Joel Littlefield

There is no question: abortion is the taking of human life, and God commands His people to act with clarity and conviction in the face of such evil.

The Innocent Are Not to Blame

Let’s be honest: the babies stumbling toward the slaughter are not responsible for their fate.

It is the fault of adults—parents, lawmakers, pastors, citizens—those who are called to be the rescuers of the weak and voiceless.

The Pro-Life Movement: A Noble Name, a Compromised Stand

For many years, I identified with the pro-life movement. The name sounds noble. It seems safe. It promises progress.

But I’ve come to realize that what I once thought was a faithful stand for life was, in many ways, a compromise.

A few years ago, I was handed literature on abolition while outside a Planned Parenthood. I didn’t dismiss it outright, but I didn’t embrace it either.

It seemed too extreme.

But then I asked myself: what exactly was “extreme” about calling abortion murder and insisting that all human beings—born or unborn—deserve equal protection under the law?

Regulation Is Not Justice

The uncomfortable truth is this: most pro-life legislation regulates abortion. It doesn’t outlaw it.

It draws arbitrary lines—allowing some children to live while approving the death of others.

That’s not justice.

That’s not biblical.

Abolition Refuses to Compromise

Abolition recognizes what Scripture declares: that all people are made in the image of God from the moment of fertilization.

And it demands that our laws reflect that reality—no exceptions, no partiality, no regulatory loopholes.

“You shall not murder.”

This command doesn’t come with caveats or gestational qualifiers. It is universal.

What Holds Us Back?

So why do we, as Christians, keep supporting half-measures?

Is it fear? Is it pragmatism? Is it a desire to avoid the offense of sounding “radical”?

God’s Warning to the Complicit

Leviticus 20:1–5 offers a sober warning:

“Any of the people of Israel… who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death…

And if the people of the land close their eyes to that man… then I will set my face against that man and against his clan…”

God calls His people not only to refuse participation in evil, but to refuse to tolerate it.

Yet we have grown accustomed to looking the other way.

We write policies to make the slaughter “safer.”

We redefine murder to fit political strategies.

And all the while, children are still being led to their deaths.

What Abolition Is Really About

Let’s be clear:

Abolition is not about criminalizing mothers alone. It does not ignore the role of men or the broader cultural guilt. It is about justice. It is about treating the murder of a child in the womb as seriously as the murder of a child outside the womb. It is about equal protection under the law for every image-bearer of God.

Silence Can Be Sin

James 4:17 says:

“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

If we know the truth—and we do—then silence is sin.

Regulation is compromise.

And compromise, when it comes to the lives of the innocent, is unacceptable.

The Calling of a Pastor—and the Hope of the Gospel

As a pastor, I am not called to political safety or cultural neutrality.

I am called to proclaim the truth—no matter the cost.

Yes, repentance is possible.

Yes, Christ died for the ungodly—including those who have taken life, those who have enabled it, and those who have turned a blind eye.

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”

— Romans 5:6

There is mercy. There is grace. There is forgiveness at the cross.

But there must also be truth.

The Time to Act Is Now

The Church must wake up.

We must open our eyes.

We must pray.

And we must take a bold, uncompromising stand for abolition—not someday, but right now.