New Disturbing Trend at College Campuses

 A disturbing trend seen is being seen by prolife activists who minister to young people on college campuses, as more and more college students are saying that they support “post-birth abortion”, that is, the killing of an infant after they have been born, up to a certain age. The trend goes beyond some “college students willing to say they support post-birth abortion, but some students even suggest children up to 4 or 5-years-old can also be killed, because they are not yet 'self aware.'”¹ Where does this trend come from? One reason cited is that “the arguments put forth by Peter Singer and other philosophers who support infanticide are given as reading assignments to college students.”² Singer himself wrote in 1979 that “'human babies are not born self-aware, or capable of grasping that they exist over time. They are not persons … [therefore] the life of a newborn is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog, or a chimpanzee.'”³ According to a Pew Research poll, the majority of Americans “(49%) say that having an abortion is morally wrong, while 15% think it is morally acceptable and 23% say it is not a moral issue.”⁴
The interesting fact left out of this article is that according to the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice advocacy group, “women in their 20s account for more than half of all abortions: Women aged 20-24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and women aged 25-29 obtain 24%.”⁵ This age group certainly includes women on college campuses who have had an abortion, so it is extremely likely that they would be part of this growing trend of those who believe that children could be killed after birth. This should have been included to paint a clearer picture of why this new trend could be an issue. While groups like the Guttmacher Institute and VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood at Ohio State University are all about “reproductive choice”, they tend to shy away from admitting that killing a child in the womb is the same as killing a child out of the womb. Devin Deitsch, leader of Vox offered his opinion on the issue:

“As for post-birth abortion, I would imagine that my colleagues would think the ‘post-birth’ part was largely irrelevant, as we believe very strongly in abortion on demand, without apology, and it’s plain and simple that we should look to the woman’s morals and not shove our opinions where they, frankly, don’t belong.”⁶

While the article does a good job in presenting quotes from both sides of the argument it does call the evidence put forward by pro-life activists as merely “anecdotal”, and spends more time offering up the ideological points made by groups like VOX, painting the pro-life side as just merely being against something. It fails to mention why groups are against abortion, or merely the fact that killing babies at any age is morally contested by many Americans, Christians included. Not being written in a religious publication, the article stays away from what religious teachings say on the issue, specifically, what the Bible says about abortion. Proverbs 24:11-12 instructs Christians on how they should feel about the issue of abortion :

“Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”
 does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,
 and will he not repay man according to his work?”

The prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah record that they were called from the womb, and one of the most famous pro-life verses is Jeremiah 1:4-5: “Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” (ESV) Proverbs also records in 6:17 that one of the things the Lord hates is “the shedding of innocent blood.” (ESV) The Apostle Paul even records in Galatians 1:15 that he was set apart before he was born.

The attitude of a “pro choice” society reflects the fact that Americans have strayed away from God's Word, as the Bible is clearly against the shedding of innocent blood, which is what happens when an abortion takes place. The continued degradation of morals in America have led to college aged men and women, among whom a large percentage have participated in an abortion procedure, to allow even the thought of killing babies outside of the womb, up to an age of four years old, as acceptable. While it can only be speculated as to why this is occurring, it could be argued that the Biblical position on the sanctity of life is not being taught in homes, and the continued shift in the gender roles of American society, telling women that children are a burden and that they should strive to find themselves working outside of the homes, has certainly had an impact.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Guttmacher Institute, “Fact Sheet: Induced Abortion in the United States”, July 2014, http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html

Mcardle, Mairead “Trending: More College Students Support Post-Birth Abortion.” The College Fix. October 29, 2014, http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/19896.

Lipka, Michael. “5 Facts About Abortion.” Pew Research Center. January 22, 2014, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/22/5-facts-about-abortion/.

1 Mairead Mcardle, “Trending: More College Students Support Post-Birth Abortion,” The College Fix, October 29, 2014, http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/19896.

2Ibid.

3Ibid.

4 Michael Lipka, “5 Facts About Abortion,” Pew Research Center, January 22, 2014, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/22/5-facts-about-abortion/.

5 Guttmacher Institute, “Fact Sheet: Induced Abortion in the United States”, July 2014, http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html

6 Mairead Mcardle, “Trending: More College Students Support Post-Birth Abortion,” The College Fix, October 29, 2014, http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/19896.