In America today, there are plenty of Christians who oppose the idea of abortion. They believe that life begins at the time of conception, and therefore, it is considered murder to have an abortion. The intent of this article is not to debate pro-life vs. pro-choice. That is a different argument. However, I’m going to look at some examples in the Bible that relate to abortion. You will be surprised, but there are no verses that say that life begins at conception. All passages of the Bible are from the King James Version unless otherwise indicated. I use the KJV because it is one of the versions they have not copywritten, not because I think it is the best version. However, you can look in your favorite version to verify things.
Testing For Adultery
There is one passage in the Bible that says that if a woman is suspected of cheating on her husband and getting pregnant that she was to take an herb. If the baby died, they would have accused her of having an affair, and if the baby lived, then she didn’t cheat. Okay, this is quite a long passage from the Bible, but I will try to summarize it as best as possible.
Numbers 5:11-31 – “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner; and the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: Or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled: then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
“And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord: And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water: And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:
“And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:
“Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.
“And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar: And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.
“And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.”
Sorry for the long passage, but I want readers to see this in context.
What is happening here is that if a man suspects his wife of being unfaithful, he is to go to the priest. The priest will give his wife a bitter herb. If the wife was guilty, then her stomach would swell, and her thigh would rot. In other words, this is a supernatural method used to see if the woman was unfaithful.
I don’t understand why God can’t just tell the priest that she had an affair instead of having to go through this whole process. Some scholars think the thigh refers to a reproductive organ, not what we call a “thigh” today, as the upper part of the leg. The swelling of the belly and rotting of the thigh was likely referring to a miscarriage. Then, if the miscarriage happened, that would be a sign that the woman had committed adultery, and she would be stoned (not the 420 kind of stoned either).
So basically, they had to rely on a miracle of some sort to test if the woman committed adultery. If God were anti-abortion, then he would not require a woman to take a bitter herb that could lead to the fetus dying. Fortunately, this practice has been left behind in modern times.
Fetuses Are Not that important to God
Another passage seems to indicate that the life of a fetus is worth less than those who have already been born.
Exodus 21:22 – “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.”
Most people know that the Old Testament requires the death penalty for murder. However, if a man injured a woman and caused a miscarriage, he didn’t face the death penalty on that alone. If a fetus is worth as much to God as someone who has already been born, shouldn’t the man face the death penalty for murder? Instead, it sounds like the verse says that he only has to pay a fine by whatever the judges determine.
The Beginning of Life
Of course, there is always the question as to when life starts. Does it begin at conception, during pregnancy, or after the baby breathes life? The Bible doesn’t seem very specific on this. Genesis 2:7 indicates that life begins with the first breath, but I wouldn’t use this verse to make a determination as it only refers to the first two humans that were created and didn’t have to go through the birthing process.
In modern times, the Christian Right condemns abortion in most cases and is trying to make anti-abortion laws. However, this is an issue that the Bible isn’t clear about.
Thou Shall Not Kill
What is clear is that the Bible values the life of a person already born higher than it values the life of a fetus. The verse in Exodus 20:13 says that “Thou Shall Not Kill.” Modern-day Christians use this verse to equate abortion with murder. However, if you read throughout the Bible, you will see that God commands the Israelites to commit full genocides, including the slaying of children and women, and I’m sure that included pregnant women.
It seems to me that God contradicted Exodus 20:13 on several occasions. It’s ironic how Christian politicians of today care so much for fetuses but not for the children after they are born. They will pass bills to try to take away from poor people who have children, such as cutting help like food and medical care. They discourage homosexuals from adopting, yet this is something that might lower the abortion rate. They want to save the fetus just so the fetus can be raised in a home that can’t make ends meet without government assistance. If you’re genuinely against abortion, then you should be in favor of safety net programs that help people experiencing poverty. Otherwise, you’re contradicting yourself.
Age of Accountability
Even many right-winged Christians are appalled by the children that were killed in the Bible. That probably has to do with the reason why they claim that there is an “Age of Accountability.” This doctrine pretty much says that if a child dies and is too young to understand the Gospel, God will automatically save them because they were too young to decide for themselves.
They apply this to the Old Testament massacres and say that the children, infants, and fetuses are all in Heaven. This sounds good and all, but here is a question: Wouldn’t that make abortion a good thing? If everyone started having abortions, then the children would never reach the age of accountability, and therefore, all aborted babies would make it to Heaven. By having the child, you risk the chance that your child will reach the age of accountability and decide not to follow God and, therefore, not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I’m not condoning this, but instead pointing out a contradiction in how people think.
God’s Judgment Kills the Unborn
There is a biblical passage that says God will have their women with child chopped up. If God is against abortion, then why would he use abortion as part of the judgment? Here is one of the passages:
Hosea 13:16 – “Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.”
This is a pretty disgusting and horrid thing God will do because he is upset that he isn’t getting all the attention he wants from Samaria.
Then there is this verse:
Hosea 9:14 – “Give them, O Lord: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.”
Why would God give a miscarrying womb when he is supposed to be against abortion?
Isaiah talks about God’s wrath and how he will stir up the Medes against Babylon, and they will have no regard for the fruit of the womb. Here, God is basically saying he will raise the Medes as a judgment for Babylon. The way the Bible phrases it in this passage sounds like God has no problem with the Medes dashing people to pieces and having no regard for children who are still in the womb.
Isaiah 13:18 – “Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children.”
I have never been to a church service that has talked about this scripture. I’m guessing that most churchgoers don’t even know this passage exists.
I did an article on the flood, and one must understand that the flood would have included pregnant women.
Passages Prolifers use to defend their position
So, what do the anti-abortion Christians use as passages to justify their position?
One of the primary verses used against abortion is this:
Psalm 139:13-16 – “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and my soul knoweth right well. 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.”
At first, this seems like it could be anti-abortion. However, as shown throughout the Bible, God chooses who his favorite people are. God loves some (Jacob) and hates others (Esau). You can find this in:
Malachi 1:2-3 – “I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.”
He hated Esau so much that he was going to put him up with the dragons in the wilderness. (I wonder if the dragons were fire-breathing dragons.)
My point is God does not love everyone according to the Bible, and his behavior shows it in the Old Testament. Many people believe that David wrote many of the Psalms. Even though David was a piece of garbage of a human being, he was one of God’s favorites. Therefore, one can conclude that the verses in the Psalms come from one of God’s chosen favorites. David is considered righteous in God’s eyes even though he got another man’s wife pregnant and then sent the husband to where the war was the most vicious, so he was more likely to die. David slayed 200 Philistines to show their foreskins to Saul so he could marry Saul’s daughter. I’m not kidding (1 Samuel 18:27).
Back to my point, God has his favorites and knows who they will be before they are in the womb. However, this doesn’t make him anti-abortion whatsoever.
Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1:5 – Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
It is obvious that this verse was meant specifically for Jeremiah. I mean, are all unborn babies supposed to be ordained prophets to the nations? As with the verse from the Psalms, this verse is also specific to the writer when taken in context.
Things God supposedly Hates
Proverbs 6:16-19 – “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
This is one of those passages where an unbeliever can have a field day. Pro-life people will say that this verse means that God hates the shedding of innocent blood, and then, therefore, no one should get an abortion because it is shedding innocent blood. Read my first three articles in the God Kills Children series, and you will see that this verse in Proverbs is very hypocritical. Read the book of Joshua, and you will find the Israelites committing genocide, which would have included innocent blood. What’s interesting is that this passage contradicts the whole idea of original sin. If original sin is the truth, then there is no such thing as innocent blood because we are born into sin, according to many of the mainstream Christians. If God hated the shedding of innocent blood so much, why did he command Samuel to have the Israelites’ armies kill the infants and children in 1 Samuel 15:2-3?
Let’s move to the New Testament
Matthew 18:14 – “Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in Heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.”
I must admit that Jesus was much less harmful to children than the God in the Old Testament. I understand why some people turn to Gnosticism. Some branches of Gnosticism believe that the Old Testament God was flawed at best and pure evil at worst. However, they generally believe that the God of the New Testament is also different from the one in the Old Testament. In this passage, though, when read in context, it refers to children already out of the womb. It doesn’t specify anything about abortion.
Why do I write this article?
In 2022, the Supreme Court struck down Roe vs. Wade and left abortion rights to be decided by the states. This has messed things up. There are underage people getting pregnant as a result of rape (having sex with a minor IS rape) and must travel to another state to get an abortion. If it were not for the Christian Right, we would not be having these problems.
But what about Genesis 9:6?
Genesis 9:6 – “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”
Again, this contradicts God’s attitude toward taking the life of those whom he commanded his armies to do. Why was there no retribution for the male children whom they killed in Numbers 31? This is why people believe the Bible has so many contradictions. Also, remember Genesis 2:7, which states that when a person takes their first breath, they become a living soul.
Conclusion
There is no solid Biblical verse that supports the pro-life movement. In fact, there are many instances, some of which I have brought up in this article, that demonstrate that God doesn’t regard a fetus in the same light as someone who has been born. We can have these debates outside of the Bible. I personally believe that the government has no business in what a woman does with her body. If you feel abortion is immoral, then don’t get one. However, don’t judge others because they have a different point of view.
Further Reading
What Does The Bible Say About Abortion?
Related Articles
God Kills Children Part 1 – The Flood
God Kills Children Part 2 – First Born
God Kills Children Part 3 – Numbers 31