Egypt's "Abortion" Program

After reading again the story of Pharaoh's purge of the Hebrew male children, it occurred to me that he would have preferred abortion to infanticide, but they could not abort without knowing the child’s sex. Thus, the midwives were told to kill male children “on the delivery stool”; the closest thing to abortion.

It appears that the midwives excuse for not killing the male children—that Hebrew women were more vigorous than their Egyptian counterparts and “give birth before the midwives arrive,”—maintained male births and the Hebrew nation continued to flourish.

Developing nations, where the birthrate is high, commonly practice population control by abortion—often pressured by wealthier nations. But abortion in developed countries reduces the birthrate to well below the replacement rate of 2.4 live births per couple. Quebec leads the way with a birthrate of only 1.4.

China and India have a disproportionate male population due abortion or infanticide of females as male children are preferred. This shortage of marriageable women leads to bartering and kidnapping girls for marriage.

Birth is simply a growing event in life, like puberty, the first sexual experience and sickness. Thus there is only a fine line between abortion and infanticide, the latter growing in western nations.

Killing children is recognized as the most heinous of crimes and those who prey on children are the worst pariahs of society. The unborn are the most defenseless of all, yet they are often disposed of with the least regret. In the “Christian” west, we cannot point too many fingers at the king of Egypt.