Author Amy K. Hall
Published on 07/08/2019
Bioethics

What Does the Bible Have to Say about Abortion?

Amy shares God’s view of unborn children, how we are to supposed to treat them, and then offers encouragement to those facing unplanned pregnancies. 


Transcript

To talk about abortion in the Bible, first we have to talk about what the Bible says about human beings. Genesis says we were made in the image of God. And since we were made in the image of God, we have immeasurable value. Because of this value, one of the big Ten Commandments tells us we are not allowed to take the lives of innocent human beings without proper justification. In fact, you’re commanded to love your neighbor as yourself. And as Jesus explains, every human being is our neighbor.

How does this relate to abortion?

Well, since human parents create human children, your baby that’s developing inside of you is a human being right now. One of the places where we see this in the Bible is when Mary finds out she’s pregnant with Jesus and goes to see her cousin, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was six months pregnant with John the Baptist, and the Bible says John leaped in Elizabeth’s womb for joy because he was in the presence of Jesus. Both of these developing children were valuable human beings, even in the womb.

So since our unborn children are part of the human family, the Bible’s prohibition against killing innocent human beings applies as much to them as it does to any born human being. We learn even more about what God thinks about abortion when we look at the Bible’s big picture of what He cares about. The Old Testament law reveals God’s great concern for protecting the weak and the vulnerable. And when we see God punish nations for their sin over and over, He sites shedding of innocent blood as a key reason for their punishment, especially the practice of killing their own children as sacrifices to other Gods.

Jesus said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” And how did He love us? Philippians 2 says that rather than holding on to His own comfort, He came to live a difficult life on earth to suffer and even die for us. And in the same way it says, we’re to regard one another as more important than ourselves, putting others’ needs ahead of our own comfort.

And Jesus says that, ironically, that kind of giving up of our lives is how we find true life. We will experience unexpected suffering when we follow Jesus. But Paul says in Philippians 4 that we can live with contentment in any situation because we can do all things through Him who strengthens us. He will be there for you in this.

Sometimes it looks like obedience will take us down a difficult path. But we see in the Bible that the path of disobedience and regret is always much harder in the long run. The two greatest commandments were revealed to us or our good and our joy. Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself, especially your unborn neighbor who’s been entrusted to you by God to care for and protect.