John Knight is Director of Donor Partnerships at Desiring God. He is married to Dianne, and together they parent their four children: Paul, Hannah, Daniel, and Johnny. Paul lives with multiple disabilities including blindness, autism, cognitive impairments, and a seizure disorder. John writes on disability, the Bible, and the church at The Works of God

John Knight is Director of Donor Partnerships at Desiring God. He is married to Dianne, and together they parent their four children: Paul, Hannah, Daniel, and Johnny. Paul lives with multiple disabilities including blindness, autism, cognitive impairments, and a seizure disorder. John writes on disability, the Bible, and the church at The Works of God

More than 55 million children have been slaughtered in the 41 years since the Supreme Court created a new right in the Constitution. If any benefit can be found in the rivers of blood that have been spilled, it is this: it has exposed who we really are, what we really value, and how the enemy of our faith operates.

When We’re Exposed

Abortion shows us that we are racist to our core. Black babies and Hispanic babies are killed at two to three times the rate of white babies.

Abortion shows us that we hate those with disabilities. When discovered in the womb, more babies with certain disabilities are killed than born.

Abortion shows us that we target the weak and underprivileged. The abortion industry has carefully located its services in the neighborhoods where young minority women and poor women are most likely to live.

Abortion shows us how deceptive we are in our communications. Is a legislature considering a post-20-week ban on abortion? Then use opinion pieces of popular media to talk about the “need” for late-term abortion because, after all, disabled children aren’t discovered until after 20 weeks. Follow this up with stories about a child with multiple disabilities and portray that family’s lot as something to be avoided.

Abortion shows us we are greedy. There is money to be made in pandering to our prejudices. Whole new businesses have been created with the purpose of discovering children with certain genetic traits for the purpose of eliminating those children.

Abortion shows us that our most educated citizens can actually become enemies to our true welfare. Philosophers and ethicists in our best universities are debating what people actually merit the identity of person. Apparently babies (not just those with disabilities) and people with certain cognitive disabilities of any age are found to be lacking. Infanticide and assisted suicide of children is being openly discussed as a responsible option by the very people tasked with protecting children.

Abortion shows us just how twisted the justice system can become. The courts protect the abortion industry. Human judges — who are to serve as a model of God’s justice and protection of the weak — practice a murderous caricature of justice and become the enemy of the weak.

To show how clearly the courts and our own prejudices are working together, in December a jury awarded a family $50 million dollars because a lab didn’t identify a genetic anomaly in their unborn son. Pause over that one: a jury awarded the parents of a living child $50 million because the parents didn’t have the information they needed to kill their son. Since they would have aborted their son if they had known about his genetic makeup, somebody needed to pay for that “mistake” of his being born. You can imagine health care administrators across the United States were forwarding memos about this case to doctors and nurses in their clinics and hospitals.We do not need to wonder why doctors emphasize terminating babies with disabilities.

Hear God’s Voice

Christian, here is where I am tempted to argue from sentimentality. I love my son with multiple disabilities. He is a gift from God and a benefit to his church. But I mustn’t stop there. Sentiment is a popgun in a war against this kind of enemy.

Hear, again, God’s thunderous, authoritative voice:

You shall not murder. (Exodus 20:13)

Then the Lᴏʀᴅ said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lᴏʀᴅ?” (Exodus 4:11)

You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lᴏʀᴅ. (Leviticus 19:14)

Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:6–7)

Pastor, look your people in the eye and say to them, “Abortion is wrong. It is a violent act of idolatry.” Remind them that children — all children, of every ethnicity and color and physical or cognitive ability — are designed by God to bear his image and bring him glory.

We have not heard it enough. More than one million children in America will die this year because of abortion. About 27% of people in the United States think abortion should be legal in the second trimester. It jumps to 58% when the possibility of severe disability shows up. Some of those 58% attend our churches. Some of the 27% probably do as well.

Do Not Grow Weary

Our efforts in the pro-life cause require more than sentimental good deeds that hope for a nice and clean ending. Crisis pregnancies are often real crises. Children born with disabilities will suffer pain and discrimination. This world is broken and hard. We must cling to God’s promises: the Helper will come (John 14:26), God will supply for every need (Philippians 4:19), he will never leave us (Hebrews 13:5), and every wrong done against our children will be accounted for (Romans 12:19).

When we act in the strength and the love that God provides, the enemy really does flee. He doesn’t quit his antics. But he flees.