Denver March for Life Speech, Jan. 22, 2005

Given by Patrick Johnston to about 1,300 people gathered on the steps of the statehouse in Denver, Colorado

It is a sad day for medicine in America. We are curing more diseases, making great discoveries, and prolonging life like never before, but American medicine has lost its soul. Do you realize that the leading cause of death in America today is not cancer or heart disease. It is murder by a physician, and the vast majority of the medical community and medical schools are absolutely complicit with abortion-on-demand. Medicine in America has become corrupt. Oh, you can find somebody to cure your sinus infection and treat your high blood pressure, but Dr. Josef Mengele could have helped you with that, too. He was the Nazi physician who was responsible for performing grisly experiments on Jews at the Auschwitz concentration camp. American abortionists and medical researchers do things to preborn children that are just as gruesome as Dr. Mengele's practice.

It is high time to revive the pro-life plank of the Hippocratic Oath in America. One of the elements of the original Hippocratic Oath was a vow not to kill the pre-born: "I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly, I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy." When Hippocrates began his revolution of medicine around 400 B.C., patients were frequently concerned about whether someone was paying their physician more to kill them than they were paying him to keep them alive. Medicine in Greece had become corrupt: doctors were killing their patients. Hippocrates drew an ethical line in the proverbial sand, and called on his side those who would not kill their patients, and left on the other those who would. Patients voted with their money, and in time, physicians had to take the Hippocratic Oath in order to stay in business! The stigma to abusing or killing patients was revived, the reputation of medicine was restored, and lives were saved. The World Medical Association followed in Hippocrates footsteps when it adopted the Declaration of Geneva in 1948, which declared, "I will maintain the utmost respect for human life from the time of conception until death." Unfortunately, moral absolutes like "Thou shalt not murder" have been abandoned by American medical institutions. The restoration of foundational ethical principles embodied in the Hippocratic oath to a remnant of physicians in America is the vision of the Association of Prolife Physicians.

We are physicians who are convinced that life begins at fertilization and that abortion kills an innocent human being. We commit not to perform an abortion or refer patients for an abortion. We are beginning to advertise who these physicians are to the community - on billboards, in radio and newspaper ads, in area churches, and through our website, prolifephysicians.org. We are re-stigmatizing child-killing in our community. We want patients to discriminate against the Dr. Mengeles among us and prefer physicians who don't kill their patients.

We must not be afraid to draw a line in the sand over abortion. And we must draw that line where God does. I fear that the pro-life movement in America has drawn the line so far to the left that accomplices to the Abortion Holocaust are on the same side as we are. We can spar all we wish with those who are further to the left than us, but the fact remains that God is on the other side of the authentic line in the sand and we are on the side of His enemies. The question we must ask is this: where is God's line in the sand?

Let me relish that question by asking another one: Why is abortion wrong? Why is abortion wrong?

Do you realize that most pro-choice proponents, most abortionists don't have a problem with you saying that abortion's wrong. Not at all.

"If you believe that abortion's wrong, don't have one," they'll respond. You are welcome to your opinion but you have no right to foist your opinion upon a woman with an unwanted pregnancy. You have no right to exploit the power of legislation to criminalize a woman's reproductive choice.

The truth is, we have no right not to. We have no right to be apathetic, no right to be silent about the genocide of the preborn in America. Love constrains us to speak the truth about abortion. Love constrains us to do what is necessary in order to stop the killing, to treat the unborn as we would want to be treated.

One of the lies that we must refute in order to stop the killing is the lie that a human fetus is something less than a person. It is a verifiable fact of science that a person's life begins at fertilization - from this point on, we are human, alive, sexed, moving, and growing. Dead things, non-living things don't do this. You, my friend, are just a fetus grown up. Human embryos and fetuses are people, too. This truth does not waver just because we're not fond of it. I have seen the lies dissipate when a pregnant woman on her way into an abortion clinic sees the large poster of an abortion victim that I hold on the sidewalk. Truth is sharp, it is piercing, it is convincing, and the truth is that abortion kills a living human being.

Recently, some feminists have even capitulated to this truth. Some feminists have justified abortion based upon the principle of self-defense: the unborn child has invaded their lives, threatened their health, and they have a right to get an abortion because they have the right to self-defense. Abortion is, in their minds, the justifiable killing of another human being. It is for this reason that convincing the public of the humanity and viability of the unborn child in its natural environment is insufficient to protect the pre-born in America. They may admit that abortion kills, yet they may still justify it. We must go beyond biology to stop the killing.

Yes, abortion is contrary to the spirit of the Declaration of Independence, which says that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain irrevocable rights, including the right to live. Yes, abortion is contrary to the Constitution, which disallows the government from depriving one of life or liberty without due process, without conviction by a jury of our peers. These two points alone should make it clear to us that every abortion is unlawful and every judicial justification of this unlawful act is invalid. But our case cannot rest here. The Constitution, we must remember, was not written by the finger of God, and has been found in error. At its inception, the Constitution indirectly justified race-based slavery, and was worthy of amendment. So in order to stop the child-killing, we must transcend the constitutional arguments.

Yes, abortion is contrary to the spirit of democracy. When the Supreme Court in 1973 ruled state abortion restrictions unconstitutional, they overruled the democratic consensus of almost every state in the Union. Legal abortion was forced on the states through judicial tyranny, not through a democratic process. Polls have repeatedly shown that the vast majority of Americans are against abortion for most of the reasons abortions are done. However, the popularity of an idea is not an expression of its truthfulness. In order to stop the child-killing, we must go beyond what most Americans want.

Moreover, from a purely pragmatic basis, abortion is economic and cultural suicide. Socialistic schemes like Social Security and Medicare inevitably provoke governments to become more centralized, more intrusive, and more tyrannical, especially when a nation addicted to state handouts slaughters its future workers like we have. Legal abortion is national suicide - it's bad for America. Moreover, it's bad for women. Abortion increases the risk of breast cancer, psychological pathology, infertility, and suicide, and can be a cover-up for crimes like rape and incest. Even so, the moral quality of an act is not determined by whether or not we benefit from it. Pragmatism fails, by itself, to provide an adequate basis for right and wrong.

What is the basis of right and wrong then? What is the fundamental basis for justice and injustice? It's not biological facts. It is not the Constitution. It is not our democratic consensus or our popular opinion polls. It's not the utilitarian standard of personal or societal benefit.

The basis of right and wrong, justice and injustice, is God Almighty. He is the standard! The Creator made man in His image, and He designed a law for our good to maximize our potential. He expects us to govern ourselves by this standard. We needn't guess about his opinion on ethical matters, because He has revealed His Word to us in the Holy Bible. If we are to win the abortion debate and stop the child-killing, we must traverse the biological facts, the constitutional arguments, the polls, the opinions of men, and all of the pragmatic considerations, and we must unsheathe the two-edged sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. We have placed too much trust in carnal, fallible means to accomplish godly ends. The Goliath of abortion will come down in America, but we must charge that monster in the name of Jesus Christ, trusting in His power and in the weapons with which His spirit endows us, not in the carnal weapons of King Saul. According to Ephesians 6, the Word of God is our offensive weapon in this battle against principalities, and spiritual wickedness in high places. We must not shrink back from declaring, with boldness and authority, without shame or embarrassment, "Thus saith the Lord!"

The Word of God confirms repeatedly that a woman is pregnant with a child - not a product of conception, not a blood clot, not a blob of tissue or a reproductive choice. In Genesis 25, Rebekah's children struggled within her. In Psalm 139, the inspired writer insists that he existed in his mother's womb. Pregnant women were considered "great with child", and Mary was found "with child of the Holy Ghost." Preborn human beings are children to God, His Word is clear.

The same God who confirmed repeatedly in His word that life exists in the womb also forbids mistreating others. He loves us so much that the only verses literally written by the finger of God forbids other to lie to you, steal from you, commit adultery against you, or murder you or anyone else, regardless of the victim's perceived inferiority. According to Matthew 25, He takes it personally when "the least of these" are mistreated, so much so that Jesus will declare to many on Judgment Day, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire - because as you treated the least of your neighbors, so you have treated me."

God's standard of morality and justice is His law, and the commandment "Thou shalt not murder" has not been amended for women in crisis pregnancies. No one has the right to kill an innocent human being. This truth does not diminish with a democratic consensus that rejects it. Man cannot nullify the command of God Almighty. The Supreme Court of heaven overrules the inferior courts of earth in every case in which the inferior courts have the audacity to rebel against His Majesty.

Contrary to popular opinion, abortion is not the law of the land. I repeat, abortion is not the law of the land. Why? Because the Word of God is not bound by the mischief of an unlawful statute contrived by wicked rebels. The verdict of heaven is not assuaged by contrary opinion. God's law is the supreme law of the land because it is the supreme law of every land, because He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and there are no boundaries to His rule. Any judgment of men that contradicts the rules of right that heaven itself ordained is null and void - not worth the paper upon which it is written. We are not obligated, the states are not obligated, indeed, Colorado is not obligated to respect the unlawful edicts of men; rather we are as bound to disrespect them as we would be to disrespect the anti-christ's order to take a mark on our forehead and worship an idol. The killing of an innocent human being can never be lawful - it is an unlawful, prosecutable act, all of the rebellion of human courts notwithstanding.

Unlike the opinions of many pro-life politicians, God's commandments are more than rhetoric. There are teeth to his commandments. Law without penalty is not law at all, just advice or suggestion. But we have the Ten Commandments, not the Ten Suggestions, the Golden Rule, not the Golden bit of advice. God, because He is loving, did not just speak the commandment and leave it without sufficient penalty to discourage assault and protect the innocent. God, in His love, ordained the ultimate penalty for violating the God-given rights of the least of our neighbors. The Scripture says that all transgressors will be cast into hell, where the fire will never be quenched. Barring repentance and faith in Christ, "A murder has no eternal life abiding in them" according to I John 3:15. When God says that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, He means it, and He proves it by enacting the penalty of eternal hell for unpardoned transgressions of His moral law.

God's commandments are not just to individuals, but to nations as well. And just as He, being loving, ordains a penalty fitting for the crime in order to establish a sufficient deterrent, so God orders nations to establish penalties befitting certain crimes. Romans 13 tells us that God ordains the civil authorities to be a terror to evil works. The government leader "is a minister of God to thee for good," reads the passage, "but if thou do evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." Governmental leaders are obligated by God to bear the sword of vengeance, to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Evil not as our own personal subjective opinions would define it, not as our democratic consensus defines it, not as our Supreme Court defines it, but as God, the standard of morality and justice, defines it.

What would you think about our government if it were to nullify all civil penalties for those who were to kill Christians? That would be a strong indicator that our government doesn't love or value Christians, wouldn't it? Indeed, practically speaking, the government would be legalizing the killing of Christians, because law without penalty is toothless rhetoric. The value that our government places on your life is directly measured by the severity of the penalty with which it punishes those who kill you.

God, the standard of morality and justice, tells us not to murder in Exodus 20, but in the very next chapter, consistent with His loving motive to provide a convincing deterrent to the crime being forbidden, he pronounces the penalty that governments should enact against violators of the 6th commandment. Exodus 21:12: "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall surely be put to death."

Do we believe that the preborn are people, or not? Are they people, or are they subhuman? It is already legal in Colorado to put a murderer to death when he has maliciously taken the life of an already-born person, and our discrimination against the preborn is unjustified and unbiblical. It is God's love, His desire to protect the innocent from abuse and exploitation that prompts Him to pronounce such a stern penalty upon those who would intentionally and maliciously kill another person. When capital criminals are executed swiftly and publicly, God promises that the entire nation, according to Deuteronomy 13:11, "shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this among you." Do we want abortion to stop, or don't we? Are we pro-life in words only, or do we really want to do what is necessary in order to stop the Holocaust of millions of innocent children? We must have a penalty sufficient to discourage the crime. Do not, my dear friend, love the word of man over the word of God. Do not fear the disapproval of man more than you fear God

Exodus 21:22-24 extends this stern criminal penalty to those that kill a preborn child. Listen: "If men strive, or fight with one another, and hurt a woman with child, so that she miscarries, and yet no lasting harm follows (the woman and baby are healthy) he shall surely be punished - as the woman's husband and the judges determine. (But) if any lasting harm follows, (if the mother or the baby are injured or killed) then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." If through carelessness a man kills a preborn child, the civil penalty according to God's Word is "Life for life." God loves and cares for the preborn so much that the criminal penalty for killing a preborn child is the same as for killing a born person. I know of no greater evidence that God loves and values the lives of preborn children, than this. God obligates government leaders to wield the sword of justice to protect preborn children from assault.

Numbers 35 tells us that not punishing a murderer pollutes the land. It brings a curse on the land, a curse of innocent bloodshed. Not just the nation, but the local community as well. Deuteronomy 21 says that the curse of bloodguilt falls upon the community nearest the crime.

Our state and local leaders have no business pointing their fingers at the Supreme Court, or Congress, or the pro-abortion liberals entrenched in the Federal government or in the leading political parties, as an excuse for not doing justice within the bounds of their jurisdiction. God obligates our state and local leaders to do justice within the scope of their authority.

The South Dakota legislature set a great example by passing a bill in March of 2004 that would have provided justice for the preborn by defying Roe v. Wade and criminalizing abortion within their state. The Governor promised to sign it, but when he sent it back to the legislature to have a technicality hammered out, pro-lifers, fearing the negative stigma of imprisoning mothers who were accomplices in the crime, thwarted this legislation and it failed to pass the senate the second time. It was influential pro-lifers who turned the tide and joined with the National Organization of Women and the National Abortion Rights Action League to keep abortion legal in South Dakota! When you abandon God's standard of morality and justice, your remedy for our nation's ills can be as bad as the disease.

We reject God's Word to our peril. He will call us to account for disregarding His standard of law and justice. When Cain killed his brother Abel, God called Cain to account: "Where is thy brother Abel?" Cain answered, "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?" The Omniscient God responded, "What have you done? The innocent blood of your brother cries up to me out of the ground." Then God pronounced a curse upon Cain! He cursed him! If the blood of one innocent man cries up curses out of the ground into the ears of a Holy God, what must the innocent blood of over 40 million babies sound like in the ears of a Holy God?!? Truly, a great curse is upon this land. God hears the silent screams we have ignored. He remembers the innocent preborn our nation has slaughtered. Our sin is ever before Him and our curse of bloodguilt is daily deepening. One day, He will avenge the fatherless. He will respond to the cries of those whose innocent blood has been shed. He will respond with bitter, bitter judgment.

Give me ten thousand curses from the Federal government, over one curse from God Almighty! I defy Roe v. Wade, this mischief in the guise of a law, this unlawful edict that declares good evil and evil good, and so should you! So should the church of Jesus Christ, and so should the state of Colorado! Colorado has the power to criminalize abortion here, you have the constitutional authority to do it, and God has commanded you to do it, but do you have the will to obey? We need to look that Goliath of abortion in the eye, in the name of Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and proclaim, with boldness and authority, without shame or embarrassment, "Thus saith the Lord." Let there be liberty and justice for all in Colorado!

Has the salt of the earth so lost its savor, that none cry out for justice? Do you not know that the church of Jesus Christ is the salt of the earth, and if the salt loses its saltiness, it is good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under the foot of men? If we obey, every place the soles of our feet shall tread shall be given to us according to the Scriptures, but if we compromise, if we abandon His law for the laws of men, if we turn tail in fear and cowardice when the enemy threatens us and calls us names, if we love our lives more than His glory, it is we who will be cast out and trodden under the boot-heels of wicked men. Judgment must first begin at the House of God! Before God punishes the nation for its corruption, he punishes the salt for tolerating it. In Revelation 2-3, he told the seven churches that if they didn't return to their first love, if they didn't hold fast to what He had given them, if they didn't reprove the evil doctrines among them, and get out of bed with Jezebel, that evil political leader, then He would remove their candlestick. Yes, God was longsuffering, but ultimately six of those seven churches were destroyed by Muslim armies in the sixth century. The American church deserves no less.

The curse of innocent bloodshed rests upon this community, upon this state, upon this nation, because the salt has been compromised. There will be no mercy for us until there's justice for them.

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord," Psalm 33 declares, but all the nations that forget God will be turned into hell, according to Psalm 9:17. If there was ever a nation historically blessed by God, it was Israel, the apple of his eye. Yet their sins so turned Him against them that He said in Deuteronomy 28:63: "As the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nothing; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it." If we do not return to the Lord in humble obedience, God will judge the United States of America. He will smite us. He will deliver us to our enemies, and turn us into hell. 9/11 was a foretaste of terror divine compared to the woes that are in store for us, for the unretributed shedding of innocent blood and idolatry that has permeated this country and our public institutions.

The only remedy for this country is that the church of Jesus Christ arise to the occasion. For our nation to be healed of its maladies and forgiven of its sin, II Chronicles 7:14 admonishes us that the people of God must first humble themselves. We are such a proud nation and a proud people. We falsely think we deserve victory in every conflict and blessing in every tragedy. We must humble ourselves before the God we have so deeply offended and confess that wrath is our just lot for what we have done and tolerated.

Second, we must pray. We must pray for abortion to end. We must pray God's will in faith, not doubting in our hearts, but believing that those things for which we are praying will come to pass. We must pray in faith for justice for the preborn.

Third, we must seek His face. Without His favor, we are utterly doomed.

Lastly, II Chronicles 7:14 says we must turn from our wicked ways. We have much of which we must repent. We have feared the disapproval of men more than the disapproval of God. We have blame-shifted, and not taken responsibility for being our brother's keeper. We have been content with pro-life rhetoric over substance. We have thrown our weight behind token legislation that will not save a single life, but perpetuates the child-killing. We have accepted Roe v. Wade as legitimate, and have codified its principles into law in an attempt to regulate the killing. We have supported politicians who call themselves pro-life and yet who justify abortion and who continue to fund the child-killing. We have had the mote in our own eye in condemning other nations for their crimes against humanity, when we have not confessed nor repented of our own crimes against humanity. We have expended our limited resources in political battles that even if won, would not be sufficient to abate the wrath of God and protect the preborn child. We have settled for less than justice for the preborn. We have preferred pragmatism over principle, unity over truth, and public opinion polls over the Word of God. We have not loved our preborn neighbors as we love ourselves. We have not gotten on God's side of the line in the sand. For these grievous sins we must, we must, we must repent.

If we meet the conditions of II Chronicles 7:14 - humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways - we have the promise of God that He will forgive us, He will restore us, and He will heal our land. He will transform us from one nation under God's wrath, to one nation under God's blessing again.

His eyes are even now roaming to and fro through the United States, looking to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards Him. He doesn't require a majority. There is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few. He is looking for a faithful remnant who will unsheathe the Sword of the Spirit and charge that battlefield in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus promises us that the gates of hell will not prevail against His people.

Oh, people of God, will you embrace the Lord's vision of liberty and justice for all? Abortion will end in America - either by the judgment of God, or by the judgment of God's people. The choice is yours.