The Bible never directly forbids abortion. It never outright declares the embryo/fetus a living human. Some say that because God forms us in the womb that it is alive (Isa 44:2; Ps 139:13). God formed the dirt, but it is not alive. Some say that since God knew us before conception it is alive (Jer 1:5). If life existence begins when God knows us, then the Mormons are correct in that we live before conception. Some say that because God ordained our lives before creation, then the unborn is alive (Ps 139:16). Again, knowledge does not denote life unless you are a Mormon. Therefore, these verses do not prove life, but only prove creation, foreknowledge, and providence. In fact, Job 10:19, taken individually, seems to allude that in the womb there is no life, but mere existence.
However, many verses allude that in the womb there is life. John leaped for joy (Luke 1:41), unborn are called “treasure” (Ps 17:14), unborn may have sight (Ps 58:8), hurting the unborn is punishable by death (Ex 21:22-23), and God kills “the precious ones of their womb” (Hos 9:16, NASB). Therefore, the Bible seems to hint that there is life in the womb. Science also tells us that eighteen days after conception the unborn has a heartbeat and that it has its own brainwaves at six weeks. At the moment of conception of a healthy child, all the genetic material necessary to become an adult exists. Therefore, it seems that life exists in the womb and that life is an unborn child.
Can we kill the unborn child? Murder is forbidden (Ex 20:13). Killing the unborn child without cause is murder and is, therefore, a sin. What about rape and incest? If your sibling has sex with you or someone sexually assaults you, do you have the right to kill his or her innocent 5-year-old child? No. Nor do you have the right to kill his or her innocent unborn child. What if the health of the mother is at risk? Pregnancy, by its very nature, is a health risk to the mother, and thus abortion is not permitted. These abortions are sinful murder!
God does permit taking life in self defense, so long as the person believes his or her life is in danger (Gen 4:23-24). Therefore, is abortion permitted if the life of the mother is in danger? If the life of the mother is in extreme jeopardy, then taking a life in this case is permitted. Ectopic (tubal) pregnancies fall under this category. In ectopic pregnancies, the fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tubes rather than in the womb. As the unborn baby develops and grows, both it and the mother will die. The choice, then, is between the death of both or ending the life of one to save the other. Biblically, it is permitted to end an ectopic pregnancy in order to save the mother. However, as medical science advances, the day may come (or may be here now) when doctors can safely transplant the unborn child to the womb, saving both mother and child. When/if that day comes, it would be wrong to abort, because the principle of self-defense would no longer apply: death would no longer be inevitable.
In the end, abortion is taking a human life. In all cases, except the life of the mother, abortion is murder. The Holocaust pales in comparison to the abortion rate. It is sin!
