NewsWatch

Abortion: Leading Cause of Death in 2024

The Christian Post reports that abortion was the leading cause of death worldwide in 2024, according to the online statistical aggregator Worldometer, with just over 45 million of these “procedures” performed—dwarfing the next leading cause of death (January 4, 2025). Worldometer’s figures suggest that abortion “surpassed deaths caused by cancer (8.2 million), smoking (5 million), HIV/AIDS (1.7 million), traffic fatalities (1.35 million) and suicide (1.1 million).” In fact, abortion caused more than 40 percent of all human deaths last year, and “in the United States, abortion accounts for roughly one-third of all annual deaths.”

Although Worldometer uses figures from the United Nations’ World Health Organization (WHO), the organization’s own reporting is even more sobering. According to the WHO, 60 percent of unintended pregnancies worldwide end in abortion, and a mind-numbing 73 million abortions are performed worldwide every year (May 17, 2024). This is more than the population of Thailand, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Tanzania, or France. So, in a way, the world loses the population of a large nation to abortion with each passing year!

In 2 Timothy 3:1–5, the Apostle Paul warned that society at the end of the age would be full of brutal people who despise what is good. God condemned the ancient Israelites for offering up their children as human sacrifices to pagan gods (Ezekiel 16:20–21). Are today’s abortions any different, as parents sacrifice their unborn children to the gods of selfishness and hedonism? Thankfully, there is a time coming when the lives of children will be protected, and they will know great peace (Isaiah 54:13).

Children Need to Be Rescued

We live in a world where children are often abused and even treated as a commodity. Many children grow up without a parent or without both parents, and too many know lives with little hope—but plenty of fear. As a new UNICEF report highlights, “Early exposure [to violence] can cause toxic stress, affecting brain development, and lead to aggression, substance abuse, and criminal behaviour. Children who experience violence are also more likely to be affected by cycles of trauma and violence as adults, impacting entire communities” (UNICEF.org, November 4, 2024).

According to the report, every four minutes a child is killed by violence somewhere in the world. Over 650 million women and girls were subject to sexual violence as children—that is one in six of all women alive! Between 410 and 530 million boys and men experienced sexual violence during childhood. On average, violence claims the lives of approximately 130,000 people under the age of 20 each year. And 90 million children alive today have experienced sexual violence—a number more than 30 percent greater than that of the United Kingdom’s entire population.

Children are vulnerable, weaker than adults, and seldom able to flee or fight back. Thankfully, the Bible reveals that a time of hope and safety for children is coming. The prophet Zechariah records a future vision of elderly people sitting in the streets of Jerusalem while children play around them (Zechariah 8:4–5). Isaiah paints a picture of that coming time, as well, saying, “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children” (Isaiah 54:13). The statistics we’ve read should move caring individuals to pray for God’s Kingdom to come!

Germany, Finland, and Sweden Prepare for War

“Germany is developing an app to help people locate the nearest bunker in the event of attack. Sweden is distributing a 32-page pamphlet titled If Crisis or War Comes. Half a million Finns have already downloaded an emergency preparedness guide” (The Guardian, November 29, 2024). The Swedish government views being prepared for war as a civic duty, though many Swedes do not believe the current situation is as dire as the government apparently does. Finland’s government produces a brochure and website aimed at helping its populace prepare for everything from power outages to military conflicts and war. Finland also shares an extensive border with Russia. In Germany, the government is actively working to make more underground shelters available in the event of a military attack, including underground train stations and parking structures. Germans have also “been urged to adapt their own cellars, garages or storerooms, or excavate old bunkers, while housebuilders will be legally obliged to include safe shelters in new homes—as Poland has already done.”

For many across the world, the threat of war, let alone nuclear war, is far-fetched and far away. But for many in European nations that have experienced war on their own soil in the last 80 years, Russia’s actions in Ukraine have been a disturbing “wake-up call” and a motivation to act.

A Right-Wing European Union?

The European Union has viewed itself as progressive, liberal, and left-leaning. But as a recent analysis in The Guardian suggests, “For the first time in its history, we could be looking at a genuinely rightwing European Union” (November 18, 2024). The incoming parliament is the most right-wing in history and will be responsible for backing the conservative agenda of Ursula von der Leyen’s second term. More than half of the members of both the EU Commission and the EU Council are right-wing. As the article notes, “This rightward shift in the balance of power is unprecedented and could mean the end of the centrist majority that has governed Europe since the EU’s creation.” The article also highlights that “the firewall against the far right that operates across Europe has already been breached in the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Sweden, where governing coalitions are made up of conservatives and far-right politicians.”

Why is this swing to the right worth watching? The Bible reveals that at the end of the age, a decisive, powerful leader will head a German-led European “beast” power. This leader will encourage a group of ten other leaders or nations to “give their power and authority” to this “beast” power for a short time (Revelation 17:12–13). This European political, economic, and military powerhouse will dramatically intervene in the Holy Land and have a profound impact on the world stage. While the EU leaders have been unable to make progress and are constantly bogged down in disagreements, a strong leader is coming who will galvanize at least a portion of the EU to move forward with his agenda. The swing to the right we are seeing in European politics could help set the stage for this coming “beast.”

Syria’s Uncertain Future

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad recently resigned as the nation’s leader and fled the country, ending the brutal 54-year family reign. Opposition forces brought the country’s 13-year civil war to an end by finally capturing major strongholds and Damascus itself. Al-Assad’s governmental collapse appears to coincide with declining support from Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah. In his absence, rival factions now seek power in the country. This division among would-be leaders may prevent future stability in Syria.

With the departure of former president al-Assad, many prisons have been opened and political prisoners freed (Al Jazeera, December 9, 2024). Many of these people had disappeared without a trace during al-Assad’s regime. Fighters and relief workers continue “to find prisoners left behind, open secret cells, and even find the locations of secret facilities.”

While European nations are cautiously optimistic about Syria’s future, several nations have also suspended Syrian asylum seekers’ applications as the situation settles (France24, December 9, 2024). Europe and the United States have turned their attention to preventing a leadership vacuum in the nation that might enable the return of the Islamic State to power and influence.

The reality of toppling a despotic regime in any region of the world is that tremendous work is required to prevent something even worse from rising to take its place—and there are no guarantees of success. This differs from the final replacement of world regimes that will occur with the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. He will return as King of kings and immediately set up the government of God, which will spread to cover the whole world and will never end.