A Biblical Argument for Recognizing the Personhood of the Pre-Born in Michigan
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By Dr. Patrick Johnston

For every two people born in Michigan today, one is killed by a chemical or surgical abortion.  Our state's general apathy about the killings would convince an unbiased observer that pro-lifers in Michigan don't really consider the aborted fetus or embryo a real living human being.  Do we really believe that unborn children are people?  One could only wonder if Michigan's pro-life legislators would be more enthusiastic about ending the slaughter of tens of thousands of Michigan residents annually if it were voters getting ripped to pieces. 

Fetuses are people, too

It cannot be over-emphasized that human beings in the womb are people - they are people - with just as much of a right to life and liberty as those who sit in the halls of the Michigan state legislature.  It is a verifiable fact of science that a person's life begins at fertilization - from this point on, we are human, alive, sexed, moving, and growing.  Dead things, non-living things don't do this.  We are all just grown-up fetuses.  Human embryos and fetuses are people. 

It is also a verifiable fact of God's Word, which is the final word on this and all matters.  The Bible confirms repeatedly that a woman is pregnant with a child - not products of conception, not a blob of tissue.  In Genesis 25, Rebekah's children struggled within her.  In Psalm 139, the inspired writer insists that he existed in his mother's womb - not a non-living, non-human "product of conception" that became him later on.  Pregnant women were considered "great with child", and Mary was found "with child of the Holy Ghost."  In Exodus 21:22-24, God mandates the same civil penalty for those who would kill the pre-born as for those who would kill the born.  Pre-born human beings are children to God, and the intentional killing of innocent human beings at any stage of existence is unlawful and criminal - His Word is clear.

 

God Almighty, the Michigan Constitution, and the Constitution of the U.S. agree
 

Our elected representatives are obligated by God to protect the innocent by punishing those who would assault them, according to Romans 13:1-7.  Our state government is "instituted for the equal benefit, security and protection" of "the people, according to Article I Section 1 of the Michigan Constitution.  Article I, Section 2, declares "No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws."  Article 1, Section 17, guarantees that no person "shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." 



Similarly, the U.S. Constitution forbids the government from depriving one of life or liberty without due process.  Abortion is the unlawful usurpation of the God-given right to life and liberty. 

 

We must choose between conflicting kingdoms
 

When men call good evil and evil good, and when the edicts of man and God contradict, who is right?  When Federal or state rulers dictate that innocent people may be killed without penalty, the God who penned in tablets of stone "Thou shalt not murder" overrules them.  Truly, God reigns over all.  Justice Harry Blackmun, who authored the infamous Roe v. Wade decision, was not granted permission to rebel.

 

The question for Michigan residents is, with whom shall you agree?  With whom shall you side?  The kingdom of light, or the kingdom of darkness?  The kingdom of justice, or the kingdom of injustice?  Shall we give consent to the opinions of human judges who justify aborting the life of a human being in the womb, or shall we defer to the Judge of all the earth?  It is not lawful and never can be lawful to intentionally kill an innocent human being, all the attempts of sinful man to legalize it notwithstanding.  We only respect Roe v. Wade insofar as we defy the Sixth Commandment.  We only respect the Supreme Court's unlawful dictates insofar as we defy the Judge of the all the earth.  God's standard of morality and justice is His law - the commandment "Thou shalt not murder" has not been amended to accommodate for the abortion of un-welcomed children. 

 

John Locke said in his Second Treatise on Government, Chapter 18, Of Tyranny: "Wherever law ends, tyranny begins, if the law be transgressed to another's harm; and whosoever in authority exceeds the power given him by the law, and makes use of the force he has under his command to compass that upon the subject which the law allows not, ceases in that to be a magistrate, and acting without authority may be opposed, as any other man who by force invades the right of another." 

 

Michigan has the right and obligation to defy the Supreme Court's renegade attempt to legalize the killing of people who reside in the state of Michigan.  We must defer to the rulings of the Court more supreme than they, whose Chief Justice is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

With God, all things are possible!
 

Just as God's legislation transcends man's and satan's, so does God's power.  In His Word, the Holy Bible, He gives us the tools to fight and achieve victory "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians 6:12-18).  God says that He will answer the prayers of His people, if we pray according to His will in faith, not doubting, but believing in our heart that the things that we pray will come to pass.  His Word says that the gates of hell will not prevail against His church, the people who believe in Jesus Christ.  Our faith in Him is the victory that overcomes the world.  With God, all things are possible.

 

Abortion will come to an end in our land if God's people will take a stand and prayerfully do His will, trusting God's power to come to their aid.  His eyes are even now roaming to and fro through our state, looking to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards Him.  He doesn't require a majority.  The Bible says that there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.  He is looking for a faithful remnant, an upright leader, who will unsheathe the Sword of the Spirit and charge the battlefield in the name of Jesus Christ. 

 

The divine warning and holy mandate for Michigan
 

The Bible is clear that God's curse resides upon the land where innocent people are killed without retribution.  (See Numbers 35:30-34, Jeremiah 18:7-10, Proverbs 6:16-17, Psalm 9:17, Jeremiah 7:5-7, Isaiah 1:15-17.)  Deuteronomy 21, verses 1 through 9, tell us that the curse of innocent blood falls upon the community nearest the crime, and that curse can only be lifted through the dissemination of justice.  According to God's Word, it is the local community where the assault has been committed that is ultimately responsible for punishing assailants to protect the innocent. 

 

Ultimately, Michigan pro-lifers have no business pointing our fingers at the Supreme Court, the U.S. Congress, or leftists entrenched in both major political parties, for the shedding of innocent blood that Michigan allows.  God's wrath abides on Michigan for the innocent blood that has been shed in our state, and God obligates our state to do justice to protect the innocent from assault and murder, and thereby purge our land from the guilt of innocent blood.  Until there is justice for them, there will be no mercy for us.

 

False remedies that perpetuate the Holocaust

 

For many years conservatives have thought that if we could incrementally use the power of legislation to decrease the number of abortions, then we would do well.  Regulating the killing of innocent children is insufficient to fulfill our moral and Constitutional obligation to do justice to protect the innocent.  If the law ends with "and then you can kill the baby", it merits our condemnation.  Our attempt to regulate the abortion industry has made us responsible for the slaughter our legislation justifies, and intensifies rather than abates the wrath of God. 

 

We have thought that if we could appoint enough "strict constructivist" judges to the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, then that will repair the breach in our justice system and protect the innocent.  Overturning the unlawful and unconstitutional Roe v. Wade decision is important, but insufficient to protect the innocent pre-born in Michigan, as it would simply send the matter of abortion back to the states, and not protect the God-given, constitutionally-protected right to life and liberty of all our state's residents.  Even the overturning of Roe v. Wade would bring us back to the same question that is placed before you today: will Michigan and its leaders, through our apathy and reluctance to outlaw abortion, continue to side with the Supreme Court in their vain attempt to nullify the law of God, or will we side with the King of Kings and nullify the unconstitutional, unlawful opinions of the Supreme Court?

 

Christians have thought that if we could just preach the Gospel and win the hearts of enough people, then abortion will end.  Yes, we must preach the Gospel, but the Bible states that all will not believe the Gospel, and if we allow unbelievers to kill their children without penalty, then the curse of innocent blood will still abide on our land.  Civil law was designed by God to restrain the selfish and protect the innocent, and it is the obligation of civil rulers to be a "terror" to evil works, and to be "a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil" (I Timothy 1:8-11, Romans 1:1-7).  We are not loving our neighbor as ourselves, we are not being "Good Samaritans" to the helpless afflicted, if we tolerate their discrimination and slaughter.

           

Personhood Amendment: The Remedy
 

We must have 500,000 signatures on ballot-access petitions to amend the Michigan Constitution.  The amendment will read as follows:


Section 26: "The right to due process, whereby no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, guaranteed in Article 1, Section 17, and the right to equal protection of the law, guaranteed in Article 1, Section 2, vest at conception."

 

Section 27: " A 'person', for purposes of the Constitution and laws of the State of
Michigan, exists from the moment of conception."

 

Dear brothers and sisters, we need your help.  Indeed, the pre-born, the smallest, most helpless assault victims in our state need your help.  God Almighty, the father of the slaughtered fatherless, requests your help.  With God's help, we will protect the innocent pre-born in Ohio from slaughter.  We will love our pre-born neighbor as we love ourselves. 

 

"Open thy mouth for the dumb (those who can't speak for themselves) in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.  Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy" (Proverbs 31:8-9).

 

"How long will you judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked?  Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy: rid them out of the hands of the wicked" (Psalm 82:3-4).

 

"If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.  If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;  If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his works?" (Proverbs 24:10-12).

 

Please visit the website dedicated to the Personhood Amendment, and learn how to get involved -  http://michigancitizensforlife.net.