It’s like a science fiction horror plot; imagine an epidemic with a 100% mortality rate that suddenly pops up in the Australian outback. It spreads to the small towns, then to larger cities, and over the course of just two generations, it kills every man, woman, and child, leaving the entire island of Australia, 3 million square miles, abandoned and lifeless.
Imagine the horror as the global community watches the evening news wondering what happened, hoping they can find a way to stop it.
All the while, unbeknownst to the watching world, three Australians were able to sneak out of the country. One landed in Singapore where she unwittingly unleashed the infection. The epidemic started on the southern end of the country in the city of Sentosa, then raced north, east and west. It even made it onto the small surrounding islands out as far as the Tekong and Senang islands. By the time it was over, every human being in Singapore was dead.
The second Australian ended up in Ireland. He was also infected, and in the end, every man, woman, and child from Belfast to County Cork perished.
The third Australian made his way to Switzerland where they discovered the disease at a hospital in Zurich. They tried to stop it and hope rose. For a day. Then another case popped up in the city of Lucerne, then in Bern. It was too late. Every human being within the Swiss borders ultimately succumbed to the epidemic.
Then finally, to the relief of the global community who had been watching in horror, who had been praying for an end and donating money and resources to fight the epidemic, the day came when it seemed to end. They began assessing the damage: every human being in Australia, Singapore, Ireland, and Switzerland were now all dead. Entire families, communities, cities gone. The death toll was horrific.
And then another case popped up. This time in Israel. From Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, to Nazareth the disease spread. And then to Gaza. Now it was in Palestine where it continued to spread and indiscriminately kill everyone in its path; men, women, Jews, Arabs, doctors, teachers, students, politicians, grandfathers, toddlers, moms.
An antidote was finally developed, but not before the populations of both Israel and Palestine were completely wiped off the map.
During the course of two generations, the world had watched the entire population of six different countries as they were completely wiped off the face of the earth.
Can you imagine the horror at a death toll that huge?
Of course, this was just a fictional story, but it has an analog in the real world. The number of human beings who have been killed before they’ve had a chance to be born since the Roe V Wade decision in the US in 1973, is equivalent to the populations of Australia, Singapore, Ireland, Switzerland, Israel, and Palestine combined.
Sadly, unlike my fictional horror plot, the epidemic of on-demand abortion in the US shows no signs of stopping. The National Center for Health Statistics reports there are approximately 1.21 million abortions in America each year. Even removing the 8% or so that are attributed to medical reasons, that still leaves over 968,000 children who are aborted for no medical reason. That’s more than the population of Delaware. Every year.
Abortion is an admittedly complex and difficult issue and I certainly don’t have all the answers. But I believe it’s worth taking a sober look at the fruit of that historic and infamous decision in 1973.
