What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?

Historic Christianity treats the child in the womb as a human life that must not be killed. Exodus 20:13Thou shalt not kill.Exodus 20:13 · King James Version says, “Thou shalt not kill.” Psalm 139:13–16^139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. ^139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. ^139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. ^139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.Psalms 139:13–16 · King James Version and Jeremiah 1:5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.Jeremiah 1:5 · King James Version speak of God forming a person before birth. Churches differ on the rare case in which the mother’s life is in danger.

Key points

• Psalm 139:13For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.Psalms 139:13 · King James Version says, “thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.”
• Jeremiah 1:5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.Jeremiah 1:5 · King James Version says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.”
• The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2270, says human life “must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception.”
• The Southern Baptist Convention, June 15–16, 2021, resolved “that abortion is murder.”
• The United Methodist Social Principles say the church is “reluctant to condone abortion” and also that some “tragic conflicts of life with life may justify decisions to terminate the life of a fetus.”
• What does the Bible say about slavery? is the other place Scripture speaks about a person’s life and dignity. Is hell real? is what Jesus says about death.

What the Bible says

Exodus 20:13Thou shalt not kill.Exodus 20:13 · King James Version (King James Version) says:

Thou shalt not kill.

Exodus 20:13 · King James Version

Psalm 139:13–16^139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. ^139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. ^139:15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. ^139:16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.Psalms 139:13–16 · King James Version (King James Version) says:

For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

Psalms 139:13–16 · King James Version

Jeremiah 1:5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.Jeremiah 1:5 · King James Version (King James Version) says:

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Jeremiah 1:5 · King James Version

Genesis 9:6Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.Genesis 9:6 · King James Version ties the ban on shedding blood to the image of God: “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” The King James text does not use the later English word “abortion.” The verses above are the ones churches cite when they speak about the child before birth.

Where churches stand

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) constitutional text was not on the page fetched, so it is not quoted. Global Methodist, Assemblies of God, Episcopal, and Anglican Church in North America pages were not the documents named, so they are not quoted.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2270–2271, says:

Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.

Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law: You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.

Paragraph 2272 says formal cooperation in an abortion is a grave offense and that a person who procures a completed abortion incurs excommunication latae sententiae.

The Southern Baptist Convention resolution of June 21, 2021 says:

WHEREAS, from the moment of fertilization, all humans are created in God’s image by, through, and for Jesus to the glory of God, and all souls belong to Him

and resolves:

that the messengers of the SBC meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, June 15-16, 2021, do state unequivocally that abortion is murder

The same resolution quotes the Baptist Faith and Message, Article XV, that children “from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord” and that Southern Baptists are to “speak on behalf of the unborn and contend for the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death.” The Baptist Faith and Message page itself was refused to this fetch, so those sentences are taken from the resolution that quotes them.

The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod FAQ, citing 1979 Resolution 3-02A, says abortion is contrary to God’s Word and:

is not a moral option, except as a tragically unavoidable byproduct of medical procedures necessary to prevent the death of another human being, viz., the mother

The ELCA abortion landing page says the 1991 statement is grounded in the conviction that “Christians are united in Christ through faith with both the freedom and obligation to engage in serious moral deliberation” (page 1) and that God’s life-giving purposes press “beyond the usual ‘pro-life’ versus ‘pro-choice’ language” (page 2). The full statement was not in that page’s body.

The United Methodist Social Principles say:

Our commitment to the sanctity of human life makes us reluctant to condone abortion. We unconditionally reject it as an acceptable means of birth control or a mechanism for gender selection and other forms of eugenics.

They oppose late-term or partial-birth abortion except when the mother’s life is in danger, no other medical treatment is feasible, or severe abnormalities threaten the viability of the fetus, and they say:

We recognize that these and other tragic conflicts of life with life may justify decisions to terminate the life of a fetus.

The Orthodox Church in America says:

Orthodox Christians have always viewed the willful abortion of unborn children as a heinous act of evil. The Church’s canonical tradition identifies any action intended to destroy a fetus as the crime of murder (Ancyra, Canon 21; Trullo, Canon 91; St. Basil, Canon 2).

The Russian Orthodox Bases of the Social Concept, XII.2, says:

Since the ancient time the Church has viewed deliberate abortion as a grave sin. The canons equate abortion with murder. This assessment is based on the conviction that the conception of a human being is a gift of God. Therefore, from the moment of conception any encroachment on the life of a future human being is criminal.

The same chapter says, “Under no circumstances the Orthodox Church can bless abortion,” and: “In case of a direct threat to the life of a mother if her pregnancy continues, especially if she has other children, it is recommended to be lenient in the pastoral practice.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not a Trinitarian church. Gospel Topics, Abortion, says the scriptures condemn taking life, quoting “Thou shalt not … kill, nor do anything like unto it,” and quotes the General Handbook:

Elective abortion for personal or social convenience is contrary to God’s plan and His commandments. … Members must not submit to, perform, arrange for, pay for, consent to, or encourage an abortion.

Gospel Topics, Abortion

The same page lists exceptions when a competent physician declares the life or health of the mother in serious jeopardy, when the fetus has severe defects that would not allow the baby to survive beyond birth, or when the pregnancy results from rape or incest, and says an unjustified abortion can be repented of.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are not a Trinitarian church. Their page What Does the Bible Say About Abortion? says:

So if someone intentionally kills an unborn child, that amounts to murder.

What Does the Bible Say About Abortion?

and “God views human life as beginning at conception.”

I can’t become a Christian because of this

Some people have had an abortion, or love someone who has, and hear the church’s words as a closed door. The Catholic catechism calls the act a grave offense and also speaks of the Church’s law for a completed abortion. The Latter-day Saint page quoted above says God’s love provides an opportunity to repent and be forgiven. The Christian claim is that Jesus is God, that he died for sinners, and that John 3:16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.John 3:16 · King James Version offers everlasting life to whoever believes. That confession is the deity of Christ and the resurrection.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Bible use the word abortion?

The King James Version does not use that English word. It forbids killing (Exodus 20:13Thou shalt not kill.Exodus 20:13 · King James Version) and speaks of the child in the womb as known by God (Psalm 139:13For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.Psalms 139:13 · King James Version, Jeremiah 1:5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.Jeremiah 1:5 · King James Version).

Do all churches say the same thing about the mother’s life?

They do not. The LCMS FAQ quoted above names a procedure necessary to prevent the mother’s death. The Russian Orthodox chapter quoted above speaks of pastoral leniency when the mother’s life is in direct danger. The United Methodist paragraph quoted above speaks of tragic conflicts of life with life. The 2021 Southern Baptist resolution rejects exceptions to the legal protection of the unborn.

Is this only a Christian question?

The Bible passages are what this page answers. What another religion teaches is written on that religion’s own shelf when a page exists.