defending God's Family
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teaches of the importance of families. Families are at the center of our society and without them, we would not function. The Church teaches about the Plan of Salvation which is the plan that allows us to return to Him, become exalted, and live together for time and all eternity. Within His Plan, there is the Atonement. “The Atonement allows for the family to be sealed together eternally. It allows for families to have eternal growth and perfection. The Plan of Happiness and Plan of Salvation was a plan created for families [...] Without the family, there is no plan; there is no reason for it” (Beck). With this knowledge, we understand how important it is to take babies to term and how important each individual is, even upon conceiving. So out of complete and utter love, Heavenly Father does not agree with the act of abortion. He wants all of His children to receive a body and be a part of an earthly family.
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It is so vital for women, if possible, to procreate and bring new life into this mortal world. Although decreasing in numbers by about 2% each year, approximately 887,000 legal abortions were documented in the United States in 2016 (Pazol). That is 887,000 of God’s children in just one year whose agency was taken from them. Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, stated, “The gift of new life brings a profound feeling of reverence. Parents and other family members are drawn closer together. Even little children sense a feeling of awe and wonder. They want to hold the baby, touch it, run their hands over its warm, soft head, or extend a finger for it to grasp and hold” (Ballard). God’s love for His children is often compared to a mother’s love for her own child. In Isaiah 49:15-16, the Savior says, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”
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Abortion diminishes the significance of our lives and simply throws it away with little to no thought of our purpose as living beings. Jesus sacrificed so much for each and everyone of us. When we don’t take more consideration in the idea of life, we hurt Him. He died for us so that we can return to Him and He fought for our right to be here. But abortion is taking that gift He has given us and looking at it as something minute. Regardless of the reason or pursuit of such a procedure, abortion always results in the end of a human life. Fetuses in the womb are developing, living children who deserve love and protection. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee”. Pregnancy is the way God sends his children to earth, and this central to His plan. If women stop having children and instead abort them, the plan would not exist. In all, abortion takes away the crucial life experiences individual sons and daughters of God need to obtain celestial life with Him.
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Regardless of how eternally and spiritually damaging the effects of abortion are, there is hope for healing. The very Savior whose plan abortion so desecrates has suffered the pains of abortion for those it harms. Christ will always have compassion on those who come to Him in need of honest therapy. C. Scott Grow of the Seventy has said “There is no transgression, pain or sorrow, which is outside the healing power of the atonement”. It is imperative to remember this in dealing with or experiencing abortion. Often women who have this procedure are deceived by the adversary into believing it is the only option available, but there are other options that both respect the Mother’s difficult situation but are also in line with God’s plan.
