is abortion sin?€¦ · deconstruction page 322 abortion is defined as “the artificial...

Lesson 32

Deconstruction Page 321

Is Abortion Sin? Apologetics Students will be given logical and biblical arguments proving that abortion is morally wrong and learn how to show courageous compassion to those who disagree. Life is valuable not expendable! Psalm 139:15-16 Abortion: the artificial termination of a pregnancy prior to the time of viability

1. A PowerPoint is available for this lesson. 2. Provide a copy of short story, “I Never Grew Up,” to a reader prior to the

lesson. 3. Pictures of John Wesley, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Ethel Waters, and Tim

Tebow. 4. “Focus on the Family Super Bowl Commercial with Tim Tebow”

https://teachersource.wol.org/resource/SBS18/32-1/ (:30)

1. Is Abortion Sin? https://teachersource.wol.org/resource/SBS18/32-2/ (2:37) 2. Why Abortion is Unjust Discrimination

https://teachersource.wol.org/resource/SBS18/32-3/ 3. My Body, My Choice https://teachersource.wol.org/resource/SBS18/32-4/ 4. Online article, Defending the Pro-Life View with the SLED TEST

https://teachersource.wol.org/resource/SBS18/32-5/ 5. Online article, The Truth About the Morning After Pill

https://teachersource.wol.org/resource/SBS18/32-6/ 6. Short Story by Allee Johnson, I Never Grew Up 7. Inside Pregnancy: Your Baby’s DNA

https://teachersource.wol.org/resource/SBS18/32-7/

Scope and Sequence

Scope and Sequence

Sticky Statement

Definitions

Resources

Scope and Sequence

Checklist

Scope and Sequence

Lesson Objective

Key Verse



















Abortion is defined as “the artificial termination of a pregnancy prior to the time of viability.” I. Argument #1: It’s a woman’s right to have an abortion. A. The baby is attached but is not a part of her body. B. The baby has different DNA. C. The baby has a different blood type. D. The baby has its own body. Life is valuable not expendable. II. Argument #2: Life really doesn’t begin until the heart beats. The heartbeat begins around 18 days after conception. Life is valuable not expendable. III. Argument #3: The unborn is a human being not a human person. S = Size L = Level of Development E = Environment D = Degree of Dependency Life is valuable not expendable. Abortion is taking the life of another human, whether at conception or just prior

to birth. Killing another human is the definition of murder. Abortion is murder. It is morally wrong and it is a sin (Exodus 20:13)!

Life is valuable not expendable.

Short Story titled: I Never Grew Up “They sent me because I don't exist.” An older man, probably in his late fifties and wearing a lab coat, took a step back. “How is this possible? You're standing right in front of me. Is this some sort of prank? Where'd you grow up and come from?”

Lesson Overview

Hook

Teacher’s Note: Have someone read the following short story to begin the lesson. This short story has a lot of emotions so pick someone who reads well. You might want them to practice reading it before club.




Deconstruction 23

“I never grew up. My life was stolen from me.” “Who stole it?” The man nervously inquired. “My own mother.” The boy, probably just out of high school, looked the man hard in the eyes. “She stole my life 18 years ago.” His chin quivered in controlled anger. “You. She used you. She paid you to take my life!” The boy was yelling now. “Do you hear me? My life! That little baby life you destroyed wasn't my mother’s! It wasn't a ‘woman’s choice!’” The boy was breathing heavily and sweat rolled down his face. Finally, he broke. He collapsed to his knees, tears streaming from his eyes. “That was me.” He was quiet now, his words barely audible. “I never got the chance at life. I was never allowed to live.” Something flashed on the computer screen. The boy lifted a shaky finger. “Watch.” The man turned to the screen. In place of the usual information for the clinic, a video flashed to life. “Happy birthday, Jake!” A young woman smiled and knelt to wipe frosting off of a

little boy’s face. The scene changed, showing the same boy older on a bike. “You can do it, Jake! Come on!” A man was helping Jake learn to ride a bike in

the driveway. The screen changed again, showing the boy in middle school. He sat down with his buddy, eating lunch and laughing. Then it switched to high school.

“Go, Jake! Don't let him catch you!” The boy had a football tucked under his arm

and a determined look on his face. The cheerleaders screamed his name as he dodged a big player on the opposing team and dove into the end zone. The crowd cheered and the team lifted him up on their shoulders. Once again, the scene disappeared. Jake was in college, studying hard to be a doctor. He had given up football because of his passion to help people. The video showed him graduating top in his class. As the new young doctor worked to save lives, the video showed a young woman being rushed in. She had been in a horrible accident, and it didn't look good. Over several months, Jake nursed her back to health despite her critical condition. The scene changed again. Jake stood on a platform dressed in a suit. His old middle school buddy stood beside him. Music began to play in the background, and the beautiful young woman whose life Jake had saved came walking down the aisle. It then showed Jake at home. His daughter carefully plucked away at the piano. His son sipped his apple juice at the kitchen table. His wife handed him their new baby. Jake smiled, his eyes full of love for his family. Next, Jake was walking his daughter down the aisle. He was then in a rocking chair holding his first grandchild soon after. As the years went by, Jake and his wife grew old and happy together. He continued to save lives as a doctor until he retired. The video ended as the dear old couple sat together on a porch swing, holding hands and watching the sunset together.

The abortionist turned back to the boy. “Jake…” He managed to say. The boy stood without breaking eye contact. “Yes.” He said. “I am Jake. You just watched what my life was supposed to be. Now watch what my life was instead.” The man turned back to the screen.


The man saw himself in his usual work attire—a long white lab coat, his glasses pushed high on his nose and his hair brushed back. A young woman came in and registered for an appointment. He went through the usual procedures before taking the woman to a surgery room, where he watched in horror. He watched himself take an innocent life. He kept his eyes on the computer screen beside the woman in the video, watching the ultrasound. He saw the tiny baby on the screen. The tiny eyes, the nose, the little mouth. He couldn't pull his eyes away. The baby moved a finger and turned his head, his face scrunching up in a painful expression. Then he went limp, never to move again.

“Jake…” The man sunk shakily to his knees. Jake came to him and gently laid his hand on the man’s shoulder. “I forgive you.” He said. “You’ve taken thousands of innocent lives. Mine was only one of many. But… we forgive you.” The man pulled himself up and turned to face Jake, but he had vanished. “Oh, God.” He sobbed. “How can I ever ask for forgiveness?” He thought of all the babies he had killed over the years. Thousands… The man rose to his feet. He tore the “OPEN” sign from the window. He knew he’d lose thousands of dollars. He knew his whole life would change forever. But he knew what was right, and he knew he had to do it.

Last week we started a series called Deconstruction. The question we answered was, “Do all religions lead to God?” We proved that biblical Christianity is the only belief system that leads to God and that it is only through Jesus Christ. Today, the question we will answer is, is abortion sin? Is it wrong?

Take your Bibles and turn to Psalm 139:15-16 (Read) In verse 15, David is declaring that God saw him being formed as a baby in his mother’s womb. He uses the word “frame” to describe himself as an unborn baby. Verse 16 declares that God saw him while he was still an embryo. David uses the words “substance” and “unformed” which refer to an unformed mass. That unformed mass is the embryo or fetus.

Teacher’s Note: MUST READ After this short story, your room will probably be very quiet. This is a great time to pray with your students before you teach the lesson. Remember, some students might know someone who had an abortion or who might be thinking about it. Maybe even one of your students. Pray something like this: Father, we come before You to seek Your wisdom and truth regarding this topic of abortion. This is a heavy moral issue and we want to be courageously compassionate as we deconstruct the world’s view and construct a biblical view. Help us we pray. Amen.

Lesson Content


The emphasis is on the truth that God saw him before he was ever born. This is important because God values everyone including the unborn. God values your life. The statement we want you to remember as we teach this lesson is this, life is valuable not expendable. When you engage someone in this debate about abortion being wrong, you will most likely come across three main arguments for abortion. Maybe we should stop here and define abortion. Abortion is defined as “the artificial termination of a pregnancy prior to the time of viability.” How many of you have heard the argument that it is a woman’s right to have an abortion? I. Argument #1: It’s a woman’s right to have an abortion. Is it actually a woman’s right? Those who hold to this argument teach that the baby is part of the woman’s body; therefore it’s her right to abort. This argument is usually used when a mother doesn’t want the baby, can’t afford the baby, or is too young to have a baby. It will also be used when a girl gets pregnant because of rape, incest, or any other unfortunate circumstance. Some situations might be extremely difficult, complicated, or even fearful, but does that give the girl the right to abort? This view argues that if the baby is part of her body and she doesn’t want it, or isn’t able to have the baby, then it must be her right to abort. The question then is, is the baby part of her body? The baby is certainly in her body and is attached to the inside of her body, but is it actually part of her body? Let’s think about this for a minute. A. The baby is attached but is not a part of her body. We know that the baby is attached to the inside of the mother with the umbilical cord. We also know that the mother’s arm is attached to her shoulder. What happens when you sever her arm off? She loses part of her body. What part of her body does she lose when the baby is born? B. The baby has different DNA. Each one of us has different DNA. Did you know that your DNA is different from your mom’s? Identical twins also have different DNA. If the baby was part of the mother’s body, they would share the same DNA. C. The baby has a different blood type. Did you know that you get your blood type from your mom and dad? The mother’s blood and the baby’s blood are separate. If the baby’s blood mixes with the mother’s blood, the mother’s immune system will attack the baby. Why? Because the baby doesn’t register with the immune system as part of the mom’s body, because it’s not. The mother’s immune system recognizes the baby as a different person in the mother.


D. The baby has its own body. As the baby is developing inside its mother’s womb, it has its own brain, nerves, heart, bones, etc. Clearly it is not part of the woman’s body. Based on science and biology, it’s just not right to say that the baby is part of the mother’s body. It’s not even logical and it certainly isn’t biblical. In Psalm 139:15, David said he was made in the lowest parts of the earth. What in the world (no pun intended) does that mean? He is referring to his mother’s womb. Why did he express it that way? It’s because a baby is in its mother’s body, not part of it. In Luke 1:44, when Elizabeth heard that Mary was pregnant with Jesus, she said that her baby leaped in her womb. If her baby was part of her body then why didn’t she say that she leaped? It’s because she knew that her baby was not part of her body but was in her body. Listen, regardless of how loud society screams that it’s a woman’s right to abort, it is the murder of a human life, and life is valuable not expendable. This takes us to the second argument that says life really doesn’t begin until the heart beats. II. Argument #2: Life really doesn’t begin until the heart beats. During pregnancy, when does the heart of the baby start beating? (Give students a chance to guess.) The heartbeat begins around 18 days after conception. According to this view, abortion is okay as long as it is done before the heartbeat, or before day 18 of the pregnancy. Don’t raise your hand, but how many of you think that makes sense? After all, the baby doesn’t even have a heartbeat. This argument is used to justify the use of emergency contraceptives such as the morning-after-pill. This pill is designed to prevent the fertilized egg from attaching itself inside the mother, resulting in it being discharged. This is a trending type of abortion because it fairly inexpensive, it’s a pill, and the mother will never know if a fertilized egg was unable to attach. The egg, fertilized or unfertilized, will die and discharge. If the fertilized egg never attaches to the inside of the mother and dies, then is it really abortion? If you are going to use this argument then you have to wrestle past the start of life being at conception. How many of you know when your DNA is formed? Your DNA has all the information your “being” needs to develop, live, and reproduce. You receive your DNA at conception. All the information you needed to be who you are today, sitting in that chair, you received at conception.


Your hair, skin, and eye color, your height, your build, your shape, everything! This means that your life began at conception, not day 18 of the pregnancy when your heart started beating. Even from day one to day 18 of a pregnancy, life is valuable not expendable. Look again at Psalm 139:16. [Have a student read.] David writes that God saw him when he had an unformed body. In Luke 1:31, when the angel spoke to Mary that she would have a child, the angel told Mary she would conceive in her womb and give birth to a son. Why did the angel say she would conceive? Why didn’t the angel just say she would have a baby boy? God’s messenger confirmed that the life of a person includes conception to birth. Your life is valuable not expendable. The third argument you will most likely hear when debating this issue is that the unborn is a human “being,” not a human “person.” III. Argument #3: The unborn is a human being not a human person. This argument for abortion asserts that the unborn is different from the newborn. This view allows for partial-birth abortion and other means of killing the unborn baby before birth. The reasoning for this view lies in what they say are four differences between the unborn baby and the newborn baby. Dr. Scott Klusendorf, the president of Life Training Institute, uses the acrostic SLED to help explain why this view of abortion doesn’t make sense. SLED represents the four areas abortionists use to say that an unborn baby is not a human person but a human being. They argue a baby isn’t a person until it is born because of size, level of development, environment, and degree of dependency. S = Size Because of size, the unborn has less value then the newborn. The embryo is so small that it’s okay to abort. If size determines a person’s value than I’d be concerned for you in this room that are short. Does a sumo wrestler have more value than a figure skater? Does a teenager have more value than a toddler? Of course not! Then why does the size of the unborn determine its value? It doesn’t because life is valuable not expendable. L = Level of Development Those for abortion will argue that the unborn is not as developed, therefore it is not fully a human “person.” If development determined value then what about the four year old who isn’t as developed as the fourteen year old or the twenty-four year old? What about those who are mentally and physically challenged? Is their life less valuable then other people because they are not as developed? Again, of course not because life is valuable not expendable.


E = Environment Pro-choice advocates use this argument because the unborn baby is in its mother’s womb. This ties back to the woman’s right argument. Does the unborn baby have less value because it’s in the womb? Do you have more value than those living in Alaska? Your value is not based on your environment or location. Your value is in the life that God gave you and every human life has value. Life is valuable not expendable. D = Degree of Dependency Pro-choice advocates argue that because an unborn baby is completely dependent upon its mom it is less of a human. Does dependency determine your value as a person? How many of you are dependent on insulin? What about those who are dependent on a pacemaker for their heart? Are they less valuable? What about the preemies who are hooked on life support equipment? Or the elderly pulling an oxygen tank behind them? Listen, whether born or unborn, life is valuable not expendable. Every human who has ever lived or will ever live on this earth is created by God. Not just created but crafted into His very own image.

Abortion is taking the life of another human, whether at conception or just prior to birth. Killing another human is the definition of murder. Abortion is murder. It is morally wrong and it is a sin (Exodus 20:13)!

As we make these truthful, yet hard statements, keep in mind the need to show courageous compassion to those to whom you are debating or talking. There may be classmates who are secretly hurting because they had an abortion or took the morning-after-pill. Most women who had an abortion carry the consequences of guilt and often times have deep regret. If you talk with someone who is experiencing these consequences, show them love and point them to the forgiveness of God (Daniel 9:9, Colossians 1:14). They already feel their guilt and shame so point them to the Savior, the great Healer, who can deliver them from their guilt and shame. If you get in a debate with your friends who believe some of the arguments for abortion we have discussed, then be ready to courageously share what you believe. Help them to see how illogical the arguments are for abortion and share with them the truth from the Bible. Look for an opportunity to write a research paper on abortion. Use this lesson as a guide to help you defend the unborn. You might even volunteer at the local pregnancy center. You could also civilly picket outside Planned Parenthood or an abortion clinic.

Teacher’s Note: Have a student read Genesis 1:27.

Connection


Maybe you could make gift baskets with baby items for those in your school who are pregnant. Can you imagine how awkward or embarrassed they feel walking down the hallways at school? Reach out to them and be friendly to them. God might give you an opportunity to lead them to the cross. Lastly, determine now that regardless of the circumstances you might find yourself in someday, that you are not going to even think about having an abortion or encourage someone to have one. Guys, decide now that you too will not encourage anyone to have an abortion. Even if it means you would face some embarrassment or shame.

Take a look at these pictures of four famous people. What do you think they all have in common? Each of them had a mother who was encouraged to abort, but chose not to because they believed live is valuable not expendable. Let’s watch this video about Tim Tebow.

Write down the Sticky Statement, life is valuable not expendable, on a sticky note (no pun intended) and stick it to the mirror in your bedroom or bathroom. Let it remind you that people are valuable, starting with you, every morning.

Life is valuable not expendable!

Teacher’s Note: Show on PowerPoint or print pictures of John Wesley, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Ethel Waters, and Tim Tebow.

Teacher’s Note: Play the video titled “Focus on the Family Super Bowl Commercial with Tim Tebow” https://teachersource.wol.org/resource/SBS18/32-1/ (:30)

Decision

Sticky Statement



1. Share one new thing that you learned about abortion. (This question is meant to get the discussion started. It will help you know how much they understood about the arguments against abortion. Be prepared to balance emotional responses or nervousness. Some may not want to talk about it. It is possible that students in your group may have had an abortion or have a girlfriend who has had one. Guilt and shame will prevent them from being transparent. Emphasize the need for compassion and forgiveness.) 2. Which of the three arguments for abortion have you heard used most? (After they share which arguments they have heard, ask your small group where they heard these arguments being used and how they responded. You will probably need to remind them of the three arguments. Help them process how to develop a good, strong and yet compassionate response.) 3. Why is abortion morally wrong, why is it a sin? (The answer is clear but remind the students that we are to courageously share the truth with compassion.)

Small Group Discussion Questions

is abortion sin?€¦ · deconstruction page 322 abortion is defined as “the artificial...

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