Where Do Unborn Children Go?

The other day, I posted about where infants go when they die. Recently I ran into a post from The Resurgence addressing another difficult issue and that is, do unborn babies go to heaven or do they end up in hell?

Another tough question to ask consider we just observe the 40th anniversary of Roe V Wade which legalized abortion in the United States. This question is not reserved for those children that died as a result of abortion, but also for babies who died from miscarriage or when they die after birth following a mother's healthy pregnancy.

This post is written by Alex Early, lead pastor of Mars Hill/Ballard:

I write this with incredible sensitivity in my heart.

In London in 2008, while I was going to school, my wife and I lost our first child, our son Adam, through miscarriage. This experience was devastating—our faith was rocked. It sent us into a season of asking innumerable questions of God: Could we go on? Is God good? Can he be trusted with our lives being that Adam’s was lost? Does he even care?

Even today, we are affected by our loss. Today, Adam would be five years old. Many of you know what this is like. There is an empty chair at our dinner table every night, birthdays that go by, and imagined holidays and experiences that are left only to the imagination of what could have been.

As a pastor, I am often asked what happens to babies like ours who are lost in miscarriage or to children who are killed through abortion. The one thing we do know is that they, like all of us, are image bearers of God who came into existence, even though they never had the joy of being loved, kissed, and cherished by their earthly mom and dad.

Where do the unborn babies go? Some would argue that they don’t go to heaven because we are sinful beings and the only way to be reconciled to God is through faith and repentance. Since these babies didn’t repent or have faith, they are forever separated from God in hell. Others argue that Jesus died for the world and therefore those children who are born in Adamic guilt have their sins atoned for because they haven’t committed personal sin.

Check the rest of Alex's entry here.