Wilberforce descendant condemns abortion

William Wilberforce

A great, great grandson of successful anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce is addressing the contemporary "slavery" issue, abortion.

In a commentary on a United Kingdom blog, Gerard Wilberforce wrote he believes his ancestor, who campaigned for years for the end of the transatlantic slave trade in 1807, which led to the abolition of slavery through out British Empire in 1833, would consider the two activities similar.

"I am often asked what would be the campaigns Wilberforce would be fighting if he were alive in 21st century Britain. I believe that there would be a number of different issues – among them human trafficking and the scourge of drugs. But almost certainly at the top of the list, would be the issue of abortion," wrote Gerard Wilberforce, a Catholic priest.

"As the Human Fertilization and Embryology bill comes before Parliament over the next few weeks, the opportunity presents itself to amend the abortion act," he continued. "With the number of abortions having reached 200,000 per year in the UK alone, the time is right to tighten up the law that was designed to protect women by ending illegal abortion, but never to allow such a high degree of deprived life."

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He said there are "great similarities" between the preborn child and the status of African slaves 200 years ago.

"Slaves were considered a commodity to do with whatever the vested interests of the day decided. Today, in our desire to play God in our embryology experimentation, with all its' unfulfilled promises of miracle cures, and our decision to abort unwanted children, we are no better than those slave traders who put their interests and world view higher than they placed the sanctity and value of human life," he said.

According to the Wilberforce Forum, a division of Prison Fellowship Ministries that helps Christians approach life with a biblical worldview, the group was named after William Wilberforce, whose influence "helped to lead English into the great 19th-century revivals."

"There's hardly a soul alive today who isn't horrified and offended by the very idea of human slavery," an article posted on the site said. "We seethe with moral indignation at it, and we can't fathom how anyone or any culture every countenanced it. But in the world into which Wilberforce was born, the opposite was true."

"The idea of ending slavery was so completely out of the question at that time that Wilberforce and the abolitionists couldn't even mention it publicly. They focused on the lesser idea of abolishing the slave trade …. but never dared speak of emancipation, of ending slavery itself," the site said.

After that battle was won in 1807, it "paved the way for all that followed, inspiring the other nations of the world to follow suit and opening the door to emancipation," the site said. That was achieved three days before Wilberforce died in 1833.

"To fathom the magnitude of what Wilberforce did, we have to see that the 'disease' he vanquished forever was actually neither the slave trade nor slavery. Slavery still exists around the world today, in such measure as we can hardly fathom. What Wilberforce vanquished was something even worse than slavery, something that was much more fundamental and can hardly be seen from where we stand today: He vanquished the very mindset that made slavery acceptable and allowed it to survive and thrive…"

In the 2008 battle against abortion, Gerard Wilberforce said the issues are similar.

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"Most of the people at the time didn't believe the evil of slavery could ever be defeated, as so much of the economy at the time was dependent on the trade," Gerard Wilberforce wrote. "It's easy for us to think that is the case today with abortion, but I believe William Wilberforce would not take such a view.

"Whilst our hearts go out to those who have chosen abortion, there should now be much greater emphasis on the alternatives that exist. Many of us would like to see far more support for those who have made such a significant and difficult decision – but whilst we recognize the trauma many women have gone through, we also have a duty to 'Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves' (Proverbs 31)," he wrote. "The Psalmist says, 'My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.' With abortions in the UK reaching 600 a day, it seems to me that the 'secret place,' is one of the most dangerous places to be in modern day Britain."

He said his ancestor's battle against slavery took decades, but looking back now, the practice of slavery sparks horror.

"I truly believe we will look back in years to come, repent and ask forgiveness for what we let happen to the unborn child," he said.

WND columnist Ellis Washington recently brought up the same criticisms of the modern abortion industry.

"American society has a modern form of slavery that in my opinion is vastly more clandestine and diabolical than America's 400-year experiment with 'that peculiar institution' – abortion," he wrote.

"Jefferson, in his Declaration of Independence, guaranteed all Americans three rights – 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' These rights were 'inalienable' meaning they derived from God and cannot be taken away by man. By failing to protect the most vulnerable in our midst, Americans should wonder: Do we therefore possess any rights that God is bound to respect?" he asked.

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