why I am not pro-choice

In “why I am not pro-choice” Jefferson Vann explains why his conditionalist faith rejects the pro-choice position on abortion.

I recently preached a sermon reflecting on the murder of John the Baptist. The story is presented in the text below:

Matthew 14:6-11 (NET)

6 But on Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, 7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Instructed by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 Although it grieved the king, because of his oath and the dinner guests he commanded it to be given. 10 So he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.

In that message, I pointed out that someone can call himself pro-choice, but what he really means is that he wants the government to allow him to make a choice without suffering the consequences. The Bible teaches us that some of our choices will have terrible consequences — both in this life and on judgment day. You can call yourself pro-choice all you want, but if the choices you want to make endanger other people’s lives, there will be consequences. 

Herod made the choice to let himself be entertained by his new wife’s daughter. She danced for him and her display pleased him. He was so entranced by her beauty that he disengaged his brain.

He made the choice to promise this young girl to give her whatever she asked for. I would say that the words “What were you thinking?” apply here. But I have already said that his lust had disengaged his brain.

That happens a lot with lust. It is not a toy to be played with. The book of Proverbs tells us …

“the commandments are like a lamp, instruction is like a light, and rebukes of discipline are like the road leading to life, by keeping you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the loose woman. Do not lust in your heart for her beauty, and do not let her captivate you with her alluring eyes; for on account of a prostitute one is brought down to a loaf of bread, but the wife of another man preys on your precious life” (Proverbs 6:23-26).

But Herod was not the only one whose choices led to a tragedy that day.

Herodias was Herod Antipas’ wife. She had already made the choice to leave her first husband — Herod Philip — and move up the ladder to Herod Antipas. She also agreed to have that troublemaker John the Baptist imprisoned. But when she found out about her husband’s rash promise, she decided to take her sinful life to the next level. She advised her daughter to ask for John’s head on a platter.

Herodias was also pro-choice, and her choice was to eliminate a life that was inconvenient for her. God holds people accountable who make those kinds of choices. That is the case even when the government approves of them. Herodias’ husband was the government. He sanctioned this murder of an innocent. But his government sanction did not make it any less a murder.

Herodias’ daughter Salome was not an innocent victim in this tragedy, but she was a victim. The people who should have given her good advice led her down the wrong path. The people she looked up to brought her down. Lots of people in this generation are puppets to a culture that has turned them against righteousness, against the truth, and against God.

Recently in the USA, a politician (Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi) used her public office to declare her pro-choice stance. She said that although she was from a pro-life Catholic family, she was not actively pro-life. It is not possible to be pro-life and pro-choice at the same time. One has to decide which side to take on this issue. 

As a conditionalist, I believe life is a gift from God. I don’t believe human governments have the right to give their citizens a choice to take away that gift from their innocent unborn. Governments who do so will incur the wrath of God who “watches over the innocent day by day” (Psalm 37:18).

That is why I am not pro-choice.