Here are three things to consider regarding the act of abortion:
1. The Biblical Standpoint
A. You know what they say about assuming…
As everyone knows, most organized western religions forbid abortion as part of their tenets. However, the use of scripture to validate such a doctrine is rather flimsy. The standard texts used to forbid abortion are ones with references to unborn babies.
-Jeremiah 1:4 and 5 “Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 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.”
--Notice the word “before.” Jeremiah was born for a specific job and God knew him before he was even conceived not only while he was in the womb.
-Isaiah 44:1 and 2 “Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen.”
--Again, Jacob was chosen for a specific task in God’s ultimate plan. God knows everyone who will be born because he knows all. He transcends time and space he knows all because he is currently experiencing it.
-Psalm 139:14 “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
--The poet was praising God for his works of creation. There is nothing mentioned to insinuate that he was denouncing abortion.
-If the fact that God created us is enough reason to not commit abortion, then we need to consider everything from capital punishment to hunting to landscaping. After all, God created people, animals and the earth.
The above passages mention nothing of ending a pregnancy, nor do they even insinuate that it is a negative thing. To claim that these texts forbid abortion is to make a very large assumption. If assumptions are needed to prove a doctrine, is it really a doctrine at all? If it is acceptable to make assumptions in order to prove moral issues…be careful what you wish for:
-Flying crafts should become illegal and any and all air pollution should cease and desist—and that includes farting. Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”
--Airplanes and pollution mar God’s handywork, and while we’re at it, we need to remove all power lines.
-Flashlights are immoral. Genesis 1:16 “And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.”
--If God wanted man to produce light he would not have created the sun, moon and stars.
-Plucking a gray hair is wrong. Luke 12:7 “But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered…”
--I don’t think God can loose track, but if he knew it was there yesterday…
-Cutting down trees should be banned because God created them for the birds to live in. Matthew 13:32 “Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.”
--It’s either that or your house overhang.
-Isaiah 42:5 “Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:”
--Is it wrong to “assume” that this verse makes it sound as if mankind does not have a spirit until he walks on the earth—hence you do not have a spirit until “after birth”? (James 2:26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead…”)
B. The Bible doesn’t seem to put much value on the unborn
Leviticus 27:1-8 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation. And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.”
Why isn’t there any value placed on someone less than one month old? Why isn’t there extra value placed on a woman who is pregnant?
Exodus 21:12-23 “He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.
And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death. And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death. 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…”
If you kill someone--you die; if you hit your parents—you die; if you curse your parents--you die; if you kidnap--you die; if you kill/injure some dude’s wife while fighting--you die; if you kill an unborn baby--you pay a fine.
Numbers 5:12 to 31 refers to a jealous husband and how he can be assured whether his wife has cheated or not. It seems as if the process would have caused the miscarriage of an illegitimate baby.
Genesis 38:24 “And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot; and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt.”
Until Judah realized the kid was his, he planned to kill both of them. The writer of the passage does not condemn him for his actions either.
C. The Bible is absolutely silent on the issue
Abortion has been around for quite some time. It was around when God inspired the scripture. If he is so dogmatic against abortion, why does it not have a more prominent place in the Bible? The earliest recorded abortion is found in the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus dating to 1550 B.C. During Israel’s captivity in Egypt they were exposed to Egypt’s ways. Ancient Egyptian texts dating from around 1784 BC to 1300 BC contain numerous recipes for contraceptives and abortifacients. To assume when God said “thou shalt not kill” automatically meant to not kill the unborn is a large assumption. Even Egypt had laws forbidding killing, but abortion was a common practice. The Israelites had spent all of their lives at this point, with the Egyptians and followed their laws. Is it not logical to think that God would have been a little more specific about the issue if he was so concerned about the unborn? The commandment not to kill would have been a no-brainer for them. They were already living with the idea that killing was wrong, but they were also living with the fact that abortion was a common occurrence.
If God wanted it to be wrong, he would have said so. The Bible clearly states several things mankind is required to do or avoid:
“Thou shalt not kill…” Exodus 20:13
“Love thy neighbor as thyself…” Matthew 22:39
“Honor thy father and mother…” Ephesians 6:2
Why leave abortion so ambiguous?
D. One final Biblical thought
Is it a good idea to go ahead and make it wrong since the scripture says nothing about it? Only if you want to add to God’s word; and you know what he said about that:
Revelation 22: 18 and 19 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
2. Someone’s opinions or personal preferences should never be forced upon another person.
In the opinion of this writer, abortion is a sad thing that should not happen very often, but it is nothing more than a personal preference of some people.
If someone does not like the color green, should all green painted houses be demolished? What about green cars? Should they be sent to the junk heap? No. If someone doesn’t like green, they don’t need to support the color green in their lives. They could paint their grass orange if they wanted to. But they have no right, business or reason to force such a notion upon anyone else. The same goes for any other issue that falls under personal preference—including abortion.
3. Consider the life the child would have.
Are there really as many willing couples ready to adopt as there are abortions? Reportedly there are between 1 and 1.5 million abortions performed every year. Would every unwanted child be placed into a caring and loving home? It’s doubtful at best. Where would all the children go? The day of the orphanage is over—fortunately. Many would be stuck with the person who birthed them but didn’t want them and would likely be treated as such. Would you mind seeing abortion banned if it meant seeing more children living on the street? What about children born with severe defects? What kind of life would a child without a brain have? Not long of one to be certain. What about any number of other life altering problems? Should a family be forced into financial ruin, bankruptcy or poverty because they had no choice but to give birth to a baby whose body is ravaged by defects? Is that fair to the baby to live that kind of life? Would it be fair to the family who would love the baby and mourn its loss at an untimely, yet merciful, death? It is an admirable thing for a family to give birth to a baby with relatively minor mental and/or physical dysfunctions and care for the child all his or her life; but what about those families who chose not to? Shouldn’t that be admirable as well? We would have mercy on a puppy born with defects by euthanizing it; why should we force a baby to be born with and live through a condition we wouldn’t let a dog?
As for the matter of abortion, there is no need to debate it unless someone can prove beyond any doubt that scripture forbids it. Until that day, it should be considered a non-issue at best and not worth basing critical decisions on.
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