The Bible contains passages that have bearing on the abortion issue in America, and specifically to the crime of killing the unborn child, and generally, to the principles of life and death. Alphabetically by topic:
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Abortion for Incest: "Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin." –Deuteronomy 24:16
Once a person sees that the Bible clearly teaches that it is wrong to kill a child for the crime of his or her father, that frees the person to get beyond the cliché and look more closely at the actual result of abortion for incest. Because it is wrong to kill the child for the crime of the father, there are other terrible consequences, including that abortion for rape and incest emboldens those criminals and increases such crimes against women. Abortion for incest is cruel, as for example, Planned Parenthood abortionists cover up the crime of incest, and typically send the victim back home to her rapist. Even worse, they often send her home with her rapist, the same criminal who brought her to the clinic to dispose of the "evidence" and help him get away with his crime. Abortion for incest actually emboldens a criminal to rape his young relative and then tempts him to repeat his crime, and is not compassionate because it kills a baby and increases the woman's suffering.
Abortion for Rape: "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son… the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself." –God, Ezekiel 18:20
Of course incest is a particular kind of rape, and the same scriptural teaching, here as spoken by God Himself, condemns all such punishment of the child for the crime of the father. This principle as recorded by the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel explains that a good man would love and protect the baby, but instead many lawyers and others will treat the rapist with respect and protect him, but kill the baby. See also Sherri's Story and Colorado RTL's Amendment 62 Talking Points.
Children in the Womb: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son." Mat. 1:23
"Rebekah his wife conceived [and] the children struggled together within her." –Moses, Genesis 25:22
"Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink… for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb…" –Judges 13:7
"[John] will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And… the babe leaped in her womb…" –Luke 1:15, 41
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…" –Jeremiah 1:5
The New Testament refers to Jesus in the womb as a "child" and indicates that Mary had a normal gestation period (Luke 2:1-6; [1:56-57]) carrying Jesus, who's body was developing within her for a full nine months, showing that the Lord began His earthly human life as a tiny embryo, a single cell. Many centuries before the Incarnation, the most famous twins in the history of the world, Jacob and Esau, fraternal twins, are called "children" in the Scriptures while they are in the womb. And of course, to this day, twins grab hold of one another in the womb, and unborn children suck their thumbs, play with their toes, sleep, dream, and even learn the melodies of songs, and their own mother's voice. Regarding God's command to the woman who later bore Samson, to not drink wine, her "child" would be a Nazirite "from the womb," for a Nazirite is a person who, among other things, does not drink alcohol. Modern child-welfare laws in 18 states (AZ, CA, FL, IL, IN, IA, MD, MA, MI, MN, NV, OK, RI, SC, TX, UT, VA, WI) recognize that a pregnant mother who drinks alcohol not only can harm her child, but can inflict him or her with fetal alcohol syndrome. Also, fetal thirst helps regulate the amount of amniotic fluid in the womb. Excess amniotic fluid, called hydramnios (or polyhydramnios) affects 2% of pregnancies and can be somewhat alleviated by fetal swallowing (and eventual expelling) of amniotic fluid, which swallowing can be increased by injection into the womb of an artificial hunger stimulator (peptide) or even by the mother eating sweets.
Crime of Killing the Innocent: "Do not kill the innocent." –Exodus 23:7
"On your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the poor innocents. I have not found it by secret search, but plainly… Yet you say, 'Because I am innocent, Surely His anger shall turn from me.' Behold [says God], I will plead My case against you, because you say, 'I have not sinned.'" –Jer. 2:34-35
"Your eyes and your heart are for nothing but your covetousness, for shedding innocent blood, and practicing oppression and violence." –Jer. 22:17
"For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands… and even sacrificed their sons…" –Ezekiel 23:37
…that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech. –2 Kings 23:10
"You shall not murder." –God Exodus 20:13
The intentional killing of the innocent is murder. Abortionists refer to the unborn children they kill as tissue and tumors, and many "conservative" politicians refer to the babies they support killing as "exceptions." But God didn't care about all the fruit Eve did not eat; nor did He mention all the women David did not violate; nor list the children whom Herod did not kill. God looks at the exceptions. He calls them children, who are made in His image and likeness. Because abortion is a public venture, except for those individually forgiven by God through faith in Jesus Christ, there is a corporate guilt for the shedding of innocent blood.
Crime of Killing the Unborn is Murder: "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. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." –Exodus 21:22-25
Exodus 21:22 is the first fetal homicide law and concerns the child harmed during a separate assault. Pro-abortion theologians wrongly interpret this passage to refer to miscarriage, and only if the woman also dies is the penalty then life for life. But the passage distinguishes between the baby who survives the assault and the baby who dies. The meaning turns on whether the woman has a miscarriage or gives birth prematurely. And the Hebrew verb used is NOT that for miscarriage. Therefore the passage imposes only a fine on the criminal who accidentally causes a premature birth, but the punishment is life for life if the baby then dies. This shows that God equated the life of the unborn with that of the born, and abortion with murder. This passage, like Exodus 21:33-36, 22:5-6, and others, teaches that those who cause injury are responsible for their actions, even if the harm was unintentional. Therefore, this passage is the biblical model for any principled Unborn Victims of Crime Act. However, if the harm to the unborn in Exodus 21:22 spoke only of miscarriage, the teaching would then support legalized abortion by valuing the life of a fetus only with a fine, and only if the mother later died, would her death require taking the criminal's life. But note the word used to describe the consequence of the crime described in Exodus 21:22, "If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely," the Hebrew word for miscarriage, shaw-kole, is NOT used. If the baby came out dead, a monetary fine would indicate a less than human value for the life of the fetus. However, because Exodus 21:22 says premature birth, and not miscarriage, the passage does not support a right to kill an unborn child, as contended by many who mistranslate this text. Rather, the text values the unborn child's life equal to that of any other person. The author Moses (Mat. 12:26) mentions the idea of a baby coming out of the womb twice within three chapters. In Exodus 23:26, he uses the Hebrew word for miscarriage, speaking of barrenness and shaw-kole (miscarriage). But the word at Exodus 21:22 is yaw-tsaw, which means to come out, come forth, bring forth, and has no connotation of death but in fact the opposite.(וְכִֽי־יִנָּצ֣וּ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וְנָ֨גְפ֜וּ אִשָּׁ֤ה הָרָה֙ וְיָצְא֣וּ יְלָדֶ֔יהָ וְלֹ֥א יִהְיֶ֖ה אָסֹ֑ון עָנֹ֣ושׁ יֵעָנֵ֗שׁ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֨ר יָשִׁ֤ית עָלָיו֙ בַּ֣עַל הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה וְנָתַ֖ן בִּפְלִלִֽים׃) The Hebrew Scriptures use yaw-tsaw 1,043 times beginning with Genesis 1:24 where God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature…” In Genesis and Exodus alone Moses uses this word about 150 times such as in Genesis 25 describing the births of twins Jacob and Esau. Thus the Mosaic law requires the criminal to pay financial restitution to a woman unintentionally injured by a criminal if she "gives birth prematurely." But then if the baby dies, the text applies the full Hebrew idiom which means that the punishment should fit the crime. If there is harm beyond a premature birth, and the unborn child dies, then the punishment is "life for life."
The Fetus Has Emotions: "As soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy." –Luke 1:44
The Scripture refers to the fetus as a baby (brephos) and does not use a non-human or non-personhood term. In Greek Ἐλισάβετ... ἐσκίρτησεν τὸ βρέφος [transliteration brephos, babe, infant] ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ mοu. Thus the baby, who would be named John, experienced the emotion of joy when Mary, being pregnant with the incarnate Jesus, entered Elizabeth's home.
Judging with Righteous Judgment: "You have rightly judged." –Jesus, Luke 7:43
Message from Mark Aughenbaugh: Please join us to expose the murder of our most vulnerable and helpless neighbors. We will hold signs and distribute tracts to educate people about the development of babies in the womb, about their inestimable worth because they are made in God's image, and how they can know the God who made us all. It's not complicated. We are all familiar with the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you were a preborn child would want others to proclaim your worth and to let folks know of your existence, even to plead for your life? If you were a pregnant woman who may be in a difficult situation would want someone to tell you the truth to prevent you from having your child murdered and having to live with that forever? If you were a father of a preborn child would want someone to tell you the truth and encourage you to step up and love the mother and your child? If you were a person who has been an accomplice to the murder of a child, as are thousands of the adults who will drive by, would you want someone to tell you the truth about what you've done and how you may find forgiveness through Jesus Christ? If you were a Christian would want to be told how you share in this bloodguilt and how your silence has contributed to the holocaust that you live in, so that you could bear fruit in keeping with repentance? If you were any of these people driving by and did not want these things then you probably don't know what's best for you. We need to tell people the truth and expose the lies that they are told and that they tell themselves.
