the next question is: so, what am I going to do about this? I will be obedient to the Word:

“Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.” 

- Proverbs 31: 8

Well, I will continue to speak against womb terrorism and call it for what it is. As a single woman, it makes me angry as well sad to realise that women can be profiled as terrorists whether they act on aborting life or support the act of aborting life. I qualify this with the exception of medical reasons where one has to choose between mother and child. (if it were me, I probably choose the child anytime; after all, I have lived a good life).

photo by Charles Deluvio

And it is devastating to acknowledge that sometimes women choose the route of abortion because of irresponsible acts done by them and the man (men) in their lives or to them. This irresponsibility belongs greatly to the man as well. May we all repent for choosing death over life.

And then, there is the famous female excuse: My body, my choice. This is absolutely an invalid argument as the body is just a habitat for the life inside it. You invited that life and now, you want to kill it and throw it out? Where, then, is the humanity in this action? The degradation of morality by both man and woman is not an excuse for womb terrorism.

Finally, I want to encourage every person to choose against womb terrorism and do your part to stand against this. Life is to be lived, no matter how short it might be - this is God's desire for His created being.

Blessings of abundant life in Christ and stay smiling,

Rachel

Some links are attached for your reading pleasure:

Terroism and Counter-terroism: an overview by Todd Sandler

10 Facts about Poverty's Role in Terroism by Mehruba Chowdhury 

Abortion was the Leading Cause of Death Worldwide in 2019 by Steve Ertelt and Micaiah Bilger