There are a million babies killed by abortion every year, and many of them are children of parents who regularly go to church. Abortion is more common in the Church than you think.

If your church is anything like the average church in America, some women in your church have probably had an abortion and some men in your church have probably led a woman to have an abortion.

You probably know some women in your church had abortions before they became Christians. But you probably don't know some women in your church had abortions after they became Christians.

Many of us seem to believe that protest is the only relationship Christians have with abortion. We're seemingly unaware Christians have also participated in abortions. We tend to believe abortion is common in every part of society -- except in our churches.

We don't consider that one of the reasons why some Christians are less vocal and less celebratory than we are about Roe v. Wade being overturned is because they have participated in abortions.

They're not grieving that Roe v. Wade is overturned, they're grieving their abortion.

We know Christians experience the same temptations unbelievers do. We know Christian men are tempted by pornography, just like unbelieving men. But we seem to believe Christian women cannot be tempted by abortion, just like unbelieving women.

If Christian men (and women) can sometimes give in to the temptation to watch pornography, why do we seem to think it's impossible for Christian women to give in to the temptation to have an abortion?

It's not just unbelievers who have abortions. Christians have abortions too.

A study from LifeWay Research reveals that 36% of women who have abortions go to church at least once a month. The study especially shows that 20% of women who have abortions go to church at least once a week.

Meaning, of the close to one million babies aborted in America every year, 200,000 were killed by women who regularly go to church.

In other words, of the 60 million babies aborted since Roe v. Wade, 12 million were killed by women involved in Bible study groups, prayer groups, and youth groups.

Twelve million babies. Twelve million babies who were carried in their mothers' womb for weeks in churches before they were carried into Planned Parenthood -- then they were ripped apart and carried out as medical waste.

Abortion is a violent attack against the image of God. It decapitates and dismembers a little, fragile, innocent, defenseless baby. It's shockingly unjust. It's murder--the worst kind of murder. How could any real Christian do such a thing?

For that reason, many of you probably think professing Christians who have abortions cannot be genuine Christians. You're probably thinking they are false converts in liberal churches.

But that's not completely true. The majority of professing Christians who have abortions are not genuine believers. My experiences as a pro-life advocate affirm this. The overwhelming majority of professing Christians who have abortions are unrepentant, pro-abortion women.

However, of the 200,000 professing Christians who had an abortion last year -- a significant minority of these women are probably genuine Christians.

After all, if genuine Christians can commit sexual sin, then genuine Christians can have abortions to hide that sexual sin.

If you think it's impossible that some Christians might kill their babies to hide their sexual sin, then how do you explain King David killing Uriah to hide his sexual sin with Bathsheba?

If a man after God's own heart like King David can commit murder, then people in your church who love and fear God can commit murder too.

Of course, that shouldn't create apathy over abortion. If you're a Christian with an unplanned pregnancy, and you're considering an abortion to hide your sexual sin because Jesus will forgive you -- the Bible says:

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" ( Romans 6:1-2).

Nevertheless, abortion is an unspeakable sin, but it isn't an unpardonable sin. If you're a post-abortive person, your sin is no match for God's grace. God's grace is greater than your sin.

So if you have believed and repented in him, the most defining thing about you isn't what you did to your child -- it's what God did to his son for you.

Therefore your life isn't marked by the death of your pre-born child. Your life is marked by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Originally published at Slow to Write.

Samuel Sey is a Ghanaian-Canadian who lives in Brampton, a city just outside of Toronto. He is committed to addressing racial, cultural, and political issues with biblical theology, and always attempts to be quick to listen and slow to speak.