Abortion: The Real Issue

2006-03-12

NOTE: A newer version of this post can be found here.

A passionate issue in contemporary America is abortion. The issue is not difficult to discern when the Lord Jesus is the authority to which we submit, and this brief article will demonstrate this. The Biblical evidence clearly states that an unborn child is a human being, and therefore, the natural conclusion is that abortion is murder. So if the issue is clear-cut Biblically and morally, then what makes the issue so fiery?

Personhood of the Unborn

The Bible makes it clear that unborn children are fully human. Sarfati notes that unborn Jacob and Esau are called children (banim) when they are struggling in the womb (Genesis 25:22). He also notes that the unborn John the Baptist is called a baby (brephos) in Luke 1:41-44. Psalm 139:13-16 discusses the formation of David in the womb. God sanctified Jeremiah before he came from the womb (Jeremiah 1:5). Scientifically speaking, Sarfati notes that fetuses “are always human right from fertilization, because all the DNA coding needed to build each individual’s physical features is there in the fertilized egg.”

There are two foremost theological theories on personhood put forth, Creationism and Traducianism. The former states that God creates the human soul at the time of birth, and the latter states that the soul is generated at conception along with the body (Wall, 1-2). Traducianism is confirmed in the Bible (as quoted above), and Creationism (in this sense, not to be confused with creation of the world by God) is false. The evidence is furthered with the following argument. All of humankind existed seminally in Adam (Romans 3:23; 1 Corinthians 15:22). Levi also existed seminally in Abraham, paying homage to Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:10). God, therefore must have created all of humankind in the loins of Adam. Otherwise, if God creates each human soul at the time of birth, then God creates a sinful creature, but God cannot sin or create a sinful creature. Sin came in as an alien force through human disobedience, and through this event alone. The Creationist perspective might look to Genesis 2:7 to support their positions. The creation of Adam and him becoming a living soul (nephesh) is surely an exceptional case however, because Adam was not born from the womb.

Abortion Must Be Murder

If infants in the womb are fully human, then all passages dealing with murder in the Bible apply to abortion. Genesis 9:6 inaugurates the death penalty for those who kill another person. It is a commandment in the Decalogue (Exodus 20:13). Cities of refuge did not protect the intentional murderer (Numbers 35).

Murder does not go unpunished by God. He appointed government to punish evildoers (1 Peter 2:14). But even so, God remembers sins of murder, which defiles the land (Numbers 35:33; Isaiah 1:15). Though these passages are Israel-specific, this applies to all peoples, including us today. Any government that endorses murder will one day experience judgment from God.

A key passage that speaks to the harming of the unborn is Exodus 21:22-25: “If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life...” In other words, if men are fighting and hurt a woman with child, and cause the baby to be born prematurely, and there is harm done, then they are to be punished accordingly. The verb depart is ‘yatsa’ or ‘to go or come out’ (Armstrong, 692). Wall notes that many pro-choice groups use this passage because they render this word as ‘miscarriage,’ and therefore making the death of the child less important than the death of the mother, though the word used does not suggest this. The word used here is not the usual word for miscarriage.

Sarfati also states that other side issues are irrelevant, such as issues of rape and child deformity. Murder of an innocent party could be likened to the murder of an innocent third party. From my personal experience, I heard a speaker at a Generation Life seminar several years ago that stated that she was a daughter of a woman who was raped, and she was the child of that union. Who will go and tell her that she does not have the right to live?

This brief discussion is enough to show that a fetus is a human being, and, therefore, that abortion has to be murder. This leads us to ask the question: why all of the fuss over this issue?

The Real Issue

The real issue is that people want to have sexual relations without consequences. There is a lot of discussion of “the woman’s right to choose,” and the question remains, “to choose what?” In light of the evidence above, this choosing is between life and death. Sarfati says in another article that “any country that allows abortion on demand... have already declared that it is acceptable to destroy one class of human beings for the convenience of others.” It is quite characteristic of sinful human nature to do what is wrong and then justify it. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they shifted the blame of their own sins upon each other (Genesis 3:12-13).

Wall refers to the court ruling in Doe v. Bolton that a physician can authorize a post-viability abortion for most any reason (Wall, 3). This includes a threat to the mother’s life, but also non-medical reasons such as the mother’s financial ability to raise a child. Regardless of the circumstances of the pregnancy, there are alternatives to abortion, and it is a shame that these alternatives are not utilized.

Though abortion is murder and a grave sin, all sin is forgiven by God in Jesus Christ. Jesus came to die for our sins and rose from the dead, and when we trust in Him, we can be guaranteed eternal life and forgiveness of sins. We all have sin. If we have not committed murder physically, the Bible tells us that all people who are angry with another or say to them “Thou fool,” have committed murder in their hearts (Matthew 5:21-22). And if we have not done this, then we have done something else. The condition of our hearts are darkened, and all we do is turn from God and seek to please ourselves. All of this can be forgiven in Jesus Christ; all we have to do is trust in Him.

If you have and questions, please contact me.

Appendix: Other Relevant Biblical References

Sources

Armstrong, Terry A., Douglas L. Busby, and Cyril F. Carr. A Readers Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old Testament: Four Volumes in One. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989.

Sarfati, Jonathan. Abortion - The Answer’s in Genesis. First published in Prayer News (Australia), May 1998, p. 4. Retrieved on March 11, 2006, from http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/4214pn11_1999.asp.

Sarfati, Jonathan. (2001). First human embryo clone? What really happened, and what are the ethics involved? Retrieved March 20, 2003, from http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs2001/1129human_clone.asp.

Wall, F. Eugene. Abortion: The Personhood of the Fetus. 2001.