This week I received the 2010 abortion statistics for my home state of Florida provided by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration - compiled by gestation weeks and county where the terminations occurred. Good news and bad news. The good - there was a slight drop in the state of Florida totals from 2009 – from 81,919 to 79,908 (2010), an average of 220 babies per day. Broward County, where I live, also saw a small decrease from 2009 – 12,827 to 12,186 (2010), an average of 33 babies per day. Palm Beach County to our north also saw a decrease from 2009 - 5,904 to 5,645 (2010) an average of 15 babies per day. The bad news, to our south, Miami-Dade saw an increase from 2009 – 18,615 to 19,390 (2010) an average of 53 babies per day.
We praise God for every decrease in the slaughter of the innocent, however the loss of life represented in the 2010 report remains staggering – difficult to comprehend. I've yet to hear daily television or radio newscasts report that "Today, sources at the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration reported that another 33 babies were murdered in Broward County while still in their mother's womb." The loss of life continues unabated without notice or comment – as though it wasn't happening!
Michael Spielman (www.abort73.com) has said, “The domestication of abortion has made it tragically commonplace, so much so that we seem to have lost our ability to be outraged by it. How is it that even we who oppose abortion are not more overwhelmed by the fact that it is legal, in the United States of America, to tear apart the tiny bodies of helpless unborn children?” (“A Biblical Mandate to do Something about Abortion”)
Where is the response of the Church in the midst of this holocaust? Where is the moral leadership of its shepherds in a culture of death that encourages and justifies the brutal killing of one's own offspring? Where is the compassionate intervention for those at risk for abortion?
Just days before the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Rev. Flip Benham of Operation Save America (OSA), said, “Abortion will come to an end, when the Church of Jesus Christ makes up her mind it will come to an end – not a second sooner. The responsibility for ending abortion in America rests squarely upon the shoulders of the Church of Jesus Christ.”
His words are consistent with the vision and mission statement of OSA which says in part,
“As the Church changes its heart toward unborn children, God Himself will hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and bring healing to our land. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only answer to the abortion holocaust…There are no cheap political solutions to the holocaust presently ravaging our nation. Like slavery before it, abortion is preeminently a Gospel issue. The Cross of Christ is the only solution.”
How I wish the American Church would embrace that truth. Earlier this week Pastor Rusty Lee Thomas wrote,"…abortion is a national sin that has wrought national calamities. Part of these calamities is good has become evil and evil, good. All of us are either complicit or complacent when it comes to the American holocaust. Our nation is staggering under the weight of blood guilt."
Ultimately, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the solution to America’s abortion crisis. Innocent blood has polluted the land and profaned the name of the Lord. However, there is a greater blood shed at Mount Calvary that can transform the heart of a mother to choose life for her child, and cleanse the guilty - forgive, heal and restore the post-abortive. America needs to hear God’s truth about abortion wrapped in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. His blood is sufficient to cover the sin of abortion - the sin of pushing a girlfriend, wife or daughter into an abortion - the sin of paying for an abortion - the sin of performing an abortion or the sin of doing nothing about abortion.
As we face the national tragedy of abortion, the Church of Jesus Christ faces a great challenge as well as opportunity to make a difference. I am here to serve the Church in that effort.
Rev. Jim McGarvey
Church For Life
Serving the Church in its response to America's abortion crisis as it:
- communicates the message of the sanctity of human life
- ministers healing and restoration to the post-abortive
- provides compassionate help to those at risk for abortion.
Further resources:
The Sanctity of Human Life” a message given on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday January 23, 2011 at Riverside Christian Fellowship at http://www.954church.com/media/sermons?page=6
My PowerPoint message, "Abortion, the Devil & the Church - Exposing the Satanic Forces Behind Abortion" given at Riverside Christian Fellowship, October 4, 2009, online at http://www.rcfonline.org/podcast/page/19/ You can see the PP slides by clicking next to “Notes”
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