What Does the Bible Say about Abortion? - The PursueGOD Truth Podcast

Every human life, from conception to natural death, is inherently valuable and deserving of protection. Life begins at conception, as this marks the start of a unique human organism with its own DNA, potential, and future.

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• We’re in part 3 of our Kingdom Politics series.
• Today we’ll answer the question: Q. What Does the Bible Say about Abortion?
• This is an emotionally charged topic
• Maybe some of you want to swipe up, put up walls, run away
• Because you have personal hurts around this topic
• Or because you just want to stick your head in the sand
• I encourage you to resist that temptation
• There’s something here for everyone
• I’ll try to speak the truth in love…
• Such an important topic that I’ve written this episode twice
• I want to make sure I get it right, which means I need to make sure I understand the opposing view
• Why are so many people in favor of this? Even some Christians?
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• Let’s start with…

The Pro-Choice Argument

See the argument for and against pro-life | Lex Fridman Podcast

• Pro-Choice Argument #1: Bodily Autonomy - A fundamental principle of human rights is that individuals have the right to control their own bodies. Pregnancy profoundly affects a person's body, health, and life, and no one should be compelled to undergo it against their will.
• Pro-Choice Argument #2: Gender Equality - Denying access to abortion disproportionately affects women and those who can become pregnant, limiting their ability to participate equally in society by controlling their reproductive choices and futures.
• Pregnancy changes women in a way that it cannot change men, so it’s a form of sex discrimination to make women go through with an unwanted pregnancy.
• From an article by a Christian Latina Mom: “Yes, the anti abortion movement has its lens focused solely on birth, but I think they've lost Jesus in the process. How are we protecting all God's creatures beyond gestation? What is being done to help people out of poverty? When will we get mandated paid parental leave? When will we stop aiding wars that lead to the death of many innocent people? When will our maternal health system be fixed so women, especially Black women, don't have to worry about whether or not they are going to survive childbirth in this country? This fight is not about "protecting life" it is about control — controlling women, to be exact. And that's a fight I cannot get behind. I think God understands that and loves me just the same.”
• History lesson: In the United States, eugenic sterilization laws were passed in many states (popularized in 1920’s), disproportionately targeting Black women, Indigenous women, and immigrants. These sterilizations were often carried out without informed consent.
• 1907: Indiana passes the first eugenic sterilization law in the United States, targeting those deemed "unfit" to reproduce (e.g., individuals with disabilities or mental illness).
• 1919: Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, writes about controlling the reproduction of people she considered "unfit," which included those with mental or physical disabilities, as well as impoverished groups, immigrants, and minorities. Here’s the title of the article: "Birth Control and Racial Betterment"
• 1925: Hitler’s ideas about racial purity, Aryan superiority, and the need to eliminate "undesirable" traits outlined in his book Mein Kampf.
• 1927: The Supreme Court upholds forced sterilization laws in Buck v. Bell. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes famously writes, "Three generations of imbeciles are enough."
• 1933: Hitler implements eugenic policies on a national scale, starting with the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring. This law legalized forced sterilization for individuals with conditions such as mental illness, epilepsy, and physical disabilities.
• 1973: Roe v. Wade legalizes abortion in the U.S., with abortion services often concentrated in low-income and minority communities, raising concerns about systemic targeting.
• Pro-Choice Argument #3: Personhood - Many argue that personhood and the associated rights develop gradually and that early-stage embryos do not yet possess the qualities (e.g., consciousness or viability) that confer full moral status.
• SLED acronym: Pro-choice advocates often argue that personhood is not established until certain criteria are met:
• Size: Some argue that the unborn’s small size makes them less of a person. The idea is that a tiny embryo cannot hold the same moral status as a fully grown human.
• Level of Development: Pro-choice proponents frequently claim that personhood is tied to cognitive development. Since the unborn cannot think, feel pain, or exhibit consciousness in the early stages of pregnancy, they argue that the fetus is not yet a person.
• Environment: It is often asserted that life inside the womb is fundamentally different from life outside it. Until a baby is born and separates from the mother, some argue, it cannot be considered fully human.
• Degree of Dependency: Pro-choice advocates may contend that the unborn’s complete reliance on the mother for survival makes them less than a person. They might equate this dependency with a lack of individual autonomy, which they see as essential for personhood.

The Pro-Life Argument

Pro-Life Argument #1: Intrinsic Value of Human Life - This is the crux of the pro-life argument. Every human life, from conception to natural death, is inherently valuable and deserving of protection. Life begins at conception, as this marks the start of a unique human organism with its own DNA, potential, and future. (Winger - It’s a living, whole human)

Genesis 1:27 Genesis 1:27 (NLT) 27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

• Pillar 2 of God and Govt from week 1 of this series: God, Not the Government, Gives Rights to Every Human Being.
• That’s why this whole argument hinges on whether babies in the womb are human!
• They’re not “potential human beings”, but “human beings with potential”
• Not once in the history of humanity, did a pregnant mother give birth to a monkey or a fish or a tree. Every single time a human being came out!

Exodus 21:22-25 (NLT) 22 “Now suppose two men are fighting, and in the process they accidentally strike a pregnant woman so she gives birth prematurely. If no further injury results, the man who struck the woman must pay the amount of compensation the woman’s husband demands and the judges approve. 23 But if there is further injury, the punishment must match the injury: a life for a life, 24 an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth….”

• Exodus 21 (New Bible Commentary) In the case of murder the death penalty was invoked, not out of indifference for human life, but rather because each human life is of tremendous value (Gn. 9:6).
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• Exodus 21 (New Bible Commentary) The distinctiveness of the biblical laws is apparent when one compares them with other Ancient Near Eastern laws. In the earlier Laws of Hammurabi, a murderer was required to make only financial compensation to the victim’s family. This contrasts sharply with the biblical insistence of a life for a life. On the other hand, the non-biblical laws apply the death penalty to breaking and entering, looting at a fire, and theft. These examples reveal that in other cultures financial loss was sometimes treated more seriously than loss of life. The biblical laws consistently emphasize that human life is of greater value than material possessions.

Psalms 139:13-16 (NLT) 13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was...