Abortion — and the Bible

Abortion is the toughest legal question of all. Is it murder? Is a fetus life before it breathes independently and, if so, at what point? An answer will never be agreed upon. Many point to the bible, yet it appears there that life begins at birth — when a baby draws its first breath. In Genesis 2:7, God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

Among the hundreds of laws in the Bible, there is not a single mention of abortion. It does however direct, in Numbers 5:11–31, a priest to curse an unfaithful wife with a miscarriage. In Exodus 21:22–23, a law describes punishment for a miscarriage that results from a woman being pushed as men fight, to be merely a fine. How sacred then are those unborn lives?

Try on this perspective, from the Bible, where two critical messages emerge: First, everything that happens is God’s will. Let us concede that if God wants a soul on earth it will be here, in one vessel or another, and that maybe those involved are to go through that trial. Second, it is not for us to judge.

Some say aborting a fetus is playing God. Consider whether the role of deity is instead being played by those trying to prevent the abortion.