the bible and abortion

[perdrix]

I was reading this article about abortions in Tanzania, during which the thought crossed my mind that, if the Bible outlaws abortion (and from the behaviour of most Christians, you would think it did), then it was probably in the Old Testament - that's where they're hottest on rules and regulations, right? - and maybe it was because unsafe

Comments

[oedipamaas49]

wow; I'd never realised that. Like you, I'd assumed there would be something a little more concrete in the bible. The lack of commonly-quoted verses on abortion should have been a give-away, I guess.

[countess_rezia]

This is a really interesting post. Have I ever tried to explain my pro-life-pro-choice views on abortion to you?

I have to say I always assumed Christian pro-life arguments were based on 'Thou shalt not kill' and then non-biblical arguments about a foetus being a human being, rather than their being anything directly anti-abortion in the Bible, so the different arguments surprised but interested me.

You know the Catholic Church didn't forbid abortion (in some circumstances) until 1869 when the Pope degreed that every foetus has a soul from the second of conception.