There are different reasons why some Christians would allow an abortion. These are that in some cases where there has been a form of sexual assault on a woman, Christians sometimes allow the case for an abortion to take place. Christians who argue a pro-choice position do so by first showing that the verses those supporting a pro-life position use to argue against are merely specific references to individual people and situations (E.g. King David, the prophet Jeremiah and Jesus). Difficulties arise when we see that in certain instances God actually commanded the Israelites to kill their enemies and take possession of their land.
There is one passage in the Bible that seems to touch specifically on the issue surrounding abortion. In Exodus 21:22-25, it reads:
‘If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise’.
The interesting point here is that it is only if the woman dies from her injuries that murder is deemed to have taken place. The premature birth (abortion) of the baby is not condemned by the maxim ‘Do not murder’ given a few moments earlier (of course one could argue that the phrase, ‘She gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury means the baby survived).
The bible is not a text book and it does not give specific advice for specific situations in the modern day. Scripture tells us that human life begins at conception. The moment the sperm unites with the egg, brand new life has begun. Many say it is not possible to know exactly when the embryo is fully human; thus it should be called a child. The Bible leaves no such confusion. Consider the following.
“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5).
In Psalm 51, David is showing his repentance for the adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. In verse 5, he acknowledges that he was sinful from the moment of conception. This is reaffirmed by the Apostle Paul in Romans 5:12-“Wherfore, as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Ever since Adam and Eve rebelled against God, their fallen nature has been passed on from generation to generation through the father’s seed.
But notice that David spoke of himself in a personal way even when considering his conception. He said ‘I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.’ It was David himself who was conceived.
“Thou has covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made… My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:13-16)
For Bible-believers, this amazing passage leaves no question whatsoever regarding whether or not an embryo is a real human child. The writer, David, says that it was God that formed him in the womb of his mother and that God knew all about him even while he was growing from conception-before his little heart started beating at three weeks after conception, before the little buds of arms and legs appeared at four weeks after conception, before his little brain divided into two sections at five weeks after conception, before his eyes took shape at six weeks after conception-“When as yet there was none of them,” God knew him. The impregnated egg in the womb of David’s mother’s was only a tiny microscopic-size thing, but that impregnated egg was known by God as David, the future king of Israel and great-great-grandfather of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christians use different kinds of authority in making their moral decisions. How does religious belief influence the abortion issue then? Belief in God, in our creation by Him, and in our brotherhood and sisterhood with the unborn is a powerful motivation leading believers to work for the protection of the unborn. The bottom line is that our religious faith motivates us. It can never be the sole legal justification for seeking laws to protect the unborn, the handicapped, and the elderly.
What right has any religious body to impose its morality upon a woman? If this were a sectarian religious belief, there would be justice to such a complaint. In fact, this is not a religious question except in the broad sense of equal rights, dignity, and justice for all. I have the right to swing my fist, but that right stops at your nose. A woman has certain (not total) rights to her own body, but not over another living human’s body just because he or she still happens to live inside her. The Ten Commandments forbid murder and stealing. So do the laws of every civilized nation. Do those laws impose religious morality? Hardly! This is a civil rights issue. It is a question of whether an entire class of living humans shall be deprived of their basic right to life on the basis of age and place of residence.
Opposition to abortion stemming from one’s religious beliefs, is a very important and effective motivating factor. It, however, applies directly only to those persons who share similar religious beliefs. The counter argument is very effective. “If you oppose abortion because you think that it’s against God’s will, I will respect that you should live by that. However, I have a different religious belief (or non-belief) I do not think that it is against God’s will and therefore you should respect my approval of abortion. You should not impose your religious belief on me.”
They had a point. The answer to this was as follows: “Medical, biologic and natural science has long since proven that this is a living human from conception. Our founding fathers, in the charter of this republic spoke clearly, stating “we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights-of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The pro-life response accordingly, was very direct. “Religious belief is a powerful motivator for the individual person. But this is not merely a religious issue, it is primarily a human rights issue, a civil rights issue, and our nation and other western nations, make laws to protect civil and human rights.”
I personally don’t agree with abortion at all because I believe life is God given and who are we to play God with it. Also there are many people and couples all over the world who cant have children and would dearly love to have children and that is some couples dream abut then you get the stupid people who think if they get pregnant it is easy because they can just go and have an abortion. In some ways I think having an abortion is too much of an easy option and a lot of people don’t think about it before hand because they know the option is there so most people go straight for the easy option. I would think twice if I knew the baby was going to be born extremely disabled or had a life threatening condition of some sort anyway but then shouldn’t you love your child no matter what. I could understand if it was the case where a woman had been sexually assaulted in some way and had fallen pregnant but then why get rid of the child when that child has done absolutely nothing and why not give it a chance at life because it is not the baby’s fault. Apart from these points, overall I don’t agree with abortion in the slightest possible way.
