A Biblically-Nuanced Abortion View
Undoubtedly, the past week has been a contentious one when it comes to the topic of abortion. Maybe that is putting it lightly. Women have woken up this week with less protected rights than their mothers and grandmothers in some cases. Self-described pro-life activists have celebrated the Supreme Court's decision as a victory for Christianity and conservatism. Advocates for reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, from both sides of the political spectrum, are left this week feeling a hopelessness and sense of urgency for legislative action concerning access to make the choice for abortion care. Members of non-Christian religions are left wondering if their views on life matter in America.
I am not here today to argue against the political overreach of the decision of the Supreme Court versus the case that was before them. I am not going to argue the validity of pro-life and pro-choice viewpoints. I’m not even going to get into the wide array of circumstances that would lead to a woman making the impossibly tough decision to pursue abortion care. My aim for this post is to present a case for nuance, and to make that argument rooted in the reading of the Bible. In a world of right versus left, blue versus red, I’d like to present some gray.
Diving into scripture, let’s look at harm to the fetus in Exodus, first from the Message version, then the King James. These are among the laws that God delivered to Moses after the giving of the 10 Commandments.
Exodus 21:22–24 (The Message): 22–24 “When there’s a fight and in the fight a pregnant woman is hit so that she miscarries but is not otherwise hurt, the one responsible has to pay whatever the husband demands in compensation. But if there is further damage, then you must give life for life—eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
Exodus 21:22–24 (KJV 1900): 22 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. 23 And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, 24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
In this circumstance, a man has caused a woman to lose the developing child in her womb. The law requires there to be a fine assessed to the person causing harm. However, if in that same instance, the man was to harm the woman, he would be punished equivalent to the harm he caused, even up to a life for a life. Isn’t that interesting? I have historically seen this group of verses used to argue that the fetus is equivalent to life, citing life for life, but that’s not at all what it says at all, is it? In fact, there is a clear distinction made between the value of the life of the mother and of the developing baby. The mother’s life, if lost, results in the corresponding loss of life. The pregnancy, however, if terminated and “no mischief follow” (to the mother), results in a simple fine.
Additionally, and what is to me even more interesting, is how the value is assigned to the unborn. There is not a predetermined cost ascribed by God’s law associated with ending the pregnancy. And more importantly, the fine is not established by the governing establishment, the judges. The worth of the fetus is rooted in the value placed by the parents, in this particular patriarchal society of the Bible, by the father.
Several other verses that are consistently referenced regarding life related to formation in the womb.
Psalm 139:13 ‘you knit me together in my mother’s womb’, Job 31:15 ‘did not God who made me in the womb make them? Did not one form us both within our mothers?’, Isaiah 64:7 ‘yet Lord, you are our Creator; we are the clay and You our potter: we are all the work of your hand’.
There are many others that speak to the development of the human being in the womb. But just as one stitch of knitting does not make a sweater, a sculpture is not formed until the marble is chiseled, and one clump of clay does not make a chalice; pregnancy is a process. The moment two cells converge does not equal a person. The flicker of electrical signals from a group of cells at 6 weeks is not a heartbeat, the whooshing of the ultrasound machine at the same time is not the sound of a heartbeat. Fetal development is a process, personhood is a process, viability is a process.
Now, I acknowledge that this process does eventually lead to a viable human being. It is possible to hold the previous views on pregnancy progression while also acknowledging that a third trimester John the Baptist can make a physical reaction in the womb to encountering the presence of God (Luke 1:15). It’s possible to hold the belief that the God of eternity knows you and your soul outside of your body and that relationship is not based on your earthly body (Jeremiah 1:5). See? Biblical nuance.
Last, I want to address what a lot of pro-choice believers point to as their argument against access to abortion in the case of rape or incest. In Proverbs 6:17, it is said that one of the six things that God hates is ‘hands that shed innocent blood’, along with several mentions of children not dying because of the sins of the father (Deuteronomy 24:16, Ezekial 18:19, Exodus 34:7, others). However, constantly in the Bible it details God enumerating punishment for disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:18,53, 2 Kings 8:12, Isaiah 13:18, Hosea 9:10). And specifically in Numbers 5:11-31, there are exhaustive descriptions of mothers being forced to miscarry due to their misdeeds. Even Jesus did not express special concern for the unborn in the anticipated end times (Matthew 24:19). These cannot and do not reconcile, thus nuance.
This post will not, I anticipate, make anyone fall off their chair and have a eureka moment and change their position on abortion. What I hope is that it makes you think, makes you reconsider, makes you even doubt the firmness of your conviction. After all, the opposite of faith is certainty. I also expect to get some responses that say “the verses I read actually said…this…” And to that, I say EXACTLY! The Bible is a translation of a translation of verbally passed down stories in languages that in some cases no longer exist. It is supposed to be studied, to have its lessons examined, to be a record of humankind’s encounter with the world through the lens of God’s interaction. It’s not meant to be read literally, it’s meant to be read literately.
And if you can come to terms with different translations saying different things, I can’t wait to talk to you about the mistranslations that have been used to condemn the LGBTQ community….maybe in a coming post.
