Sanctity of Life Sunday

Sanctity of Life Sunday, 2020 Today is called Sanctity of Human life Sunday—how fitting that we talk about this today, since we saw last Sunday Paul referring to the Christians at Corinth as sanctified—set apart for God’s purpose, use and relationship. Sanctity of life refers to the sacredness of life. God is its author and giver. Because he has given life, it is sacred. Special. Set apart for his purposes. Sanctity of life does not just mean the abortion issue—though we are going to focus on that today. It also includes euthanasia and end of life issues. The big question in either case is this: is life, whether we are dealing with abortion or euthanasia and all points in-between sacred, or is it useful? Should life be honored and protected because there is some usefulness to society? Or should it be honored and protected because it is a gift from God regardless of how useful the person is to society? For those of us who know Christ, we know that life is sacred. We also know that the issue of abortion is so incredibly volatile. I can say with confidence that here at Grace United and all those who will hear this message online, that very few of us have not been affected by abortion, either personally, or someone we know. And for me, this whole issue is disturbing. It is profoundly tragic that we even have to talk about this. To say abortion has done great damage in our world is a vast understatement. But let me say this with as much compassion as I can muster for all who are listening to, or will listen to this message. There are Christians who have had abortions. There are Christians who have encouraged their significant other to have abortions. True and tragic. But God forgives. God restores. God has compassion. God cleanses. And how are we as God’s people to respond to brothers and sisters affected by abortion? We are to embrace them, regardless. How are we as God’s people to respond to non-Christians who have been affected by abortion? Care for them. Show them God’s love. Meet their needs. And above all, give them the gospel that sets them free from sin and guilt. Offer them a brand new life in Christ, where old things have passed away and all things have become new. By the same token, that does not mean we condone or justify sin. As we will see in a few weeks in 1 Corinthians 5 that we are to mourn over sin and deal with it. We don’t self-righteously look down our noses at those who have had abortions and sought the Lord’s forgiveness. However, we do need to be courageous and confront those who say abortion is something that God is OK with. A journalist named John Zmirak put it this way: “When evil offers a brave face we need to smash it.” And we can do that in the name and power of the Lord. So, let me say emphatically: God, the author of life, is not OK with abortion. But again. God forgives those who come to him seeking forgiveness through the blood of Jesus for any sin, including abortion. God blesses repentance. Today, I want to go to the very heart of the abortion issue. It is outworking of a simple idea. But this idea has literally taken the world by storm. As a result, abortion has become the number 1 killer of people world-wide. By far. Before I explain this idea, allow me walk us through what ancient civilizations believed about abortion, and how the early Christians understood this issue as well. And let me say the early Christians were not exactly ambivalent about it. Then I want to point out what is going on in our world today, to include what is at the heart of the abortion issue. And to mention some of the pro-life legislation that is being presented, passed, and challenged at the state level as of late last year. Finally, I want to have us walk out of here motivated to do something in this all important area called pro-life. Christians are pro-life precisely because God is pro-life. Remember his very first commandment he gave to our first parents: be fruitful and multiply. Abortion is not exactly compatible with that command. Some things never change. We think we have advanced in our understanding of the world and how it works. In some limited ways that is true. Smart phones are a recent invention. So is space travel. But when it comes to abortion, throughout history, very little has changed. The foundation upon which abortion rests was put in place a long time ago. In ancient Greece and Rome, part of this foundation was that people were not free to do as they chose. People existed for the state and to advance its interests. Sort of what socialism and communism hold to today. This idea that people exist to advance the state’s interests was promoted by people like Plato and Aristotle, and the leaders bought into it. In their vision of a great society, these guys wrote things like there needed to be limits placed on how many children families could have, and even how old was too old for a woman to bear them—Aristotle said it was 40. Part of the vision for a great society included making sure that deformed and physically handicapped babies were gotten rid of. Of course they could not see inside the womb as we can now, so exposure was the preferred method. Exposure simply means that a baby was literally left out in the elements to die. And with few exceptions, they also believed that what was in the womb of a pregnant woman was part of the woman, and that babies became alive only after they took their first breath. Also, the main reason why abortion was looked down on, and made illegal from time to time back then was not because of what abortion did to the entity in the womb, but what it did to the mother. It was the mother’s rights for protection that was in view here. There were a number of reasons why abortions were done. And it struck me as to how the unconverted heart has stayed the same since the days right after Adam and Eve committed the first sin. Listen to some of these reasons: It was used to cover up illicit sexual activity. Sometimes the family could not afford another baby. Or the baby was seen as an interference with the lifestyles and livelihood for both the father and mother of the child. Sometimes the woman got an abortion because she wanted to keep attractive--prostitution was very prevalent. Abortion was also done to get rid of a “tie” to an unpleasant relationship—like our justifications today for abortion—rape or incest. A writer named Justinian in his works mentions a woman who aborted after a divorce in order not to have a child by the man she then hated. And on top of all that, let’s not forget how they offered their children to the pagan gods trying to secure favor for prosperity and a good harvest. Like exposure, we would call this infanticide. Back in those days of course, there wasn’t much by way of birth control as we know it—though certain drugs were used for this purpose—and even with birth control in our day, it’s not 100%. So, children were conceived. Just like today, abortions back then were performed with instruments or drugs, even as late as the 3rd trimester. The major difference between then and now, according to Michel Gorman who wrote “Abortion & the Early Church” was that a 3rd trimester abortion was nearly always fatal to the mother. Enter God’s countercultural view as promoted by the Christians in the first and second centuries especially. In God’s economy, life was, and is, precious and significant. God’s word said so. The Christians based their view of abortion on the O.T. teaching regarding human life. Not only did the 10 Commandments say murder was sin, Exodus 21 actually gives a scenario where if a pregnant woman is somehow hit and she delivers the baby, if the baby suffers an injury, the one who caused the woman to deliver will suffer the same injury—this is where “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” comes from. The vital point to understand is that the Jews believed the entity in the womb was an individual person, and not an integral part of the mother’s body. This was absolutely counter to what practically everybody else believed. Because of what God’s word said about human life, abortion was never considered as a method of birth control or that of convenience. The Jews always saw it as something that was medically necessary as in saving the life of the mother. They saw what we label as an elective abortion as the taking of innocent life; hence, murder. And this set the stage for what Christians came to believe about abortion. Christians in the first couple of centuries basically saw abortion this way: 1. The one in the womb is the creation of God. 2. Abortion is murder. 3. The judgment of God falls on those guilty of abortion. It is no secret that the word “abortion” or “infanticide” are not spoken of in the New Testament. But there were a couple of writings that mentioned it in no uncertain terms. Both of these were written at the beginning of the 2nd Century: the Didache and the Epistle of Barnabas. The Didache was like a training manual for those learning about Christianity, informing even non-Christians what they were getting themselves into should they decide to become Christians. The Didache was studied and agreed to before a person entered into Christian discipleship, as shown by baptism—before someone began to be formally identified with God’s people as a Christian. Here’s what the Didache teaches about the Christian life: There is a “great difference” between two ways of living—one is the way of life and the other is the way of death. In teaching about God’s command of “Lov[ing] your neighbor as yourself” as part of the Way of Life, the author makes a list of “thou shall not” statements. These include “you shall not murder, commit adultery, sodomy, fornication, theft, or use magic. Then the Didache specifically says: “you shall not murder a child by abortion or destruction”—literally exposure. The Epistle of Barnabas roughly said the same thing when it came to abortion: “You shall not slay the child by abortion; or destroy it after it is born”—again, a Christian cannot subject their son or daughter to exposure and have him or her die in that manner. I think we can see that the early Christians were committed to the idea that abortion was murder and they were not going to do such a thing. Tragically, as time went on, though, abortion was not unheard of among God’s people. But again, the foundation upon which Christians stood was God’s revelation regarding life issues. Fast forward multiplied centuries. Times definitely have changed, especially in our country. Abortion, unfortunately has always been with us as Americans. As the individual, and our personal rights have become much more important, and abortion techniques and instruments made it safer for the mother, and as laws were changed here and in many other countries, abortion became more prominent. But prominent doesn’t scratch the surface of the hellishness that we as a human race have brought on ourselves. We read in Revelation 9:18 about 1/3 of the world’s population dying and we are horrified. But let me give you the latest stats. As I mentioned, abortion is the world’s leading killer of people. In 2016, about 56 million people died from all kinds of diseases and accidents. Between 2012-2018, the number of reported abortions per year was about 56 million. We are looking at half of all people who died in 2016 as having been put to death by our own hands. In the vast majority of cases, it was done with the blessing and encouragement and sometimes coercion of governments and family and friends. But such reputable organizations as the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention will not report the abortion numbers in listing causes of death, just the other 56 million. In other words, half of the people who died are not reported as having died. Why? The answer is found in what I’m about to tell you, which is at the very heart of the abortion issue, not just today but it has been with us in different forms since the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3, the Serpent told Adam and Eve that the day they eat the forbidden fruit, they will be like God, knowing good and evil. As we know, they ate the fruit and ever since then, we have been living our own death sentence. Since that day, we have labeled what is good and what is evil. And the latest, most deadly demonstration of this label is called personhood theory. And it has taken the world by storm. So, what is it? In a nutshell, personhood theory means that we label certain image bearers of God as persons and label other image bears as non-persons. We allow persons to live, but we do what we want with non-persons. Let me give you the classic example of personhood theory in action. Hitler had a certain name for Jews. He declared them as subhuman. He hated them and wanted them all to be no more. He referred to his project to exterminate all the Jews as the Final Solution. I can multiply the examples. But you get the idea: someone labeled as a person has worth and dignity. But someone labeled as less than a person can be treated in horrendous ways. Personhood theory means that I confer upon you, and you confer on me, the dignity of a person. You call me by my name. You refer to me with personal pronouns. You treat me as one who is a fellow image bearer of God. But when one seeks to take away the status of personhood, demeaning, subhuman references are made about that individual. Let’s apply this idea to the one in the womb. What does a pro-abortion person label the one in the womb? A fetus. A clump of cells. An accident. A problem. But what will a pro-abortion person never label the one in the womb? A person. They will even describe the one in the womb as having life. But they will never call this one a person. Why is that? Simply, they are declaring the one in the womb as less than a person. And when that one in the womb is not a person, others can do what they want with them. In part, that’s how Hitler was able to do what he did. He called the Jews subhuman, and therefore he could do what he wanted to them. Here is the rub. It is a truth that human life begins at conception. Very few people will deny this. It is biological science. A pro-abortion person can see an ultrasound of the one in the womb, admitting that this is a life. But they cannot, or will not say this one is a person. And if you get nothing else today, get this. Personhood theory allows someone to say, “this is human life, but not a person.” And because this life is not a person, one can do what they want to that individual. That is why people can say, “I know this is a baby. This is human life. So what?” That’s because they don’t see the baby as a person but only as one having biological life. Personhood theory allows us to make a distinction between mere human beings and persons. Personhood theory in action is also how society prevents us from doing harm to fellow image bearers of God outside the womb. We normally treat them as persons. But when we don’t, we break the law and there are consequences. But why are people allowed the kill the unborn? They are not considered persons. Lest you think that I’m oversimplifying things by seeing this idea of personhood theory as being the heart of the issue, allow me to let you in on a conversation between Bethania Palma, a journalist from Los Angeles and Heather Boonstra, director of public policy for the Guttmacher Institute, which is what used to be Planned Parenthood’s research arm. This conversation is part of an article called, “Was Abortion the ‘Leading Cause of Death’ in 2018?” Palma says, “Stating that abortion is the ‘leading cause of death’ worldwide is a problematic pronouncement, because that stance takes a political position, one which is at odds with the scientific/medical world. The medical community does not confer personhood upon fetuses that are not viable outside the womb, so counting abortion as a “cause of death” does not align with the practices of health organizations such as WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)”. . . . Boonstra adds, “Abortion is a legal, constitutionally protected medical procedure in the United States. It’s not considered a cause of death by CDC, WHO and other leading authorities, and statistics on induced abortion are excluded in the CDC’s national fetal-death statistics.” The following quote was attributed to Joseph Stalin and fits perfectly here, even though it refers to political elections: “He who votes does not have the power. He who counts the votes has power.” See, it is all in how one sees the entity in the womb: is this a person, or not? If not, the terminology will be fetus. Clump of cells. A problem. Indeed, the one who counts the votes, or confers personhood, has the power. And the one conferring personhood also influences who makes the laws that literally spell life or death to millions of persons. And to compound matters, the Roe v. Wade decision solidified in our day the crux of the issue. Regarding abortion, we are back in Rome. We deny the one in the womb personhood status. Let me summarize the issue in this decision. The defendant, or “Wade” tried to make the case that the unborn child in the womb is a person, and was to be protected under the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court said, “If this suggestion of personhood is established, then appellant's case of course, collapses, for the fetus' right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the Amendment.” But the court went on to say, in essence, “both Roe and Wade agree to that, you know this to be true.” Then we hear the conclusion of the Court: “on the other hand, the defendant—or “Wade” admitted that no case could be cited that holds that a fetus is a person within the meaning of the 14th Amendment.” Do you see what has happened? The very heart of why abortion is legal in all 50 states hinges on the issue of personhood in the womb. Both Roe and Wade agreed. But Wade failed to establish that the one in the womb is a person. So, the one in the womb is not a person and therefore we can do with the fetus whatever we wish. It is only human life. It is not a person. All because those with the power exercised what the serpent said in the Garden of Eden: “you—Supreme Court, medical community, Congress shall be as God knowing good and evil.” They said the one in the womb is not a person so the life can be killed. But regardless of what the powers that be say, the ultimate power, the supreme judge of the universe sees it differently. Let me give you 3 Scripture passages to show this to be true. All 3 have to do with how God sees the one in the womb: Psalm 139:13–16: For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” When Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, she was very happy to see her. And then the baby that Elizabeth was carrying reacted: Luke 1:43-44: “And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” What do all 3 of these passages have in common? Personal interactions. Personal pronouns are used between God and David, between God and Jeremiah, and between Mary and Elizabeth—by the way, do blobs of tissue leap for joy? The point here is, regardless of whether in the womb or out, God and people engage in personal interactions, complete with personal names and personal pronouns. From God’s perspective, there is no difference between the person inside the womb and outside. I mentioned this before, but marvel at how completely countercultural this is! There is a person in that womb! God has conferred personhood on him or her in that place. In this age where people are desperate for knowing that they matter, this is incredibly good news. Even before we were born, God refers to us as persons. We are not potential persons. We are actual persons, even in the womb. Do you remember a moment ago when I gave us a part of a conversation that called the abortion issue a political one? I vigorously disagree. It is a moral one. But this issue does affect all of us politically. And there are many in the congress and in legislatures on the state level who are working hard to wordsmith and craft bills to pass scrutiny in hopes that they will get to the governor’s desk and he or she will sign them. Or bills crafted by federal legislators, trying to jump through the massive number of hoops to get to the president’s desk so he can sign them. According to the Guttmacher Institute, in 2019 alone, over 250 pro-life bills have been introduced in more than 41 states. Almost half of those bills would ban abortion in “some or all circumstances,” according to Planned Parenthood’s own analysis. Legislators in seven states have proposed bills that would completely ban abortion, while six states are considering or have already passed “trigger bans” that would ban abortion if or when Roe v. Wade is repealed. Because as we know, if Roe is repealed, the issue returns to the states, which is where things were before 1973. Now, of course, many of these bills are being challenged. But I have every confidence that some will get through. And as an aside, this is the reason why we need to be in the political process. As we have heard so many times, elections have consequences. And for us, since 1973, almost 60 million persons have been killed by abortion in our country. How many people would be alive today if more Christians had prayerfully, intelligently voted, sending pro-life lawmakers to congress and the state legislatures? We already can see the power of the vote in Virginia. How many oppressive laws are going to be passed before this session is over? So, what can we do? Plenty! In receiving her most recent Golden Globe award Michelle Williams preached—proclaimed her position on abortion. She said, “my receiving this award from you, my supporters have empowered me to live my life and to make the choices I have. When you put this in someone’s hands, you acknowledge the choices that they make as an actor . . . but you’re also acknowledging the choices that they make as a person.” She went on to say she is grateful for the choices that she made, to include taking advantage of her supposed constitutional right to abort her children. Not only that, but she finished her remarks by saying that women 18-118 when it comes time for the next election they need to vote according to their own self-interest. She made an impassioned plea, to keep abortion alive and the cameras were trained on the faces of the women who were clearly moved by her speech. Now I figure, if Michelle Williams can be so eloquent in her ambassadorship regarding abortion, then perhaps as ambassadors for Christ, we can give impassioned pleas as well. We can jump into the fray as we talk with people one on one. Chances are we will never have a big stage with millions of people hanging on our every word as we state our case for the personhood of unborn children. But we can take the initiative as the subject comes up as we speak to those in our circle. We are to be God’s ambassadors regarding the abortion issue. How do we do it? In your bulletin, there are several inserts. Pull out the one labeled “Ambassador”. I’m not going to read it, but just highlight for you some of these things listed. Make this a matter of prayer, then act, for everybody can do something. As I mentioned at the beginning of the message God is pro-life. Abortion is not OK with him. And it ought not to be OK with us, either. There are 6 things I have listed here. Let me quickly address them. 1. Represent the Lord well as a Christian; seek to love him and prove it by wholehearted obedience to God’s ways. Let’s be pro-life not just in regards to abortion but toward every person. The 6th Commandment is still applicable in our day—you shall not murder. This includes our enemies. 2. We need to put our words where our mouths are—through prayer as we confess our national sin of abortion. We are going to do that in a minute. I trust you came today to beg the Lord for forgiveness and plead for his mercy on us as a nation. 3. We need to also put our words where are mouths are—as we engage others regarding abortion. As I mentioned, we have a radical counterculture message. Our task as God’s ambassadors to the culture of death is to introduce the concept of personhood into the womb. He or she is not a blob, or a fetus but a person. In your bulletin you should have an insert to walk you though some questions to bother people in a good way, as we are learning in Greg Koukl’s course on Tactics on Wednesday nights. The bottom line here is that we can put a pebble in their shoe, so to speak, with these questions, or similar ones. Pray that the Lord gives you opportunities to introduce the concept that there is a person in the womb, not because some religious person decrees it but because God says so. And if the person says he or she does not believe in God, tell them anyway. The Holy Spirit is more than capable of using our declaration of truth at the right time. 4. We can put our money where our mouths are. A number of ministries are doing amazing things with ultrasounds nowadays. The two that I think most highly of are preborn and Save the Storks. The stats are that when an abortion minded woman—as in one who is committed to having an abortion sees an ultrasound of her baby, or babies! She changes her mind about having an abortion 80% of the time! In other words, for every 5 abortion minded women and girls who see ultrasounds, 4 of them choose to carry their baby to term! These ministries are not merely ultrasound dispensers. They use ultrasounds as a bridge to giving them the gospel of Christ, and many have responded by following Jesus. 5. We can be the hands and feet of Jesus. I have listed several things in your insert: actually protesting at the local abortion clinics in Richmond, participating in the annual Right to Life march in a couple of days, and Life Chain Sunday which is held every October also in Richmond. 6. One of the biggest arguments from pro-abortion supporters is that pro-life people are only concerned with the baby before he or she is born, but they don’t care about either the mother or the child after the birth. Ah contraire! Pregnancy Centers, which used to be called Crisis Pregnancy Centers are in so many places. But they are not given a very big spotlight because they are not abortion clinics. But these centers are comprehensive! From ultrasounds, to nutrition, to emotional and spiritual support, clothing, diapers, you name it, they have a boatload of things to give. What they need, by and large are volunteers to help them. Now it is time to pray. Abortion is just one of our many national sins. We are ripe and ready for judgment. We may already be past the point of no return. But only the Lord knows that. We cling to the truth of how God has described himself: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” I have printed a prayer that I invite all of us to pray out loud together. It is a copy of the card called, “A Prayer of Confession.” I only have 18 of them, so, feel free to take one per family. They are on the information table in the foyer. I invite you take it and use it to pray as a family. Or if you are single, feel free to take one as well and pray with others. If we run out I will get more. Again, in your bulletin there is a copy of a prayer of confession. It is this week’s corporate prayer. Please pull it out as we pray together. Heavenly Father, We confess that we have sinned as the people of ancient Israel sinned in their day. We have polluted our land by the shedding of innocent blood through abortion and terrible violence against unborn babies. We have become guilty because of the blood we have shed. We know that their blood – the blood of 60 million innocent babies – cries out to you from the ground for justice. We acknowledge that if we do not turn from this detestable practice, we will bring our days as a nation to a close, and the end of our years will come. Even though we may not have committed these sins ourselves, we ask, in identification with our people, that you will forgive us. Forgive us as a nation for not recognizing your image, the image of God, in every preborn baby. We confess that we have acted very wickedly toward you, and have not obeyed your commands, decrees and laws you have given us. Please, Lord, renew a right spirit in us, that we may return to you and obey you so that you may gather us and bless us. Raise up spiritual leaders among us who will not do violence to your word or profane your holy things, but instead teach your truth about life without adulteration and in the power and boldness of your Holy Spirit. Remove from us spiritual leaders who do not distinguish between what is clean and unclean, who shut their eyes to your truth, and in your name, whitewash evil deeds. Together, we pray for President Trump, for our lawmakers, and for our judges. May they use the authority you have given to them to do only what is right in your eyes. May they recognize their sacred duty to establish and enforce policies that will protect from harm the most innocent and vulnerable among us. We pray that those who do wrong will learn to live in the fear of you as the judge of the living and the dead. We pray especially for every public official who stands for your truth regarding the sanctity of human life. Please answer them in the day of trouble and deliver them with the saving might of your right hand. May they trust in you and through your steadfast love, never be moved. Put to flight all who plan evil against them, that once again we may honor the sacred value of unborn human life in this land. In the name of Jesus, amen. There are two final things I want to say as we finish our time together. One is offering a few words based on one of Charles Spurgeon’s writings, challenging us, for the sake of Christ, to speak light to those living in darkness. The second is the lyrics of a song written by Phil Keaggy called, “Little Ones.” When I finish the lyrics, let’s allow the Lord to move in our lives with no music. Let’s keep things quiet. If you need to leave or want to fellowship, please take it outside or in the Fellowship hall. If you want to stay and pray, by all means do so. Spurgeon writes: We ought not to be in the public spotlight to make a name for ourselves even if what we say is good and right, but, at the same time, it is a sin to be always hiding from others what God says we need to tell them for our good. We need to speak that which God has bestowed upon us for the good of others. A Christian is to be “a city set upon a hill.” He is not to be a candle under a bushel, but in a candlestick, giving light to all. Getting away from others may be lovely for a time, but the hiding of Christ in us can never be justified, and the keeping back of truth which is precious to ourselves is a sin against others and an offence against God. If you are nervous about speaking to others, take care that you do not let that cripple you into silence, lest you should be useless to the church. In the name of Jesus, risk your emotional discomfort for the sake of him who was not ashamed to die for you and tell others what Christ has told to you. If you cannot speak with an eloquent voice, use the still, small one he gave you. Hide not your talent; use it; and you shall bring glory to your Lord and Master. To speak for God will be refreshing to ourselves, cheering to saints, useful to sinners, and honoring to the Savior. Children who don’t speak are an affliction to their parents. Phil Keaggy writes the words of the song, “Little Ones” and with this I’ll close. After I read the lyrics of this song, let’s keep the sanctuary quiet. please leave quietly when you do. For those who want to stay and pray, please do so. But let’s keep this moment special. Set apart. Remember, there is forgiveness in Christ. Such good news! Who’ll speak up for the little ones? Helpless and half abandoned. They’ve got the right to choose life they don’t want to lose. I’ve got to speak up, won’t you? Equal rights, equal time, for the unborn children. Their precious lives are on the line How can we be rid of them? Passing laws, passing out Bills and new amendments Pay the cost and turn about And face the young defendants Who will speak up for the little ones? Helpless and half-abandoned They've got the right to choose life They don't want to lose I've got to speak up, won't you? Many come and many go Conceived but not delivered The toll is astronomical How can we be indifferent little hands, little feet Tears for Him who made you Should all on earth forsake you now But He'll never forsake you Who will speak up for the little ones? Helpless and half-abandoned They've got the right to choose life They don't want to lose I've got to speak up, won't you? Forming hearts, forming minds Quenched before awakened For so many deliberate crimes The earth will soon be shaken Little hands, little feet Tears for Him who made you Should all on earth forsake you now But He'll never forsake you Who will speak up for the little ones? Helpless and half-abandoned They've got the right to choose life They don't want to lose I've got to speak up, won't you?