Most Christians know only one Biblical reason to oppose abortion, the most obvious commandment, ‘though shall not kill’. However, it is impossible to break this commandment if there is no person on the receiving end of this action. The debate amongst Christians is at what point a foetus becomes a person, as there is no text that declares this time.
However, according to the story of Adam’s creation in Genesis 2:7, when God ‘breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; man became a living soul’, but this is still a debated topic as it is not a specific reference to abortion, but one which Christians have developed in order to support their view, which in this case would be that abortion is acceptable in certain cases. I.e. a Christian of this sort would never agree to an abortion just for the sake of it, but would in specific circumstances e.g. rape, as here they are ‘adapting the Bible to work in modern day society.
However, Roman Catholics have not accepted this source from the Bible on the topic of abortion and so do not agree with abortion for reasons I will explain, (although some less extreme Catholics would allow abortions in situations as above, but still many would disagree).
The main reason for this is because they believe that the foetus becomes human right at the moment the baby is conceived, but the Bible still affects their view on abortion. The Biblical reference many Roman Catholics may base their view on is from the Book of Jeremiah in which it states, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you’, which emphasises that the person at the moment of conception and so is a just as valid reason as the pro-abortion view.
Many other Christians also have different views on when the Foetus becomes living. Some believe that it is after two weeks, others after two months etc, but usually this is from a more ‘scientific’ perspective, as they believe at the moment of conception nothing is really there, but when the foetus begins to form it is becoming a person and so starts to live and so abortions are only allowed at certain times within their faith. (The law in this country being 24 weeks, but people are advised not to have them above 12 weeks).
