Abortion is one of the most evil attrocities of our present age. We must stand against it with truth and compassion. Yet many Christians today don’t have a consistent Biblical view on the topic of abortion. Many simply have taken the cultural narrative on abortion for granted and don’t see the issues with secular Pro-Life approaches. This article is a brief explanation of the issues with a collection of solid Pro-Life Abortion Resources for Christians to inform, equip and challenge believers in Christ to action.
The Challenges with Pro-Life Abortion Resources
One of the challenges about the Pro-Life abortion resources available today is that there are so many different worldviews, approaches and beliefs behind the broad Pro-Life Movement. Some Pro-Life advocates are not Christians, some are Catholics, Orthodox, Evangelicals, Jews, etc. There is a quite a bit of diversity in the Pro-Life Movement.
As a result, there are also differing viewpoints on how to understand, address, and take action on the issue of abortion. Many of these are not Biblical or are sub-Biblical. One of the main issues is that of consistency with a Christian worldview and Biblical view of life from womb to tomb.
When does life begin?
Many secular and even Christian Pro-Life organizations and movements will affirm that surgical abortions (where a fetus is surgically removed from the womb) is wrong and murders the unborn child by dismemberment. However, not all groups affirm that chemical abortions (in the form of the morning after pill, etc) are equally wrong. So, we have some differences in the understanding of the point at which life begins.
The Biblical and historic Christian view is that life begins at conception—when sperm and egg come together and fertilization occurs. Yet, unfortunately, not all Pro-Life advocates agree on this.
The Bible affirms that life begins at conception in numerous passages.
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”
Psalm 139:13-16
Notice that it is God who forms the life in the womb. See also Isaiah 44:24.
“But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’”
Matthew 1:20
Notice that Jesus is recognized even from conception.
“Before I formed you in your mother’s body I chose you. Before you were born I set you apart to serve me. I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:5
The prophet Jeremiah is chosen from even before he was formed in the womb. See also Isaiah 49:1, 5 and the story of John the Baptist particularly in Luke 1:15, 41, and 44.
Furthermore, God himself sets up laws to defend the life of the unborn.
“If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”
Exodus 21:22-25
There are many other passages we could go through in-depth, but I’ll leave that for the resources linked later in this article.
This understanding that life begins at the point of conception would rule out a lot of Pro-Life compromises on things like IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) where the standard proceedure leads to the fertilization of multiple eggs with donor sperm, but not all the fertilized eggs (embryos) are implanted. Some embryos are frozen indefinitely, and some are destroyed. Another compromise is failing to see certain forms of birth control that use abortofacients (chemicals that terminate a pregnancy or prevent the embryo from implanting) as chemical abortions. Things like the “morning-after” pill and some birth control pills actually should be understood as chemical abortions if they terminate an already fertilized egg. Birth control that only prevents fertilization, however, would not be considered an abortion.
Other scenarios which are commonly brought up are cases of miscarriage where a D&C proceedure must be performed to remove the fetus which has miscarried. These are not “abortions” in the sense that we are using the word here. These “medical abortions” (which is an unfortunate misnomer) are sometimes necessary proceedures when a fetus has already died or failed to develop. There is no taking of life here, since the life has already expired or never developed in the first place. Live Action has some articles explaining this in more detail.
Justice and the penalty for abortion
This is another area of disagreement and inconsistency in the Pro-Life Movement.
Many in the Pro-Life Movement argue that the doctor who performs the abortion should be convicted, and even anyone who forces or coerces a woman to get an abortion.
However, a large part of the Pro-Life Movement argues AGAINST convicting the mother of murder for having her baby killed through abortion. This is simply inconsistent.
If we are saying that abortion is the murder of an innocent life in the womb, then women who abort their babies are murderers. There is obviously different levels of culpability depending on knowledge and intent, such as in the case of first and second degree murder or manslaughter charges. However, we would be inconsistent to excuse the mother for willingly taking the life of her child by hiring a professional assassin (the abortion doctor) to do it for her.
And this is really where the various approaches to Pro-Life advocacy diverge. Yet it is an important point for Christians to be consistently Pro-Life and work for equal protection of the unborn child under the law.
Yet many secular and even Christian Pro-Life organizations refuse to acknowledge this, choosing instead to argue that there are 2 victims in an abortion: the child and the mother!
However, the mother who murders her child outside the womb is not a victim (the child is!). Yet somehow this logic magically changes when it comes to abortion. This is not because of any moral unclarity or ambiguity. It’s simply because they are unwilling to be consistent because of our woke culture’s assumption of perpetual innocence for women. Women can never be evil, never be the oppressor – they can only ever be the victim according to our woke culture. But this is simply not Biblical, “for all have sinned…” (Romans 3:23). Women sin also.
And this is one of the big reasons why abortion will never be eradicated until Christians get a Biblical view of justice and abortion and hold to it consistently in their Pro-Life advocacy.
If women are given a free pass for murdering their child, then how is there any justice?
If women who have their child murdered in the womb are not guilty of sin, then how can they be offered forgiveness in Christ?
Yet because of this inconsistency, there are many supposedly “Pro-Life” organizations who actually block efforts to make abortion illegal and criminally punished in order to “protect” women. The documentary, Fatal Flaw, covers some of this issue in the US.
As Christians, we should advocate for consistent laws concerning abortion and its criminalization that uphold God’s standards of justice and not man’s flawed version.
Gospel Witness and Abortion
For Christians, abortion ministry is also Gospel ministry. We call people not to murder children in the womb because God has said “Thou shalt not murder” and it is sin. To compromise on this point and not call abortion sin (both for the abortionist and the mother) is to compromise our Gospel witness.
As Christians, we must consistently call abortion what it is – the sin of murder – and urge people not to murder but to repent of their sins and turn to Christ, who forgives even murderers and offers them the hope of eternal life.
There are many other issues which we cannot address here such as incrementalism vs abolition, what about situations where the mother’s life may be in danger, what about rape and incest, etc. The purpose of this article is not to answer every possible objection, but to highlight a major issue and point to some good resources for further study. Additionally, you can click here for a “Comprehensive guide to the 10 most common pro-choice objections.”
Two great ministries with Christian Pro-Life resources are EndAbortionNow.com and Choice42.com – a lot of their resources are linked below as well.
In Canada, there is also WeNeedALaw.ca
Below you’ll find some more resources to help equip you Biblically.
Abortion Proceedure Explainer Videos
These are some great short explainers from Live Action about the process for different types of abortion proceedures.
Christian Pro-Life Books on Abortion
Here is a short list of books on the topic from a Christian perspective. Not all the authors take the same position, but these will help you to read from different perspectives and form an informed position for yourself. The descriptions here are from the publishers.
This is a very clear and Biblical resource on the topic from one of the greatest theologians of our times. Dr. Sproul provides well-considered and compassionate answers to the difficult questions that attend termination of a pregnancy. He combines a factual, well-reasoned approach with biblical scholarship to navigate the issues on both sides in terms of biblical teaching, civil law and natural law.
For Life: Defending the Unborn
How do we understand and articulate the biblical basis for the pro-life position? How should we respond to the killing of unborn children? The biblical and historical answer to such questions lies in drawing attention to the idolatry which gave rise to our present culture’s obsession with death, and demonstrating that life is something rooted in the nature of God, that can only be given or taken on God’s authority. This short book is intended to equip Christians with a biblical foundation for why and how to speak up for life, and minister to the vulnerable souls who are considering abortion with compassionate understanding.
What the Bible Says about Abortion, Euthanasia, and End-of-Life Medical Decisions
From the beginning of life to the end, every human life is precious. In this accessible booklet, Wayne Grudem demonstrates that because humans were created in God’s image, life should be treasured and preserved at all stages.
Topics Include:
- The personhood of unborn children
- Abortion in the case of rape or to save the life of the mother
- Euthanasia and its legal implications
- Guidelines for difficult end-of-life decisions
Christian Pro-Life Articles on Questions
Here are a few articles answering common objections and giving some additional context.
- Is Abortion Murder?
- Common Objections to Equal Protection
- Responding to Objections Against Criminalization
- The Early Church’s View of Abortion
- What About Ectopic Pregnancies?
- The History of Margaret Sanger (Founder of Planned Parenthood)
Pro-Life Documentaries
I hope that you find these resources helpful and challenging!
May we endeavour by God’s Spirit to see the end of abortion in our generation.
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