Why Abortion is Wrong: The Faith-Based Argument

   Why Abortion is Wrong is a series that attempts to view the issue of abortion from a number of different views and angles. In this series, we answer the age old question: Why is abortion wrong? You can see the whole series here.


   First, let's take a quick look at what we've covered in this series so far. We began by stating a logical argument against abortion, which went like this:
Premise 1: Murder is wrong.
Premise 2: Abortion is murder.
Conclusion: Therefore, abortion is wrong.
We then defined murder to be "the killing of an innocent human being with prior intent and knowledge of their act" and defended that definition. In the next post, we examined a couple of counterarguments against the argument and refuted them. Now, let's take a look at why abortion is wrong from a Christian perspective.

   When I began this series, I knew that this post was going to be the most difficult. I have been a Christian my whole life and have always believed abortion was wrong from the perspective of my faith, but I've never attempted to explain why Christianity rejects abortion, or how we see that within the Bible. Contrary to popular belief, abortion is not a new thing. Abortion has been around for thousands of years. Abort73 has a page on the history of abortion here, but the simple fact is that we have proof that abortion existed nearly 500 years before the New Testament was written. So, abortion is not new to Christians. 
   One key point against abortion the Bible makes is that of murder and the sanctity of human life. Genesis 1:27 tells us that "God created mankind in His own image." One of the Ten Commandments says, simply, "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13). If you believe abortion is murder, then the Bible clearly denounces it. If you do not believe abortion is murder, the argument is a little more complex.
   I believe the Bible states, though not directly, that abortion is murder. Psalm 139:13 states that "You [God] knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 22:10 says that "from my mother's womb You have been my God." Diving into a more technical view of the Bible, we see an solid proof that abortion is murder. As Fr. Frank Pavone says here: "The same word is used for the child before and after birth (Brephos, that is, 'infant,' is used in Luke 1:41 and Luke 18:15)." For comparison, I've juxtaposed the two verses here. 
   If we accept unborn children as alive, then we must hold abortion as murder. If we do that, the Bible clearly says murder is wrong. Again going back to the logical argument, the Bible has the strength and evidence to support both premises. For those of us who hold the Bible as the highest standard, there is no refutation.


In Christ,
Jacob