Abortion is a polarizing and emotional topic that splits society into opposing groups in other countries as well, but is it also a moral and spiritual issue. Controversy continues as to who has the right to judge whether abortion is right or wrong?
If God’s Word, the Bible, is your foundation and starting point for understanding the answer becomes clear. God is the Creator of life, and God’s Word, the Bible, is our foundation and starting point for determining His will and understanding on this issue. God created life, and He sustains all life on this planet (Genesis 2:7). The sixth commandment in Exodus 20:13 declares, “You shall not murder.”
God took great care to show in His Word that human life must be protected, even in the womb: “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely…he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life” (Exodus 21:22-23). In other words, if the injury to the woman results in the death of the unborn, considered a life, then it is called murder, with the penalty being a life for a life. The Bible considers the unborn in the mother’s womb to be a human life, and it’s considered murder to destroy that unborn life.
Another key reference in Scripture about life in the womb is found in the story of Jeremiah, one of the major prophets of the Bible. In Jeremiah 1:5 God tells him, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Consider also John the Baptist leaping for joy in his mother Elizabeth’s womb when her cousin Mary came near carrying Jesus in her womb (Luke 1:39-45).
There are enough references in the Bible to the life of an infant in the womb to give understanding that God considers the unborn child to be a human life. The argument that an unborn child is not human or not really life is an insidious argument used by abortion proponents. To be blunt, it’s faulty reasoning meant to remove any guilt that the decision to abort is the taking of innocent human life. God, the Creator of all life, sees all aspects of life within His creation. He considers the life of a child in the womb to be something known by Him even at that stage of development. If God knows the child in the womb, it’s a life that should be protected and cherished
