The issue of abortion is one that evokes strong emotions and opinions from both sides of the debate. For Christians, it also brings up questions about what the Bible says on the matter and whether it’s possible to be both pro-choice and a faithful Christian.
This article will examine the biblical evidence pertaining to the beginning of life and the value of the unborn. It will look at common arguments made on both sides of the abortion debate. And it will discuss whether the Bible leaves room for a pro-choice perspective or if Christians are called to be pro-life. This is a complex issue with reasonable cases to be made on both sides, so we will thoughtfully consider the merits and problems with both perspectives.
When Does Life Begin According to the Bible?
A key question in the abortion debate is when life begins. If the developing fetus is considered a full human person from conception, then abortion would involve ending an innocent human life. However, if the fetus is not viewed as equivalent to a born person, then abortion could be morally permissible, especially earlier in pregnancy. What light can the Bible shed on this question?
There are several passages which speak to the value and personhood of the unborn:
- Psalm 139:13-16 speaks of God forming human beings in the womb, seeing their unformed bodies and pre-ordaining all their days.
- The poetic language of Job 10:8-12 also refers to God shaping Job in the womb and caring for him even as an embryo.
- God speaks to the prophet Jeremiah saying “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you” (Jeremiah 1:5). This implies God’s intimate care and concern for individuals even before birth.
- In Luke 1:41-44, the unborn John the Baptist leaps in Elizabeth’s womb at the sound of Mary’s greeting. The word “baby” or “child” (Greek brephos) is used to describe the unborn John, the same word used of the newborn Jesus in Luke 2:12,16.
Taken together, these verses suggest the personhood and humanity of the unborn child. From conception, they are fully human and known personally by God. However, there are some considerations that could nuance this conclusion:
- The Bible lacks definitive statements about the precise moment a developing embryo or fetus becomes a human person. Terms like “conception” are not used.
- The poetic language of Psalms and Job should not be taken as literal scientific statements about embryonic development.
- Biblical references to God’s intimate knowledge or sanctification of individuals before birth may imply his sovereignty more than the moral status of the unborn.
- While the term brephos can refer to both born and unborn children, there are distinctions drawn between embryos, fetuses, and infants in places like Exodus 21:22-25.
With these factors in mind, the biblical evidence still seems to strongly suggest the personhood of unborn children. But there is room for good faith disagreement on exactly when that personhood begins between fertilization and birth. Christians have interpreted the scriptural evidence on this point in different ways.
Biblical Principles About the Value of Human Life
Beyond direct verses about the unborn, the broader principles that the Bible teaches about human dignity and the sanctity of life are very relevant to the abortion debate. Christians believe that all people have value because they are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). This gives every life inherent worth from conception to old age. The Bible prohibits murder because human beings belong to God (Genesis 9:6), not just to protect the strong from the weak. Scripture also sees children as blessings from the Lord (Psalm 127:3-5), and speaks of God’s intimate care for the vulnerable and marginalized (Psalm 82:3-4).
Considering these themes, many Christians argue that abortion contradicts biblical principles about the sacredness of each life created by God. It treats unborn children as disposable commodities rather than the precious image-bearers that God values so highly. However, even granting that the unborn have great value, there could be cases where other factors like protecting the life of the mother could outweigh that value in certain tragic situations. The Bible’s ethic of life is not always absolute or unqualified. So this broad biblical perspective offers an important starting point, but room remains for debate on how these principles regarding life apply specifically to abortion.
Old Testament Law and Abortion
Several Old Testament passages mention harm to pregnant women or their children. However, they do not directly address intentional abortion. Exodus 21:22-23 discusses an accidental injury to a pregnant woman leading to premature birth, requiring monetary compensation if there is no harm. But some translations render harm to the woman and child differently. Many English translations say “further injury” or “other harm” in Exodus 21:23 refers to harm to the woman, while the ESV says if “harm follows” without specifying to whom. So scholars debate if this law considers the prematurely born child to have equal status to the mother.
A couple other passages treat causing intentional harm to the unborn differently than harm to adults. Exodus 21:22 could imply a distinction between a fetus injured in the womb and a born person. Numbers 35:30 requires the testimony of one witness for the death penalty for killing a person, but two or more if a pregnant woman is killed in a fight. So there are hints of possible distinctions made between the unborn and fully born. However, these laws still treat causing death to the unborn as a serious offense, even if the punishments and exact statuses are not equivalent.
Overall the Old Testament legal evidence does not settle the moral status of the unborn definitively. The laws protect pregnant women and admit that hurting the unborn is wrong. But they may also suggest the developing unborn have a different standing than fully born persons. So this limited legal evidence remains open to much interpretation.
An Argument for the Pro-Life View Based on Personhood
Pulling together the strands of biblical evidence, here is a summary of the case that can be made for the pro-life position from the Bible:
1) Verses like the Psalms and Jeremiah above indicate that God forms, knows, and relates to individuals in a personal way even before birth. This implies that the developing unborn has a unique personhood.
2) Terminology like “child” (brephos) is used to refer to unborn children in Luke, similar to born children. This suggests equivalence in status between the born and unborn.
3) Principles like the image of God, the sanctity of life, and the blessing of children point to human dignity and worth from the earliest points of development.
4) Intentional harm to the unborn is viewed as wrong in Old Testament law, even if some differences exist in punishments and statuses.
5) These verses, principles, and terms used paint a consistent picture – that the unborn are fully persons, and so intentionally ending fetal lives is morally wrong.
6) This fits with the earliness of life found in the womb. Continuity exists between an embryo, fetus, and infant. Brainwaves are detected at 6 weeks gestation, and fetuses can feel pain by 20 weeks development. Birth is an important transition, but only a difference of degree, not of kind in terms of personhood and moral worth.
7) Therefore, abortion that ends this developing human life deliberately violates biblical principles regarding the sanctity of life, the personhood of the unborn, and the special care Christians should take to protect and nurture human life, especially the most vulnerable.
In summary, this pro-life argument holds that the Bible treats the unborn as valuable persons, and therefore abortion that ends a pregnancy is morally wrong from a biblical standpoint.
An Argument for the Pro-Choice View Based on Lack of Clarity and Other Priorities
However, a reasonable biblical case can also be made for a more pro-choice position on abortion:
1) The Bible never directly addresses the issue of abortion. It simply lacks specific teaching either approving or disapproving ending pregnancies.
2) Biblical references to personhood or humanity prior to birth use poetic language or highlight God’s omniscience more than make precise claims about moral worth.
3) Terms like “child” have a range of meanings between cultures and languages. Brephos can refer generally to the unborn without exact equivalency to infants.
4) Exodus and Numbers make some distinction between harm to a fetus and harm to a born person in punishments required. This may imply a difference in moral status.
5) The sanctity of life principle can come into conflict with other biblical priorities. In tragic cases like rape, incest, or threat to the mother’s life, other factors may override the concern for nascent life. Love, mercy and justice can at times supercede an absolute ethic of life.
6) God’s character offers compassion and freedom which could allow some room for morally complex issues like abortion where priorities seem to conflict, especially earlier in fetal development before clear personhood emerges.
7) The Bible treats guilt and punishment on a personal individual basis more than consequentialist ethics. It places moral weight on motive and intent more than just outcomes. So abortion decisions based on sincerely merciful motives have a different moral character than wanton disregard for human life.
In summary, this pro-choice view sees the biblical evidence as inconclusive regarding the precise moral status of early abortions. It argues priority should go to women’s moral agency, loving motives, and other individual factors in difficult situations. Biblical principles come into tension, giving no absolute mandate against abortion in all cases.
Application to Specific Reasons Women Get Abortions
Looking beyond just abstract principles toward real-world scenarios can also help clarify the biblical evidence on abortion. Christians want to apply the values of Scripture compassionately to address complex dilemmas people face. What might a Christian perspective on abortion look like when it comes to specific situations women often face?
Rape and Incest
Cases of women becoming pregnant due to rape or incest raise unique moral dynamics. A strictly pro-life view applied without nuance fails to exhibit biblical mercy and justice regarding the special trauma these women undergo. The innocent life of the unborn child conceived in violence is still of great worth from a Christian perspective. But the Bible consistently makes allowances for protecting the vulnerable who have undergone horrific sins against them. It offers grace and restoration, not further shame and hardship. Exodus 22:16-17 mandated marriage for consensual sex but not for rape. Deuteronomy 22:28-29 again distinguishes seduction from assault. So a nuanced pro-life ethic can reasonably support allowing abortion in cases of rape or incest, even if it seeks to protect unborn life in most other cases.
Threats to the Mother’s Health
Situations where pregnancy places the mother’s health or life at risk also represent a weighty moral dilemma. One life seems pitted against another. Here Christians have often tried to navigate a careful path that avoids intentionally taking innocent lives, but with wisdom to avoid losing both lives. Options like early delivery by induction or C-section allow efforts to save both mother and child in many instances. Still, there can be exceptions where abortion could be biblical when it is truly the only option left to save the mother’s life after pursuing other alternatives. Christian tradition has often morally permitted taking steps to save a mother’s life, even if it indirectly but unavoidably ends the unborn life sustaining within her.
Severe Fetal Conditions or Disabilities
Another heart-wrenching situation is the diagnosis of a severe disability or deformity in the developing fetus. Parents facing this grief need compassion. Carrying an abnormal pregnancy to term naturally incurs great challenges emotionally, physically, and financially. Still, most disabilities do not alter the fundamental personhood or dignity of human life from a Christian view. Parents do well to prayerfully surrender this life to God’s providence. But when conditions are utterly incompatible with life or likely to result in the child’s quick death after birth, there are reasonable biblical grounds for parents to make the difficult choice of abortion. In these cases, the motive does not seem to be taking innocent life out of convenience, but sparing the child and family great pain.
Even in these complex situations, the simple decision to have an abortion should not be made easily or lightly. Christians can thoughtfully advocate moral caution regarding situations where abortion may be considered. They can advocate supporting women and families facing challenges in pregnancy rather than defaulting quickly to abortion. Adoption or foster care are beautiful options too. But in truly crushing cases, a biblically balanced ethic makes room for merciful wisdom.
Can a Consistent Christian View Allow Any Elective Abortion?
So we have seen that a Christian ethic appears to, at the very least, allow certain exceptions where abortion could be biblically permissible or not directly condemned in some rare, tragic cases. But do any biblical principles support the fuller pro-choice perspective of elective abortion – that a woman could choose an abortion earlier in pregnancy for any reason based on her goals or family planning?
This approach to abortion seems difficult to fully justify from a biblical standpoint. However, a few considerations could conceivably allow some room for it:
– The lack of any direct biblical prohibition of abortion itself preserves freedom in regard to when personhood emerges over the course of pregnancy. This allows the exercise of moral wisdom.
– God created human beings with the gift of procreation along with general freedom over those powers unless specifically constrained by biblical commands. Freedom should perhaps be the default unless Scripture specifies restrictions.
– While the unborn have great value, that value increases over time as development continues. Early elective abortion could have a different moral character than late-term procedures.
– Social factors like family stability, education, and community ethics might push Christians to reluctantly allow some access to early abortion, even if dubious, to promote the greater good for all of society.
– The Bible’s emphasis on individual repentance and forgiveness could make the morality of abortion decisions depend more on each woman’s conscience between herself and God.
These cases for early elective abortion from a Christian view are not strong. But they represent attempts to work within a biblical moral framework to allow some possibility of abortion access. This demonstrates that a consistently Christian pro-choice perspective, while difficult, is not completely outside the bounds of biblical interpretation.
Areas of Consensus Between Pro-Life and Pro-Choice
Christians across the political and ethical spectrum on abortion can still find much common ground in their underlying convictions:
– All life is sacred from conception, made in God’s image, and merits protection and care.
– Children are blessings to steward faithfully.
– Strong advocacy for healthy families, improving foster care, and promoting adoption alternatives are vital.
– Abortions should be legal, safe, and extremely rare.
– Policies like comprehensive sex education and accessible contraception help reduce unwanted pregnancies and thus abortions.
– Compassionate support for women facing unplanned pregnancies or considering abortion is crucial, regardless of one’s ethical position.
– Decisions about problem pregnancies should be made with gravity, prayerfulness, and ethical sensitivity, not rushed or coerced.
Finding common ground on these areas and the biblical values that shape them can help Christians across the political spectrum promote a culture of life even while disagreeing on where the precise lines on abortion’s morality should be drawn.
Conclusion
In summary, we have seen that the Bible does not give unambiguous answers to many modern questions surrounding abortion. Sincere Christians can interpret the evidence in good faith on multiple sides of this issue. Passagesspeaking to the personhood of the unborn child in the womb provide a powerful basis for a pro-life view which sees elective abortion as morally wrong. However, the lack of explicit biblical prohibition, the context of many women’s situations, and other biblical principles of mercy and freedom also give basis for a Christian pro-choice view which maintains abortion could be morally permissible, at least in certain specific circumstances. This biblical ambivalence explains why Christians equally committed to Scripture reach differing conclusions about abortion.
This thoughtful examination demonstrates that faithfully reading the biblical text allows for complexity. Room likely exists for both pro-life and pro-choice perspectives within the bounds of Christian ethics. Christians can thoughtfully come to different conclusions on what policies governing abortion reflect a biblically informed morality. This divisive issue warrants gracious discussion and debate among believers. We must avoid emotive absolutism and respect one another in love even in ethical disagreement based on unclear biblical evidence. And we must work together to find practical policies that promote a culture valuing life, flourishing families, and the common good.