Does God approve of abortion?

Just to be clear, two points must be made at the start: 

1.    Violence or hatred of any kind is not endorsed. 

2.    God can forgive and restore any girl or woman who has had an abortion.

The information presented here is not political or emotional; rather, it is factual.

What does the Bible say?

The Bible explicitly states, in a number of verses, that God forms a person before birth, in the mother’s womb:

  “For you formed my inward parts; you wove me in my mother's womb.  I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in our book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them” (Psalm 119:13-16).

  “Did not He who made me in the womb make him and the same one fashion us in the womb?” (Job 31:15)

   “Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb” (Isaiah 44:2).

   “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb”

(Isaiah 44:24).

   “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you”   (Jeremiah 1:5).

    John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit before birth:

“he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb” (Luke 1:15).

And, even before birth, John had intelligence and awareness:

“When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb” (Luke 1:41).

    The Apostle Paul was called by God before birth:

“God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb” (Galatians 1:15).

   Samson was known and called by God while in the womb:

“the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death” (Judges 13:7).

What does the medical evidence show?

From the moment of conception, the baby has his or her own unique DNA. Around 18 days after conception, the human fetus begins to develop a heart. “In human embryos the heart begins to beat spontaneously at about 22-23 days, with blood flow beginning the fourth week”.[1] It beats with blood that is not the mother’s, but is uniquely that of the baby, and may be of a different blood type. As microbiologist Richard L. Deem states,

“This is only 7-10 days after a woman would expect to begin her menses. Since most women have cycles that can vary by this amount, they do not discover they are pregnant until after this point. Therefore, all abortions stop a beating heart, even ‘early’ abortions.”[2]

Around week six, brainwaves are detectable. Brain function, as measured on the Electroencephalogram, "appears to be reliably present in the fetus at about eight weeks gestation," or six weeks after conception.[3]  At 16 weeks, fingerprints and toe prints develop, which are unique to each human. As early as 21 weeks, barely more than halfway to full term, babies have survived outside of the womb and have continued healthy into adulthood, such as James Gill, born in Canada in 1987. And, “Australian statistics released in 2006 show that more than three-quarters of babies born at 25 weeks will survive and more than 80 per cent will not have a major disability”.[4] The point here is not to ask “how low can you go”, but to demonstrate that many babies who could have easily been aborted, but were allowed to live, have developed into – surprise – adult humans. So, at what developmental point can someone definitively state a fetus is not a human being? Do you want to be the one to make that decision about someone else’s life?   

Aborted babies can live.

Timesonline reported the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and a “government agency is launching an inquiry into doctors’ reports that up to 50 babies a year are born alive after botched National Health Service abortions.”[5]

There is forgiveness and healing.

God can and will forgive even the worst of sinners, as the Apostle Paul states, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all” (1 Timothy 1:15).

King David committed adultery then arranged for the murder of the husband.[6] The baby who was produced as a result died, but God did forgive David and the next child born was Solomon, who became a forefather of Jesus Christ. So, God does forgive even the most egregious sins. David made a very interesting comment after the first baby died:

            “I will go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). David believed the baby was still alive, but with God.

[Biblical references are from the NASB version.]

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[1] Hill, Mark, Dr., “Cardiovascular System Development – Embryonic Heart Rate”, University of New South Wales Embryology website, 2008, accessed 18 Nov 2008, <http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/notes/heart8.htm>

[2] Deem, Richard L., Science and Abortion:  The Scientific Basis for a Prolife Position, from the website godandscience.org,, last modified 23 Jul 2007, accessed 17 Nov 2008.

[3] J. Goldenring, "Development of the Fetal Brain," New England Jour. of Med., Aug. 26, 1982, p. 564

[4] Molloy, Fran, ABC Health & Well Being, “Catching the Early Babies”, published 24 Jul 2008, accessed 21 Nov 2008,  <http://www.abc.net.au/health/thepulse/stories/2008/07/24/2311978.htm>

[5] Rogers, Lois, “Fifty Babies a Year are Alive after Abortion”, Timesonline, 27 Nov 2005, accessed 22 Nov 2008.

[6] 2 Samuel 11