Why is abortion such a big deal?

Before I proceed to answer the question proffered in the title, allow me to clarify something.  I do not consider myself a Republican.  I have never voted for a presidential candidate from either major party, nor do I intend to vote for Donald Trump this year, though the Democrats are doing their best to change my mind.

So, why is abortion such a big deal?  Why is abortion turning conservative Christians into one-issue voters, forcing them to support the likes of Donald Trump?  Why is abortion worse than other violations of human rights?

The fact that I have been asked these questions, by Christians no less, is indicative of the underlying problem.  The problem is three-fold, and so is my answer.

1) Abortion is horrendous.  Abortion is an unfathomable evil.  In a bygone era proponents of abortion convinced our nation that terminating a pregnancy was simply disposing of a blob of tissue.  This classic tactic--dehumanizing the victim--was more believable before modern medical equipment made it impossible to deny that abortion is the murder of a developing human being in utero.

Abortion is an unspeakable evil.  There are multiple methods of abortion, but they include physically dismembering the child and burning the child with a saline solution.  Abortionists, doctors who have sworn the Hippocratic Oath, literally use forceps to crush the skulls of helpless children, and then proceed to rip their limbs and torso from the womb piece by piece.  

So, why is abortion such a big deal?  If the answer isn't obvious to you, you are blind or heartless.  Simply put, you have to be a heartless monster to think that abortion is anything less than the greatest humans rights issue in the history of the world.  If you believe that dismembering children in the womb is a matter of political preference, you are either willfully ignorant, or you are heartless, cold, and inhumane.   

We have sanitized abortion.  We have used medical terms to minimize the evil that it is, but there is nothing more gruesome.  There is nothing that is or could be more heinous and evil.  The fact that abortion is considered debatable is why we make such a big deal about it.  The lack of horror is nearly as alarming the act itself. 

2) Abortion is a symptom of a deeper ethical and philosophical issue.  When I debate abortion, I quickly discover that support for abortion is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.  The problem is our Godless, self-centered society.

We live in an era of radical individuality.  Truth is subjective, rights are defined by desires, and ethics are subject to our fleeting whims.  We are willing to sacrifice anything and everything, even the fruit of our wombs, to protect our licentious lifestyles.  We have no objective standard for creating laws beyond what I want and what I feel.  Hate is depriving others of their right do whatever they want; love is tolerating insanity.

The cornerstone of Biblical relational ethics, and that upon which our legal code was largely founded, is the image of God in man.  When a society denies that mankind is distinct from the animal kingdom, a special creation bearing the image of the Creator, we lose our foundation for creating and enforcing ethical and legal standards.  Our nation has seen many effects of this denial, such as lax punishment for murderers and loose sexuality, but abortion is the ultimate denial of the Imago Dei.  We make such a big deal about abortion because we understand that the practice is based on a worldview that hates God and glorifies man.  When a child in the womb may be disposed because he is inconvenient, we really have little ground left for reason, morality, or debate of any kind.

3) Abortion is a sign of the times.  That abortion is tolerated is a sign of the moral decline of our nation.  That abortion is celebrated is a sign of the darkness that has overtaken our land.  We hate life; we love death.  

A significant percentage of American citizens, including many who profess to follow Jesus Christ, believe that killing our young in the womb is not only acceptable, but is actually morally superior.  That is an ineffable darkness.  We have rejected God and descended into paganism.  A nation that discourages procreation, going so far as to kill their children in the womb, will soon disappear from the pages of history.

Abortion is not a political issue.  It is not simply another topic we can debate and upon which faithful Christians can peacefully disagree.  Abortion is a matter of the Faith.  It is a matter of justice.  It is literally a matter of life and death.  That is why abortion is such a big deal.  That is why conservative Christians find themselves voting for Donald Trump.  That is why Evangelicals fixate on the issue.