By In my email inbox I have a daily news feed of information published regarding the pro-life movement. Recently I received an article entitled, “Legislator: Disabled Kids Are God’s Punishment.” Reading this article made me sick.
Bob Marshall does not represent all Christians or pro-lifers when he says disabled children are God’s punishment to women who have had abortion. Just as God weeps over pre-born children whose lives are taken away by a woman’s choice, God weeps just as much if not more when people like Marshall misrepresent him.
Marshall uses faulty logic and theology when he references the Old Testament and the first born being offered to the Lord. Even if Marshall’s logic was correct, there are many, both Christian and non-Christian who do not offer their first born to the Lord. Marshall cannot be further from the truth when he states that there is a special punishment for those who have had an abortion. According to the Biblical Christian world view, all are deserving of death because all have sinned and rejected God, Romans 3:19 & 23.
Many women who have had an abortion have trouble getting pregnant later on. Miscarriage is a common side effect of having an abortion. Research has shown that abortions done correctly do not typically lead to infertility, but mistakes in the abortion process, such as the child’s bone fragments being left behind, can lead to infertility ( for information read here: http://www.physiciansforlife.org/content/view/1252/50/ ). Women who have had an abortion do not need to be given a message of fear because of past mistakes.
If you have had an abortion please know that God is eager to forgive you for having an abortion if you turn to Christ. There is nothing in the Bible that says that God will punish you with a disabled child for having an abortion. The punishment you receive for an abortion is the same punishment I will receive for, say, being arrogant (See again Romans 3 and James 4:16), unless I turn to Christ and believe that He “bore our sins in His body on the Cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness…” 1 Peter 2:24.
God is abundant in grace and mercy and you cannot earn a healthy child because of your good deeds, but many women who have had an abortion have gone on to have healthy children because God is good, Isaiah 49:14-21. Look to him to find healing. There are many pro-lifers who want to support you and point you to the love of God.
And to pro-lifers…
If you are speaking to someone who has had an abortion, let your words be filled with humility because pride only results in alienating others. Remember to be gracious as God has been gracious to you and do not make the mistake of thinking that the person you are speaking to is a worse sinner than you. The pro-choice movement wants women to believe that pro-lifers lack compassion, by your actions and words you can change the culture’s often skewed perception of pro-lifers.
Please check the facts before making a quick judgment based on one news article. Marshall never said disabled children are God\’s punishment, period. Perhaps a better story would be why Planned Parenthood is receiving taxpayer dollars to carry out abortions? Or how one could reconcile what this college news agency is claiming Marshall said to his 100% Pro-Life, 100% Pro-Disabled Children, voting record.
The real story is that Planned Parenthood has failed in liberating women by trying to withhold vital medical information from women who want to have an abortion– that\’s what this news conference was about. This is a lie that has been perpetuated, and sadly continues to be, due to journalists only reading the headlines.
Check out the speech Marshall gave to the House Floor: http://delegatebob.com/videos/delegate-bob-marshalls-floor-statement-concerning-an-article-by-capital-news-service
Thanks.
Thanks for reading our website Peter. Planned Parenthood is pure evil. I agree wholeheartedly. However, Bob Marshall’s comments were inappropriate, unbiblical, and counter-productive to the pro-life cause. Will we get over it? Of course. This doesn’t mean we can’t critique such a ridiculous statement. I don’t think we skewed anything.
Here is the section in which he makes the comment Peter, verbatim:
“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion who have handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the firstborn of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children. In the Old Testament, the first-born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment, Christians would suggest, and with the knowledge they have from faith has been verified by a study by the Virginia Commonwealth University. First abortions of the first pregnancy are much more damaging to the woman than latter abortions.