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It's Saturday, January 27, 2024.

Today’s edition fact checks a new pro-abortion Biden campaign ad, highlights claims that the federal government urged financial institutions to flag Bible purchases, and explains how unbelievers can have knowledge despite being apart from God—in addition to other news.

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Of Christian Concern

FACT CHECK: DOES THIS PRO-ABORTION BIDEN CAMPAIGN AD TELL THE TRUTH?

Screenshot from the Biden campaign ad titled “Forced” featuring Dr. Austin Dennard. (Joe Biden / YouTube)

A new Biden presidential campaign ad features a Texas OB/GYN and mother of three who says, “I never thought that I would need an abortion for a planned pregnancy, but I did.” She claims that two years ago she became pregnant “with a baby I desperately wanted,” but learned at a routine ultrasound that “the fetus would have a fatal condition, and that there was absolutely no chance of survival.”

“In Texas,” she says, because Roe v. Wade was overturned, “you are forced to carry that pregnancy.” She says, “The choice was completely taken away. I was to continue my pregnancy, putting my life at risk.”

Is it true? Here are the facts. The woman in the ad is Dr. Austin Dennard of Dallas, Texas, and the condition her preborn child had was anencephaly. Anencephaly is “a serious birth defect in which a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull.” Moreover, “Almost all babies born with anencephaly will die shortly after birth.”

However, anencephaly is not life-threatening for the mother. A 2019 study by the Journal of Clinical Medicine Research found that in 28 cases of anencephalic pregnancies where the child was not aborted, there were no maternal deaths, and the complications that did occur were manageable.

What the campaign ad doesn’t reveal is that Dennard did in fact get an abortion, traveling to the East Coast for the procedure. She told ABC News, “I knew immediately that I didn't want to continue the pregnancy. For me, I didn't want to put my health -- physical, mental, emotional health -- at risk, continuing my pregnancy.” Her concern, it seems, was not risk of death, as the campaign ad implies.

Worth mentioning is that the state of Texas allows abortions in cases of “medical emergencies,” though what constitutes a medical emergency is unclear. The ambiguity has made doctors hesitant to perform them.

In any case, it is false that her child’s condition alone put Dennard’s life at risk, and it is uncertain whether Texas law would have prevented her from getting an abortion if it had put her life at risk.

On the topic, what about cases where the mother’s life is in fact in danger? From a Christian perspective, should mothers be able to abort in those cases? End Abortion Now weighs in on this question.

“When looking at the numbers, abortions to save the life of the mother are extraordinarily rare.” Those who would argue the life of the mother is a reason to abort “are assuming the full value of the mother while failing to extend the same to the child…”

The abortion abolitionist organization continues, “In a high-risk pregnancy (ectopic or otherwise) physicians are treating two patients: the mother and the baby. Therefore, they should seek to preserve both patients’ lives to the best of their ability. If complications were to arise and only one life can be saved, then that life is saved. This is altogether different than the intentional murder of a human being.”

They conclude with a biblical argument: “Finally, we unashamedly believe that motherhood is a self-sacrificial calling and not a self-serving one. Jesus tells us that the greatest act of love is to lay down our lives for others (John 15:13). This is a truth he demonstrated to those who hated him. A parent’s love for their son or daughter ought to leave them with no hesitation to willingly give themselves up for the child if the choice was forced upon them. How can this not also be extended to the unborn child who is in the most vulnerable place imaginable?”

Also Noteworthy

Screenshot from the Satan-defending adult animated musical comedy series Hazbin Hotel. (Vivziepop / YouTube)

→ The opening clip of a new animated show on Prime Video called Hazbin Hotel, which heralds Lucifer as a hero, has been making the rounds on social media.

→ The U.S. federal government urged financial institutions to flag “the private transactions of their customers” for the purchase of religious texts “containing extremist views,” including the Bible, according to revelations by U.S. representative Jim Jordan.

→ Nearly 300 scientific papers published within the past decade contained faked research, according to a team of researchers.* Only around half have been retracted, highlighting concerns about accuracy and accountability in scientific research.

→ Evangelist Ray Comfort revealed in a recent interview that the profound thoughts about death that set him on a path toward receiving Christ were provoked by an LSD trip.

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* https://www.science.org/content/article/whistleblowers-flagged-300-scientific-papers-for-retraction-many-journals-ghosted-them

Content Catch-Up

Recent, notable content by Christian creators, or of Christian interest.*

→ Daughter’s “Coming Out” Story: In a recent thread on X, a user who goes by Saint Arthur Fonzarelli shared the story of his youngest daughter’s “coming out” as lesbian—including his Christ-centered response and the ultimate result. (Thread)

→ Lord of the Rings Isn’t Christian: J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved fantasy world doesn’t come from a Christian worldview, according to this recent thread by…me, yours truly, Anthony Langer. (Thread)

→ Climate Change or Christian Persecution?: Dr. Greg Cochran of International Christian Concern argues that climate change claims are serving as a cover-up for the real cause of religiously motivated violence against Christians in Nigeria. (Article)

*Not necessarily an endorsement

The Bible, Briefly

The Foundation of Knowledge (Part 2)

Photo: Rene Asmussen

Last week we saw from the Bible that God is the foundation of all knowledge. There’s no knowledge apart from Him. That raises the question, what about unbelievers? How do they—since they’re apart from God—know anything, if there’s no knowledge apart from God?

Answer: They know things same way believers know things—God grants them that knowledge. Unbelievers are apart from God, yes, but they’re not so far apart that they don’t receive all kinds of benefits from Him. As Paul said (speaking to unbelievers), “he is actually not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27). And as Jesus said, “he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). God calls us to love our enemies, and He leads by example. He loves His enemies, and gives them many good things. This is what theologians call common grace.

When it comes to knowledge, specifically, the Bible teaches that God bestows some knowledge upon all humans:

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20)

The knowledge God gives everyone is the knowledge that’s necessary to know about Him. In other words, merely by existing, a human knows God exists. The creation—including oneself—is such a clear sign of God, that knowing about Him is unavoidable. But, the passage also says, men “by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18). They convince themselves that they don’t know what they do know. They still do know it, though.

But that’s not the only knowledge God gives. Recall that Psalm 94:10 says God is “He who teaches man knowledge.” So, any knowledge a person has, he only has because God taught it to him. That’s true of unbelievers as well as believers.

So yes, God is the foundation of knowledge even for unbelievers, who do in fact know things.

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Why "18:15"? The name Project 18:15 is based on Proverbs 18:15: “An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.” The aim is for this weekly email—a Christian news briefing, a Bible study, and a Church history lesson rolled into one—to be one way you keep abreast of current events and acquire knowledge you might not acquire elsewhere.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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