Ours is a society that rarely considers consequences. We rush blindly ahead into some action or program without ever considering what its long-term consequences will be. For example, we decided that thousands of poor and mentally ill should be released from institutions and cared for in their local communities. The consequence: thousands of homeless now roam the streets of every major metropolis. Or we decided that the child of every woman on welfare should be supported by AFDC funds. The consequence: the numbers of illegitimate births and single-parent households have soared. Or we have decided that graphic and senseless depictions of violence on TV were harmless. The consequence: children now fear for their lives even in elementary and junior high schools.

Consequences of abortion
As a result, we in the pro-life struggle have tried to emphasize the consequences of abortion. Studies have shown that abortion is not at all the safe and easy solution to a problem pregnancy that many have imagined. Not only does it destroy the life of an innocent child, but it may also cause profound psychological and spiritual problems for the woman who consents to it. One study conducted by the Association for Interdisciplinary Research in Values and Social Change, Washington D.C., reported that of 344 women who had abortions, 66% reported feelings of guilt, 22% nightmares, 54% regret and remorse, 27% despair, 46% inability to forgive themselves and 57% depression, while 7% had attempted suicide. And so in our desperate battle to prevent abortion, those are often the consequences we emphasize.

The overlooked consequence
As Christians, however, after we have said all of that, we have not named the most important consequence--namely, the effect that abortion has on our relation with God. That's what we keep forgetting--the relationship with God. But if we are Christians, all of life must be seen in terms of that relationship. Nothing matters so much as does the question of how we stand with our Maker. Apart from God in Jesus Christ, we cannot live full and joyful lives, we can have no forgiveness for our wrongs and terribly human errors, we cannot love one another as we ought, and we cannot inherit eternal life after death. The nature of our life depends on God, who is the Source of all life and all good.

Our searching God
When an abortion takes place, God comes searching for the child that he has begun to fashion in the womb. God stands listening for the sound of that tiny heartbeat. God strains his eyes to see those tiny limbs waving or that little thumb being sucked. God thinks what he has planned for the life of that child. And God asks of the participants in the abortion, as he asked of Eve at the first, "What is this you have done?" (Gen. 3:13). Or perhaps his question is the one he asked of Cain, Where is your brother?" (Gen. 4:9). "Where is your fellow human being? Where is the child I have created and loved and for whom I have a place in my eternal purpose? Where is that baby that belongs to me and whose life I entrusted to your care? What, O Eve and Adam, is this that you have done?!"

Well, as the New Testament tells us, there is a consequence of that scene: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb. 10:31). We should think about it.

• Elizabeth Achemeier is a renowned Old Testament scholar, well known throughout the U.S. and Canada as a preacher, teacher, and writer. She is the author of 25 books, including one co-authored with Terry Schlossberg, titled Not My Own: Abortion and the Marks of the Church. She is an ordained minister in the PC(USA) and former adjunct professor of Bible and Homiletics at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, VA. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of PPL and is currently a member of the PPL Board of Reference. Due to Dr. Achtemeier's health, this is a reprint of her column from our Spring/Summer issue, 1994. Not to be reprinted without permission. Contact PPL.

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