A Cry for the Unborn: A Call to Repentance in the Black Community
Highlight: Since 1973 Black Americans have aborted more than half their population.
“They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire…”
Deuteronomy 12:31
According to the World Health Organization, over 73 million abortions occur each year worldwide. Since 1973, an estimated 20 million Black children, image-bearers of God, have been aborted in the United States alone. Today, Black American women undergo abortion at dramatically higher rates than white women. The reasons often cited are said to be unintended pregnancy, unstable relationships, financial instability, and emotional distress, which are real struggles, yet beneath these circumstances lies a deeper truth: a moral and spiritual crisis that cannot be ignored. Silence is no longer an option.
Scripture is clear: God forms every life in the womb with deliberate care and purpose (Psalm 139:13-14). The Creator Himself knits together the child who grows from embryo to fetus; He is the active author of that life. To deliberately end that process under the slogan “my body, my choice” is to deny God’s authority and elevate human autonomy to the level of a false god. The Bible makes it unmistakably clear: our bodies do not belong to us; they belong to the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). When we terminate a life God is forming, we rebel against Him.
The Bible and the Destruction of Children
God’s condemnation of child sacrifice is unambiguous. He repeatedly warned Israel not to imitate the surrounding nations that sacrificed their children to pagan gods (Deuteronomy 12:31). Yet kings like Ahaz and Manasseh committed these abominations (2 Kings 16:3; 21:6), and God declared such actions detestable.
Deuteronomy 12:31
“They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire…”
Leviticus 18:21
“Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed…”
Some insist that child sacrifice and modern abortion are unrelated. But the heart behind both is the same: elevating human desire above God’s will. Whether the idol is Molek or personal convenience, the root is idolatry. Whenever we place our desires above God’s commands, we are worshiping something other than Him.
The Hard Case: Pregnancy from Rape
Rape is an evil that wounds deeply. Yet even in these tragic situations, Scripture does not grant the right to take an innocent life. Jesus teaches that retaliation, even against grave injustice, does not align with God’s standard (Matthew 5:38-42). Ending a child’s life, even one conceived through violence, does not heal the trauma and does not honor the Lord who alone is the giver of life.
This truth is difficult, but our pain does not shape God’s Word; it shapes us through our pain. And for every woman who has walked this difficult road, God’s grace is still abundant (Ephesians 2:3-5).
The Weight of Guilt and the Hope of Forgiveness
All sin carries consequences (Romans 6:23), and Scripture teaches that we reap what we sow (Galatians 6:7). In Israel, child sacrifice was punishable by death (Leviticus 20:2). Today, abortion is legal in many states, but legality does not change moral reality. Where communities fail to uphold God’s standards, God Himself warns that consequences will follow (Leviticus 20:4-5).
Many women who have had abortions describe lingering guilt. When this guilt becomes an awareness of sinning against God rather than merely breaking social norms, Scripture calls it godly sorrow.
2 Corinthians 7:10
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret…”
Repentance opens the door to cleansing and restoration.
2 Corinthians 7:11
“See what this godly sorrow has produced in you… At every point, you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.”
What extraordinary grace God offers! Through confession and repentance, He cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). And once forgiven, He calls us to walk in newness of life: “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11).
A Message to Black American Pastors
Some Black pastors argue that the prevalence of abortion clinics in Black communities is a form of modern eugenics. Perhaps there is truth to that. But the presence of temptation is not the cause of sin; our response is. No one is forced into sexual immorality, and no one is dragged into an abortion clinic. The Church must move beyond pointing to the enemy's schemes and begin confronting the sin that gives those schemes power.
If abortion clinics are thriving in Black neighborhoods, it is because people are choosing them. And if that is the case, then pastors must rise with boldness, preaching God’s truth without compromise, confronting sexual sin directly, and leading campaigns that expose the lies of the enemy. Scripture commands believers to resist the devil so that he will flee (James 4:7). But resistance requires clarity, courage, and conviction from the pulpits.
