Abortion Is Not Always a Sin

As you read this section, keep in mind that the New Testament is not merely a history book, it's meant to change us to become more and more like Jesus. When we read any passages in the New Testament, our goal should be to discern what God wants us to believe and do so that we can be obedient to Him.

Abortion tends to be an emotionally-charged topic for people, which makes it very difficult for Christians to step back and look at this subject objectively. But if we're not trying to be thorough, objective, and unbiased when we study any topics in the Bible, looking for the full picture, then we're not likely to discern what the Bible really teaches on those topics and we won't see the patterns that God has given us in the Bible (for the reasons why, see my article called How to Study the Bible).

According to medical articles online, these are some basic terms and timing related to pregnancy:

When a sperm cell unites with an egg in the woman's fallopian tube, this is referred to as fertilization (sometimes it's referred to as conception), and the egg is now called a zygote. It contains all of the genetic information (the combined DNA from the mother and the father) to become a unique, individual person.
The zygote travels down the fallopian tube for almost a week as it divides and becomes a ball of cells called a blastocyst. When the blastocyst reaches the uterus, it begins burrowing into the uterine wall (referred to as implantation). Successful implantation is the point at which the woman is technically considered to be pregnant. Her body starts producing a hormone called HCG which rapidly builds up, and this hormone can be detected by a pregnancy test at around 7 to 10 days after fertilization.
At implantation, the zygote is now called an embryo, and its cells begin multiplying and taking on specific functions.
From the 9th week after fertilization (usually counted as the 11th week after the woman's last menstrual period) until the baby is born, it's called a fetus. So in the moments before it's born, while it's still in the womb, it's referred to as a fetus. As soon as it's born and is outside of the mother, it's referred to as a baby, an infant, or a newborn, even before the cord is cut and before it takes its first breath.
Based on various factors, for some pregnancies the "baby bump" might begin showing at 12 weeks after the woman's last period, but for other pregnancies it might not show until 18 weeks or even later.

According to medical articles online, the embryo stage is all about forming the basic foundation and framework for the important systems of the body. The fetus stage is all about growing and developing for survival outside the womb.

For those who want to know God's will and obey Him, the important question is what does the Bible say about abortion? The answer is that the Bible says absolutely nothing about abortion.

In all of the Christian articles against abortion that I've read, the Scripture passages they use all tend to fall into three broad categories:

Some of the passages that they use say that murder is a sin, or that shedding innocent blood is a sin:
"Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind." (Genesis 9:6)

"You shall not murder." (Exodus 20:13)

"If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life" (Exodus 21:22-23)

"Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty." (Exodus 23:7)

"This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19)

"He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger." (2 Kings 21:6)

"Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end - besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the LORD." (2 Kings 21:16)

"They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to false gods. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood." (Psalms 106:37-38)

"There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood" (Proverbs 6:16-17)

"There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 14:12)

"Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay everyone according to what they have done?" (Proverbs 24:11-12)

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." (Proverbs 31:8-9)

"On your clothes is found the lifeblood of the innocent poor, though you did not catch them breaking in. Yet in spite of all this you say, 'I am innocent; he is not angry with me.' But I will pass judgment on you because you say, 'I have not sinned.'" (Jeremiah 2:34-35)

"But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion." (Jeremiah 22:17)
These are all of the passages in this category that I've seen in anti-abortion articles online, and other people probably quote similar passages. Murder is certainly a sin throughout the Bible, but in order to know if abortion is a sin we need to determine if or when abortion is murdering a human life. The above passages don't give us that information.
Other passages that they use say that God gives us life in the womb, and knits us or forms us in the womb, and our unborn self is already what God planned us to be, so therefore conception is the beginning of human life:
"See now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand." (Deuteronomy 32:39)

"So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother's womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."" (Judges 16:17)

"and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."" (Job 1:21)

"Your hands shaped me and made me. Will you now turn and destroy me? Remember that you molded me like clay. Will you now turn me to dust again? Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese, clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life and showed me kindness, and in your providence watched over my spirit." (Job 10:8-12)

"In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." (Job 12:10)

"The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life." (Job 33:4)

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Psalms 139:13-16)

"Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my mother's womb he has spoken my name." (Isaiah 49:1)

"The word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."" (Jeremiah 1:4-5)
These are all of the passages in this category that I've seen in anti-abortion articles online, and other people probably quote similar passages. God is omniscient, so He knew all about each one of us while we were in the womb. In fact, His omniscience means that He knew all about each one of us even before He created the universe (see my article called Our Lives Are Not Predestined). Just because God knew us or set us apart before we were born, this does not mean that human life begins at conception (fertilization). In His omniscience God knew us and set us apart for the roles that He had in mind for us before He created the universe, and if He calls us in the womb, there's not a shred of scriptural evidence that it happens at conception (fertilization). All of the passages throughout the Bible in which we're told that God knits us or forms us or molds us or makes us in the womb, those passages are all using figurative language and poetic imagery. God does not directly knit or form or mold or make anyone, or give anyone life or a specific gender, in the womb (see my article called Did God Directly Form Us in the Womb?). The above (or similar) passages do not say that human life begins at conception (fertilization) or that abortion is a sin.
The remaining passages that they use tend to say that children have intrinsic value, and are blessed by God and special to God, and belong to God, and we must honor God with our bodies:
"Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:26-27)

"He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land - your grain, new wine and olive oil - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor will any of your livestock be without young." (Deuteronomy 7:13-14)

"He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD." (Psalms 113:9)

"Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court." (Psalms 127:3-5)

"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." (Isaiah 49:15-16)

"For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child - both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die." (Ezekiel 18:4)

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish." (Matthew 18:10-14)

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'" (Matthew 25:40)

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." (Mark 9:37)

"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." (Luke 12:6-7)

"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
These are all of the passages in this category that I've seen in anti-abortion articles online, and other people probably quote similar passages. People are absolutely correct when they say that children have intrinsic value, and are blessed by God and special to God, and belong to God, and we must honor God with our bodies. But none of those passages tell us if or when there's a period of time during a pregnancy when an abortion can be done without sinning in God's eyes.

Notice that in every category, not a single one of those passages says anything about abortion, and not a single one of those passages says that conception (the moment when a sperm cell fertilizes an egg) is the beginning of human life. Those are just assumptions that people are making. None of the passages we've seen (and no other passage in the entire Bible) tells us if or when there's a period of time during a pregnancy when an abortion can be done without sinning in God's eyes.

Throughout the Old Testament, God sometimes told the Israelites to go to war and kill their enemies, and He instituted the death penalty for murder ("life for life") in Genesis 9:6, Exodus 21:23, Leviticus 24:17-21, and Deuteronomy 19:21. This means that there are times when killing a human is justified in God's eyes, so murder is killing a human when it's not justified in God's eyes.

Therefore, is there a period of time after conception and before birth when the zygote or embryo or fetus is not considered a human life in God's eyes, or when terminating the pregnancy is justified in God's eyes? This is what we must determine because in such cases, having an abortion would not be murder and would not be a sin. None of the passages we've seen answers that question.

When a baby is born, people tend to find the infant fascinating and adorable because it's a very small human, even before the cord is cut and before it takes its first breath. Notice that moments earlier, while it's partly in and partly out of the birth canal, it's the exact same very small human. Moments before that, while it's still in the womb and referred to as a fetus, it's the exact same very small human. In other words, there's not a shred of scriptural evidence that traveling through the birth canal and leaving the womb (or having its cord cut, or taking its first breath, or any other factor) somehow causes a sudden transformation from non-human to human.

In fact, the Bible specifically shows that there's a point when a fetus in the womb is a living human:

"In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end." "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail." "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May your word to me be fulfilled." Then the angel left her. At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy."" (Luke 1:26-44)

In the above passage, notice that Elizabeth was around 6 months pregnant, and she said that the fetus in her womb leaped for joy at hearing the greeting from Jesus' mother. This was not merely Elizabeth's opinion, and she was not mistaken or misinterpreting her fetus' action, because we're specifically told that she was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed in a loud voice under the influence of the Holy Spirit that the baby in her womb leaped for joy at hearing the greeting from Jesus' mother (speaking boldly under the influence of the Holy Spirit was a common result of being filled with the Holy Spirit as in Luke 1:67-79, Acts 2:1-4, 4:8, 31, 7:55-56, 9:17-20, 13:8-11). Notice that Elizabeth referred to Mary as "the mother of my Lord" even before Mary had a chance to explain what the angel Gabriel had said, which again shows that Elizabeth was speaking under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Here God is letting us know that an unborn fetus is a living human capable of reacting with joy, at least in the 6th month of pregnancy (around 23-26 weeks).

According to medical articles online, a typical pregnancy lasts for about 9 months (40 weeks), but babies can be born with a decent survival expectation at around 5-1/2 months (24 weeks). So a baby born at 24 weeks is a tinier human than if it were born at 40 weeks, but it's every bit a human child. Again, moments before its birth, the fetus is the exact same tinier human, just in a different location (inside the womb vs outside the womb). This is exactly what we see in the above passage because Elizabeth's unborn fetus (John the Baptist) is described as being a living human capable of reacting with joy (no doubt influenced somehow by the Holy Spirit) at around 23-26 weeks.

As we go back farther in time to 20 weeks, 15 weeks, 10 weeks, 5 weeks, 0 weeks, at what point is the mass of cells not a tiny human life? For those who want to know God's will and obey Him, is there a point during the pregnancy when the zygote or embryo or fetus can be aborted and not be killing a human life without justification in God's eyes? Or, what if the pregnancy is due to rape or incest? What if the mother-to-be is a minor? What if the pregnancy creates a threat to the woman's life? What if the medical tests show that the baby will have severe medical problems throughout its life? Are there any circumstances or timing in which abortion is acceptable in God's eyes?

For Christians, it should make no difference what medical science might say or what the legal system might say or what our emotions, desires, or rationalizations might say. If something is a sin or not a sin, that's for God to say.

However, the Bible does not give us a definitive answer to any of those questions or issues.

God is the only Person who can give us the answer to all of those questions, and He chose not to answer those questions in the Bible. The New Testament is surprisingly clear and explicit that every Christian needs to learn how to discern the guidance of the Holy Spirit within them. He's the Teacher (John 14:26), and He will help us understand what the Bible says (1 Corinthians 2:14) and lead us on the individual path that God has in mind for each of us (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance). If you will diligently learn how to discern the ways that He communicates with us and listen to Him throughout the day, every day, then you can ask Him for the answers to those questions (or practically any other questions) and He will tell you what's acceptable to Him and what's not.

I'm allowed to provide the answers that He gave me to those questions, but the danger is that some people will listen to me instead of listening to the Lord. Please don't do that. If you're a Christian then the Lord absolutely talks to you every single day, and it's extremely important that you learn how to discern His guidance so that you can be obedient to Him in order to have the best life possible (see my article above).

This is what He told me:

Is there a point during the pregnancy when the zygote or embryo or fetus can be aborted and not be killing a human life without justification in God's eyes?

Aborting a zygote or embryo is not a sin, so it's acceptable in God's eyes for a woman to have an abortion until the end of the 10th week after her last period. When the embryo becomes a fetus at the beginning of the 11th week after the woman's last period, then abortion is no longer acceptable in God's eyes except for the reason discussed below.
What if the pregnancy is due to rape or incest?

Same answer as above.
What if the mother-to-be is a minor?

Same answer as above.
What if the medical tests show that the baby will have severe medical problems throughout its life?

Same answer as above.
What if the baby is unwanted or will cause too much of a financial burden on the parent(s)?

Same answer as above.
What if the pregnancy creates a threat to the woman's life?

If the only way to protect and save the mother's life is by terminating the pregnancy, then this is the only scenario in which a fetus can be aborted without sinning in God's eyes. This situation will likely raise more questions, so it's extremely important to be able to discern God's guidance.

Again, please do not follow what I say, always listen to the Lord and follow what He says.

According to articles online, abortions can potentially be physically dangerous or emotionally traumatic for the pregnant woman. These are important considerations before having an abortion, but they're beyond the scope of this article. This article is only concerned with the issue of when abortion is or is not a sin in God's eyes. Some people will say that it's the woman's body so it's her choice, but keep in mind that God is not playing games, so we need to take the New Testament seriously and learn what He expects of us, and then make sure we're obeying Him in all things (even when we don't want to). As Christians, we have one job here on earth: to obey everything that God tells us to do (in His written instructions and His spoken instructions). We need to understand that this life is a testing ground for Christians. We are periodically tested and then evaluated on the basis of our obedience, and we'll be rewarded or disciplined (perhaps severely) both in this life and in heaven depending on how we choose to respond to these tests. For the detailed scriptural evidence, see my short articles called:

Always remember that sins can be forgiven, including the sin of having an unacceptable abortion or performing unacceptable abortions. Just ask the Lord to forgive you, and He will. Keep in mind, however, that if we deliberately and knowingly commit sins then there are painful consequences as described in the three short articles above.

If you're one of the vast majority of Christians who has not yet learned how to discern what God is telling them (see my article called How to Discern God's Guidance), then the only way for you to determine the truth of what's written here is by allowing God to confirm these things for you by doing a miracle (see my home page for the details).