What Does The Bible Teach About Abortion?

Introduction

Abortion is one of the most significant moral issues of our day. Truly it is the child sacrifice of society's most vulnerable to the heathen gods of pleasure and convenience. While the word "abortion" is not in the Bible, the Bible clearly teaches that human life is sacred and must be protected from conception until God takes us home at the sunset of our lives. The Bible contains numerous teachings about the value of human life, God's involvement in the womb, the dignity of every person as His image-bearer, and the duty to protect innocent life, especially the unborn.

Although the devil has convinced many who profess to follow Jesus that abortion under certain circumstances is acceptable, murder masquerading under the banner of Female Reproductive Rights is still murder. True followers of Jesus Christ, who obey the voice of the Good Shepherd, are covenant bound to oppose abortion. If they do not then God will require the blood of the innocents at the hands of their murders as well as at the hands of those who were silent and did nothing to rid the satanic practice of abortion from society.

This page contain the principles, scriptures, common objections you need to know to have powerful conversations about why abortion must be outlawed from society. It is arguable that abortion is the single most offensive thing humans can do to bring the wrath of God upon themselves, their communities, and their nations. We are covenant bound to protect innocent life.

Let's Be Christians!

Key Biblical Principles

Principle 1: God Creates Human Life in the Womb

The Bible repeatedly teaches that God is actively involved in the formation of every human being from conception.

Principle 2: God Knows Individuals Before They Are Born

Scripture teaches that God knows and has purposes for people before they enter the world.

Principle 3: Human Beings Are Made in the Image of God

Every human life possesses dignity and worth because mankind was created in God's image.

Principle 4: God Condemns the Shedding of Innocent Blood

The Bible consistently condemns the taking of innocent human life.

Principle 5: God's People Are Called to Defend the Vulnerable

Christians are commanded to protect those who cannot protect themselves.

Foundational Scriptures

Psalm 139:13–16

Scripture

"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: marvellous are thy works; and that 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..."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

This passage is one of the strongest biblical descriptions of God's involvement in the womb. David teaches that God personally formed him before birth and knew him while he was still developing.

Key Teaching

God actively creates and values human life before birth.

Jeremiah 1:5

Scripture

"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."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

God tells Jeremiah that He knew him before he was born and had already prepared a purpose for his life.

Key Teaching

God recognizes individuals before birth.

Isaiah 44:24

Scripture

"Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb..."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

This verse reinforces the biblical pattern that God Himself forms people in the womb.

Key Teaching

Human life originates with God's creative power.

Job 31:15

Scripture

"Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?"

Why Christians Use This Scripture

Job argues that all human beings share equal worth because the same God formed each of them in the womb.

Key Teaching

Every human being is created by God before birth.

Luke 1:41–44

Scripture

"And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb...

For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

John the Baptist is described as a "babe" while still in the womb and responds spiritually to the presence of Jesus Christ.

Key Teaching

The unborn child is portrayed as a living individual capable of meaningful response.

Genesis 25:22–23

Scripture

"And the children struggled together within her..."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

Jacob and Esau are referred to as children before birth and are treated as distinct individuals with future destinies.

Key Teaching

The unborn are described as real persons with unique identities.

Genesis 1:26–27

Scripture

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...

So God created man in his own image..."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

This passage establishes the doctrine that human beings bear God's image.

Key Teaching

Human life possesses inherent dignity because it reflects God's image.

Genesis 9:6

Scripture

"Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

God connects the prohibition against taking human life to mankind's status as His image-bearer.

Key Teaching

Human life is sacred because it belongs to God.

Exodus 20:13

Scripture

"Thou shalt not kill."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

This commandment applies to innocent human life, including the unborn if they are considered human beings.

Key Teaching

God forbids the unjust taking of innocent life.

Proverbs 6:16–17

Scripture

"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."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

God specifically condemns the shedding of innocent blood.

Key Teaching

God opposes violence against innocent human beings.

Deuteronomy 27:25

Scripture

"Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

This passage reinforces God's condemnation of killing innocent people. It condemns the medical establishments and doctors who carry out abortions.

Key Teaching

The destruction of innocent life invites divine judgment.

Proverbs 24:11–12

Scripture

"If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;

If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it?"

Why Christians Use This Scripture

Christians believe this verse places a moral obligation on believers to protect vulnerable people facing death.

Key Teaching

God expects His people to defend innocent life.

Psalm 82:3–4

Scripture

"Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

The unborn are the most defenseless members of the human family.

Key Teaching

God commands His people to defend the vulnerable.

Isaiah 1:17

Scripture

"Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

God's people are instructed to advocate for those who cannot defend themselves.

Key Teaching

True religion includes defending vulnerable lives.

Exodus 21:22–25

Scripture

"If men strive, and hurt a woman with child..."

Why Christians Use This Scripture

This passage addresses harm caused to a pregnant woman and her unborn child.

This passage is evidence that God places value on the life of the unborn.

Key Teaching

Injury to an unborn child is treated as a serious matter before God.

Common Objections

Objection 1: "The Bible Never Mentions Abortion"

Christian Response

While the word "abortion" is not in the Bible, the Bible clearly teaches that human life is sacred and must be protected from conception until God takes us home at the sunset of our lives. The Bible contains numerous teachings about the value of human life, God's involvement in the womb, the dignity of every person as His image-bearer, and the duty to protect innocent life, especially the unborn.

Objection 2: "A Fetus Is Not a Person"

Christian Response

Christians point to passages such as Psalm 139, Jeremiah 1, Luke 1, and Genesis 25, which portray unborn children as known by God, formed by God, and treated as individuals before birth.

Objection 3: "A Woman Has a Right to Choose"

Christian Response

Christians do not believe personal freedom includes the right to take innocent human life.

The Bible teaches that all human freedom must operate within God's moral law.

Objection 4: "What About Difficult Circumstances?"

Christian Response

Christians acknowledge that pregnancies may involve fear, hardship, poverty, abandonment, or even death.

However, the value of a child does not depend upon the circumstances surrounding conception.

The biblical response is compassion toward both mother and child rather than the destruction of either.

Early Christian Witness

The Didache (First Century)

Historical Statement

"You shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born."

Why This Matters

The Didache is one of the earliest surviving Christian writings outside the New Testament.

It demonstrates that Christians opposed abortion from the earliest generations of the Church.

Tertullian (A.D. 155–220)

Historical Statement

"To prevent birth is anticipated murder."

Why This Matters

Tertullian argued that the child in the womb is already a human being deserving protection.

Basil the Great (A.D. 330–379)

Historical Statement

"The woman who purposely destroys her unborn child is guilty of murder."

Why This Matters

Early Christian leaders consistently taught that unborn life possessed moral value.

Summary of the Biblical Case Against Abortion

The biblical case against abortion rests on several foundational truths:

God forms human beings in the womb.
God knows individuals before birth.
Human beings bear the image of God.
God condemns the shedding of innocent blood.
Christians are called to defend the vulnerable.
The earliest Christians rejected abortion as incompatible with the teachings of Christ.

For these reasons, Christians conclude that unborn children are human beings created by God and deserving of legal, moral, and spiritual protection.

"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee." — Jeremiah 1:5

"Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb." — Psalm 139:13

"Deliver them that are drawn unto death." — Proverbs 24:11

These passages form the foundation of the historic Christian conviction that every human life, from conception to natural death, possesses sacred value before God.