Does Proverbs 24:11 justify breaking the law to stop abortions?
We should “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.” Does this justify illegal attempts to “rescue” babies by blocking pregnant women’s path into legal abortion clinics?
Proverbs 24:11
ESV - 11 Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
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Asked November 29 2020
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Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
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Tim Maas
Supporter
Those who oppose abortion as it is practiced in the United States can undoubtedly cite multiple Biblical bases for that opposition. However, as long as abortion remains a legal act according to the law of the land, those opponents must also be prepared to accept the legal consequences of violating civil law (and even of criminal law, if they resort to violence or the destruction of property) for the actions by which they express that opposition, just as Christians throughout history have endured suffering and imprisonment for opposing laws or institutions that they considered to be evil or sinful (as with slavery in the United States prior to the Civil War, for example, or even going all the way back to the apostles saying, "We must obey God, rather than men" when ordered to stop preaching and healing in the name of Christ, and subsequently rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer for the actions that they performed in Jesus' name (Acts 5:41)).
Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
This passage, Proverbs 24:11, does not justify breaking the laws of God-ordained human government (cf. Rom. 13:1; 1 Peter 2:13), even if we believe they are unjust laws. We cannot block the path to abortion clinics, but we can stand or sit nearby and pray. Some may even be led by God to vocally try to passionately persuade the soon-to-be mothers not to abort their babies. See the DVD, "Unplanned" --All Abby Johnson ever wanted to do was help women. As one of the youngest Planned Parenthood clinic directors in the nation, she believed in a woman's right to choose. Until the day she saw something that changed everything. (IMDB)
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