What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?

Absolutely nothing! The word “abortion” does not appear in any translation of the Bible.

Out of more than 600 laws of Moses, none comment on abortion. One Mosaic law about miscarriage specifically contradicts the claim that the bible is anti-abortion, clearly stating that miscarriage does not involve the death of a human being. If a woman has a miscarriage as the result of a fight, the man who caused it should be fined. If the woman dies, however, the culprit must be killed:

“If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.”

“And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.”  Exodus 21:22–25

The Bible orders the death penalty for the murder of a human being but not for the expulsion of a fetus.

According to the Bible, life begins at birth — when a baby draws its first breath. The Bible defines life as “breath” in several significant passages, including the story of Adam’s creation in Genesis 2:7, when God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Jewish law traditionally considers that personhood begins at birth. 

Desperate for a biblical basis for their beliefs, some anti-abortionists cite obscure passages, usually metaphors or poetic phrasing, such as: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Psalm 51:5 This is sexist, but does nothing other than to invoke original sin. It says nothing about abortion.

Moses, Jesus, and Paul ignored every chance to condemn abortion. If abortion was an important concern, why didn’t the bible say so?

Many anti-abortionists quote the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13), as evidence that the bible is anti-abortion. They fail to investigate the Bible’s definition of life (breath) or its deafening silence on abortion. Moreover, the Mosaic law in Exodus 21:22–25 (cited earlier), directly following the Ten Commandments, makes it clear that an embryo or fetus is not considered a human being.

An honest reader must admit that the bible contradicts itself. “Thou shalt not kill” does not apply to many living, breathing human beings, including children, who are routinely massacred in the Bible. The Mosaic law orders “Thou shalt kill” people for committing such “crimes” as cursing one’s father or mother (Exodus 21:17), for being a “stubborn son” (Deut. 21:18–21), for being a homosexual (Lev. 20:13), or even for picking up sticks on the Sabbath (Numbers 15:32–35)! Far from protecting the sanctity of life, the bible promotes capital punishment for conduct that no civilized person or nation would regard as criminal.

Mass killings are routinely ordered, committed, or approved by the God of the Bible. One typical example is Numbers 25:4–9, when the Lord casually orders Moses to massacre 24,000 Israelites: “Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun.” The bible is not pro-life!

Most scholars and translators agree that the injunction against killing forbade only the murder of (already born) Hebrews. It was open season for everyone else, including children, pregnant women, and newborn babies.

“Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.” Psalm 137:9

The Bible is not pro-child. Why did God set a bear upon 42 children just for teasing a prophet (2 Kings 2:23–24)? Far from demonstrating a “pro-life” attitude, the bible decimates innocent babies and pregnant women in passage after gory passage, starting with the flood and the wanton destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, progressing to the murder of the firstborn child of every household in Egypt (Exodus 12:29), and the New Testament threats
of annihilation.

Space permits only a small sampling of biblical commandments or threats to kill children: Numbers 31:17: Now, therefore, kill every male among the little ones. Deut. 2:34: Utterly destroyed the men and the women and the little ones. Deut. 28:53: And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters. I Sam. 15:3: Slay both man and woman, infant and suckling. 2 Kings 8:12: Dash their children, and rip up their women with child. 2 Kings 15:16: All the women therein that were with child he ripped up. Is. 13:16: Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled and their wives ravished. Is. 13:18: They shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children. Lam. 2:20: Shall the women eat their fruit, and children. Ez. 9:6: Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children. Hosea 9:14: Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. Hosea 13:16: Their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

Then there are the dire warnings of Jesus in the New Testament: “For, behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the womb that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.” Luke 23:29

The teachings and contradictions of the Bible show that anti-abortionists do not have a “scriptural base” for their claim that their deity is “pro-life.”

Spontaneous abortions occur far more often than induced abortions. Approximately 10–20 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, and one in 175 pregnancies in stillbirths. Some research suggests that as many as 30 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, many before individuals realize they’re pregnant. Doesn’t this make a deity supposedly in charge of nature the greatest abortionist in history?

The Bible is neither anti-abortion nor pro-life, but it does provide a biblical basis for the real motivation behind the anti-abortion religious crusade: hatred of women. The Bible is anti-woman, blaming women for sin, demanding subservience, mandating a slave/master relationship to men, and demonstrating contempt and lack of compassion: “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow, thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Gen. 3:16 What self-respecting woman today would submit willingly to such tyranny?

The anti-abortion position does not demonstrate love for humanity or compassion for real human beings. It is 14 times more dangerous to carry a pregnancy to term than to have a legal abortion in the United States. Worldwide, the World Health Organization indicates that every day, almost 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth — most involving lack of access to basic health care such as contraception and abortion. Why do anti-abortionists want North American women to join these ghastly mortality statistics? Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, one in three U.S. women tragically have lost legal abortion access. Obstetrical care deserts are negatively impacting both maternal and infant health. What is “pro-life” about that? We must protect and cherish the right to life of the already-born.

Many Christian denominations and religious groups agree that the bible does not condemn abortion and should be legal, including Catholics for a Free Choice, Conservative Judaism, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Reform Judaism, Unitarian Universalism, United Church of Christ, and the YWCA. Although Islam has no clear position, 56 percent of Muslim Americans support protecting access to abortion care. Despite the Catholic Church’s global campaign to deny abortion and contraception, 68 percent of American Catholics support preserving access to abortion care. Almost two-thirds of Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Yet the Roman Catholic Church and white evangelical Protestants are campaigning to ban all abortion care based on their ignorant insistence that the bible is anti-abortion.

The belief that “a human being exists at conception” is a matter of faith, not fact. Legislating anti-abortion faith would be as immoral and un-American as passing a law that all citizens must attend Catholic mass!

The Bible does not condemn abortion, but even if it did, we live under a secular Constitution, not in a theocracy. The separation of church and state, the right to privacy, and women’s rights all demand freedom of choice.