Ten Biblical Truths that Confront Abortion

By Paul Tautges, 17 March, 2008

Ten Biblical Truths that Confront Abortion<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Paul Tautges

1.      All human life is created by God
The Bible gives God exclusive credit for all human existence. Job says to God, Didst Thou not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese; clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews? Thou hast granted me life (Job 10:10-12). David writes, children are a gift of the LORD (Psalm 127:3).

Every baby is a unique creation of God. Even secular medical experts dare to use the word "miraculous." Ankerberg and Weldon share the following example: Keith L. Moore, professor and chairman of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, wrote in his text, The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented-Embryology, a widely used medical textbook,

The processes by which a child develops from a single cell are miraculous.Human development is a continuous process that begins when an ovum from a female is fertilized by a sperm from a male. Growth and differentiation transform the zygote, a single cellinto a multicellular adult human being.

The reference to the 'miraculous processes,' in a purely secular text, is not surprising. Even a single strand of DNA from a human cell, contains information equivalent to a library of one thousand volumes. The complexity of the zygote itself, according to Dr. Hymie Gordon, Chief Geneticist at the Mayo Clinic,' is so great that it is beyond our comprehension.' In a short nine months' time, one fertilized ovum grows into six thousand million cells that become a living, breathing person like you.[1]

2.      Human life is sacred because we are created in God's image

Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likenessAnd God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26-27).

To be made in God's image means that man resembles God in a way that the rest of creation does not. We do not fully understand what this means. It at least means that man possesses intellect, emotion, and will and is, therefore, a moral creature. These capacities make it possible for man to have spiritual fellowship with his Creator. This gives immense value to all human life.

3.      Human life begins at conception
The phrase conceived and gave birth occurs repeatedly throughout the Scriptures. For example, it occurs four times alone in Genesis 29:32-35. King David asserted in Psalm 51:5 I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. David was acknowledging the fact that he was a sinner by nature from the very moment he came into existence and that existence began at conception.

Ankerberg and Weldon state,

Anyone familiar with recent Supreme Court history knows that two years before Roe vs. Wade, in October of 1971, a group of 220 distinguished physicians, scientists, and professors submittedadviceto the Supreme Court. They showed the Court how modern science had already established that human life is a continuum, and that the unborn child, from the moment of conception on, is a person and must be considered a person, like its mother.The brief set as its task, 'to show how clearly and conclusively modern scienceestablishes the humanity of the unborn child.' For example, 'In its seventh week, [the pre-born child] bears the familiar external features and all the internal organs of the adult.The brain in configuration is already like the adult brain and sends out impulses that coordinate the function of other organs.The heart beats sturdily. The stomach produces digestive juices. The liver manufactures blood cells and the kidneys begin to function by extracting uric acid from the child's blood.The muscles of the arms and body can already be set in motion. After the eighth weekeverything is already present that will be found in the full-term baby.' This brief proved beyond any doubt scientifically that human life begins at conception[2]

The Supreme Court Justices responsible for Roe vs. Wade had this knowledge in their possession before they made their decision.

4.      The unborn child is a person
God consistently views the fetus as a real person regardless of its stage of development. Psalm 139:13-16 contains a beautiful description of God's handiwork in the womb:

For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Thy works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.

Notice that Scripture acknowledges a difference in appearance at various stages of human development, but always affirms it as fully human at every stage. Jeremiah testifies, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you (Jeremiah 1:5).

5.      Even the deformed are valuable
When Moses tried to talk his way out of being God's mouthpiece, the LORD said to him, 'Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?' (Exodus 4:11). God takes full responsibility for the creation of those with deformities. Isaiah 45:9-10 says,

Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker--An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'? Woe to him who says to a father, 'What are you begetting?' Or to a woman, 'To what are you giving birth?'

God makes no distinction whatsoever between quality of life and life itself. All human life holds incredible value in the eyes of the Creator.

6.      The life of the unborn child belongs to God not the mother
The pro-abortion crowd cries "the mother has the right to control her own body." However, medical science has long proven that the body of the baby is a completely separate person. It is not the mother's body we are talking about. The developing child is connected to the mother and dependent on her life, but a totally new creation. Evidence of this can be seen from many facts:
·        Many women carry babies whose blood type differs from their own.
·        Many women carry male children.
·        The child has its own brainwaves, fingerprints, and DNA.

In addition, the body of the mother recognizes the child as a foreign body. This child would actually be rejected as 'foreign tissue' by the woman's body if it were not for the protection of the placenta. Doctors tell us that the placenta does not exist until, by its own development, the fetal child triggers the existence of the placenta and places it under his or her power in order to preserve himself/herself. In fact, the zygote begins to form the placenta within 72 hours![3]

Knowledge like this only verifies what God has already said in His Word, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine (Ezekiel 18:4).

7.      The intentional taking of innocent human life is forbidden and cursed by God
The Sixth Commandment is You shall not murder (Exodus 20:13). If life begins at conception and abortion is the intentional ending of life prior to birth, abortion is murder. There is no way around this conclusion. To deny it man must willfully choose to ignore the evidence. Exodus 23:7 saysdo not kill the innocent or the righteous. Proverbs 6:16-17 reads, There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. Dietrich Bonhoffer, the Lutheran theologian who was executed by the Nazis for his opposition to Hitler, said the following of abortion: "The simple fact is that God intended to create a human being andthis human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder."[4]

8.      Scripture condemns the accidental causing of the death of an unborn child
In Exodus 21:22-23 we find the following command from God: if men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life. Commenting on this passage, R.J. Rushdoony wrote in Institutes of Biblical Law,

Abortion, the destruction of the human embryo or fetus, has long been regarded by Biblical standards as murder. The grounds for this judgment are the sixth commandment and Exodus 21:22-25. Cassuto's 'explanatory rendering' of this latter passage brings out its meaning: 'When men strive together and they hurt unintentionally a woman with child, and her children come forth but no mischief happens--that is, the woman and the children do not die--the one who hurt her shall surely pay a fine. But if any mischief happens, that is, if the woman dies or the children die, then you shall give life for life'.The text cites, not a case of deliberate abortion, but a case of accidental abortion. If the penalty for even an accidental abortion is so severe, it is obvious that a deliberately induced abortion is very strongly forbidden.[5]

9.      Nations that slaughter the innocent will reap God's judgment

So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land (Numbers 35:33).

Abortion is a terrible pollution in our land. Over one hundred years ago an Italian attorney, Raffaello Balestrini, warned: "Whenever abortion becomes a social custom, it is the external manifestation of a people's decadence."[6] Abortion is an ungodly symptom of a nation that has willfully turned its back on God. No nation can get away with that for long. We should expect God's judgment on <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />America.

10. God offers forgiveness to those who have taken innocent life when they come to Him through Jesus Christ--the Sin Bearer
The Bible extends God's forgiveness to those who will repent and place their faith in Jesus Christ.

·        Jesus said, Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life (John 5:24).

·        In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7).

If there are any women reading this who have experienced the reality of abortion, know that God's forgiveness is extended to you in Jesus Christ. If there are any men reading this who have ever influenced a woman to have an abortion, know that God's forgiveness is extended to you as well. If you confess this sin to God and turn away from it as the evil that it is God will truly cleanse you. He will set you free. Jesus died for all sin, even abortion. Place your faith in Him as the One who paid the penalty for sin. In Christ, all sin is washed away by God's forgiving grace. The Lord said, Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool (Isaiah 1:18).

God creates human beings in His image. Therefore, human life at every stage of development, beginning at conception, is absolutely sacred. If you are honest with the Bible's teachings, you can come to no other conclusion.