What does the Bible say about the legality of abortion?
Dear Reader,
The Bible does not specifically address the topic of abortion. What it does do, however, is promote the sanctity of human life. If human life is to be taken away, for murder or other indictable crimes, then God gave very specific methods as to how to justly condemn the perpetuator of crime and apply the death penalty. For example, the book of Hebrews tells us that those who defied Moses’ laws were put to death only when there were two or three witnesses; see Hebrews 10:28. And those who had unintentionally killed another person were given sanctuary in one of the six cities of refuge that God had instructed the people to establish for this very purpose; see Numbers 35:25-29; Joshua 20:2-6.
We can also catch a glimpse of the sacredness of life when we read the episode found in Exodus 21:22, 23. In this instance two men were fighting one another, and in the process the wife of one was hurt, albeit accidentally, and lost her unborn child; the child was actually miscarried or spontaneously aborted. The passage states that the man who caused the woman to loose her child must be punished according to what the judges and her husband determine; it was to be a fine of some sort seeing that the action of the man was unintentional. This passage begs the question as to what would happen had the action of the man been intentional? The passage says that the penalty would be death. This shows God’s view of the unborn. God views the unborn as a child.
Because the Bible shows a very high regard for life, the passage in Proverbs 24:11-12 has been taken by those opposing abortion to be a mandate to do all they can to stop the procedure. The passage reads: (Prov 24:11 KJV) If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; (Prov 24:12 KJV) If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?
We know that between days 5 and 9 the baby’s sex can be determined; and on day 14 the fetus produces a hormone which stops the mother’s menstrual period; on day 18 the baby’s heart is forming and the eyes soon appear. The idea is that it is God only who gave mankind the ability to have children, and mankind cannot therefore terminate that life glibly; there has to be a very compelling reason to kill the life that God has enabled us to produce.
Abortion on demand, simply because the parents, or the single girl, feel or feels that they just do not wish to ‘have’ a child or another child is not good reason to abort what God has given us the ability to produce. Proverbs 24 above indicated that we must do all we could to stop this practice, when it is for simplistic reasons. The text goes on to say that God will hold us guilty if we should pretend not to know or to say that ‘it is none of others’ business.’ This also means that using abortion as a contraceptive is entirely wrong. There are many laws that governments pass that are entirely anti biblical, and God will not hold these statesmen guiltless. Their time of judgment will come.
Under what conditions abortion can be permitted is very difficult to assess. Certainly one has to take into consideration the biblical view of the sacredness of life. One would surmise that where the mother’s life is in danger the mother must have the priority; also, if it can be determined that the unborn child will not have any quality of life due to malformation and so on, and that the child would not survive long after, then abortion may be permissible. Some feel that incest and rape (more so rape) are also justifiable reasons to abort. To have a person live with a pregnancy that is due to rape is not justifiable. When king David committed adultery and murder of the woman’s husband, and then later married the woman, God saw fit to take the life of the child gotten through adultry. Read the story in 2Samuel 11 and 12.
There are women who feel that they should keep the child gotten by rape. That’s their wish and none should force them to do otherwise. Similarly, those who cannot endure the pain of carrying a child of rape should not be forced to do so. Approaching this action one has to indulge a lot of prayer and soul searching and study of the Word of God. God quite understands the situation and that should make us calm and confident in which ever decision we choose.
It must also be stated that certain acts of aborting or better, killing the unborn, are particularly offensive and most certainly God will judge the perpetuators of these actions. For example, the methods used in killing the child inside the mother, or partial birth abortion. These practices are satanic, murderous, and absolutely wicked. How governments can allows practitioners to perform these act only Satan knows! God will certainly bring them into condemnation.
Yet it must always be borne in mind that God is a loving, compassionate, and merciful God and will forgive anyone of any evil or sinful deed if we confess and ask his pardon. God knows that it is because of sin that we do all these evil things; and Jesus specifically came to forgive us, cleanse us, and restore us to the divine image. He did this by paying the death penalty for sin in our behalf. In John 6:37 Jesus said: “He that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.” What a loving and compassionate God; how can we reject his offer of forgiveness and pardon?
May God give us wisdom, kindness, and love towards our fellow men, especially the unborn. God bless.
Pastor Ron is a retired Adventist pastor. Reach him at ron.hende@gmail.com. with your comments.