Roe v Wade was recently overturned and the heated debates have ensued. It is impossible to discuss this topic without emotions flaring, making this a difficult discussion. Not because it is intellectually difficult to understand; but because people’s emotions get in the way of their intellect causing them to be blinded.

In this article, I would like to address the common pro-choice argument that women have the right to an abortion. This argument contains two aspects: legal and theological. I will briefly touch on the legal aspect since my main goal here is to discuss the theological side of the debate.

Legal

Pro-abortionists believe women have a constitutional right to an abortion. Yet, nowhere in the Constitution does it say that we have a right to kill children in the womb. Advocates of abortion argue that women have a “right to privacy” according to the Constitution. However, this “right” is not found in the Constitution. Even if it were, it is difficult to see how a right to privacy allows the murder of your child.

 As Justice Clarence Thomas notes:

“That 50 years have passed since Roe and abortion advocates still cannot coherently articulate the right (or rights) at stake proves the obvious: The right to abortion is ultimately a policy goal in desperate search of a constitutional justification.”[1]

 In short, the Constitution does not declare a right to an abortion.

Theological

What about the theological side of the debate? How is theology relevant to this issue? First let’s begin by quoting the Declaration of Independence.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men…  

According to our founding fathers, rights come from God. In other words, if there is no God, then you have no rights. A prevalent false assumption in today’s culture is that we should leave God out of the picture when talking about politics. Furthermore, it is a prevalent belief that rights come from the government. However, if rights come from the government, then you have no inherent rights. The pro-abortionists cannot complain when the government takes away a right since the government determines what your rights are. Yet, when Roe v Wade was overturned, many pro-abortionists’ believe it was immoral. They believe the government has taken away an intrinsic right. In other words, pro-abortionists are appealing to a standard that transcends government. This implicitly admits that rights do not come from government. But if rights do not come from government, where do they come from?

The only way to answer this question is by invoking God, the very One whom many pro-abortionists deny. This is why God and theology are relevant to this question. Since rights come from God, we must understand who God is and what He wants in order to determine what rights we have from Him.

Here is a brief overview of what God in His Word reveals about the baby in the womb:

Psalm 139:13 describes God’s activity in the development of the human in the mother’s womb.

For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.

In Genesis 25:22, Isaac’s wife Rebekah speaks of the fighting within her womb between Jacob and Esau. This passage refers to Jacob and Esau as “children,” which clearly speaks of the full personhood and humanity of the baby in the womb.

But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.

Matthew 1:18 displays the full humanity and personhood of Jesus from conception. Notice that it says Mary was pregnant with a “child,” not a clump of cells.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.

Exodus 21:22-25 sees the child in the womb as deserving the same rights as the child outside the womb. Those who bring harm to a child in the womb are deserving of death. To think that God is for the killing of children in the womb is to admit complete ignorance of the Scriptures.

22 “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

In Luke 1:44, when Mary visits Elizabeth, John the Baptist leaps for joy in his mother’s womb, revealing that the baby in the womb is fully human, fully alive, and fully a person.

For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

These Scriptures, among many others, speak to the full humanity and personhood of the baby in the womb. Furthermore, the God of the Bible believes the child in the womb deserves the same protections as any other human. The sixth commandment is, “Thou shalt not murder” (Exod. 20:13). As seen in Exodus 21, God considers the killing of the baby in the womb as murder. Because the God of Scripture is against the killing of the unborn, many pro-abortionists create a god in their own image. A god who is okay with abortion and sexual immorality. It is important to note that there were two main things that non-Israelite nations were judged for in the Old Testament: sexual immorality and the sacrifice of their children. In the ancient times, people sacrificed their children to false gods believing it would give them favor with their gods. In today’s culture, people sacrifice their children to the god of convenience thinking it will be more beneficial for them personally. They often view children as a nuisance rather than a blessing as described in the Bible (Psalm 127:3-5). Yet, many of these same people promote sex outside of marriage among many other forms of sexual immorality. If they do not like children, why then are they promoting the activity that produces children? Behind the pro-abortionist movement is the same spirit that moved those of ancient times to commit sexual immorality and sacrifice their children.

The God of the Bible is the God of life. He promotes life. The god of this world is the one who promotes death. Those in the pro-abortion camp are following a god, but it is not the God of life. In summation, rights come from God. One of the most basic rights is the right to life (Declaration of Independence). The God of the Bible views the child in the womb as deserving the same rights as any other person. Therefore, it follows that women do not have the right to take away a child’s most basic right – the right to LIFE.

References:

[1] Clarence Thomas, concurring opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (597 U.S. 2022).