> How does the Bible address abortion?
Thanks for writing.
Did you know that it is a sin for us to not multiply and fill the earth?
"Be fruitful, and multiply and fill the earth, and subdue it. And have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the heavens, and all animals that move upon the earth." Genesis 1:28
The above is a command and it is for us. There is no supposed covenantal limitation for this. Let me show you something from the Book of Jasher. It is not inspired, but is twice mentioned in scripture in such a way as to endorse it as far as I am concerned.
Jasher 2:17-22 17 And Lamech, the son of Methusael, became related to Cainan by marriage, and he took his two daughters for his wives, and Adah conceived and bare a son to Lamech, and she called his name Jabal.
18 And she again conceived and bare a son, and called his name Jubal; and Zillah, her sister, was barren in those days and had no offspring.
19 For in those days the sons of men began to trespass against God, and to transgress the commandments which he had commanded to Adam, to be fruitful and multiply in the earth.
20 And some of the sons of men caused their wives to drink a draught that would render them barren, in order that they might retain their figures and whereby their beautiful appearance might not fade.
21 And when the sons of men caused some of their wives to drink, Zillah drank with them.
22 And the child-bearing women appeared abominable in the sight of their husbands as widows, whilst their husbands lived, for to the barren ones only they were attached.
Psalm 127:3 "Lo, children are the inheritance of Yahweh; the fruit of the womb is a reward."
Yes abortion is wrong. It is wrong partly due to it violating our command to multiply. It is also mentioned in Exodus 21.
Exodus 21:22-25 "If men strive and strike a pregnant woman, so that her child comes out, and there is no injury, he shall surely be punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him. And he shall pay as the judges say
23 And if any injury occurs, then you shall give life for life,
24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."
If the child died then it was treated as murder and the one causing the death of the child died as well. A mother who voluntarily aborts her child commits murder and she is guilty.
Thou shall not murder is still valid today, but you will not find the statutes that explain what murder is in the new testament. The statutes that explain the commandments are found only in the old testament. That is where you find the definitions! Exodus 21:22-25 is a statute under the commandment found in Exodus 20:13 and Romans 13:9.
Hope this has helped.
Tim