When Does Life Begin?

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Some of those who want to ban abortion argue that the Bible teaches that the fetus is a person and that abortion is murder. But the distinction between a fertilized egg and a human in covenant law seems basic in the biblical story in Exod. 21:22-25, which sets forth procedures to be followed when a pregnant woman who becomes involved in a brawl between two men has a miscarriage. A distinction is made between the penalty for the loss of the fetus and the penalty for any injury to the woman. For the loss of the fetus, a fine is paid, as determined by the husband and the judges. But if the woman is injured or dies, lex talionus is applied: “Thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” The woman has full standing as a person under the covenant; the fetus has only a relatives standing, certainly inferior to that of the woman.

Another passage quoted in attempts to prove that the Bible teaches t hat the fetus is a person and that God caused the pregnancy is Psalm 139:13-15:  

It is you who did form my kidneys, who did

weave me together in my mother’s womb.

My bones were not hidden from you when I was

being made in secret, intricately wrought in the

depths of the earth.

Your eyes have seen my embryo.

In your books were written, every one of them, the

days that were formed for me, when as yet there

were none of them. (vv. 13,15,16)

Most scholars agree that this is a poetic way of celebrating God’s love for people. The psalmist declares that God’s love surrounds the person in every corner or dimension of existence.

In Jeremiah 1:5, the prophet declares, speaking for God:

Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb, I sanctified you, and I ordained you a prophet unto the nations.

The passage deals with Jeremiah’s calling as a prophet. He is establishing his credentials as one who has been called and appointed by God. His emphatic declaration is that God brought him into being for this very purpose (Cf. Isa. 49:1-5). Thus, the passage is highly personal and specific.

In Luke 1:41-42, Luke says:

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”

This passage deals with the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth, both of whom are pregnant. Elizabeth , now six months pregnant with the one destined to be the forerunner of Jesus, John the Baptist, hears the voice of Mary, who has just discovered that she is pregnant. The passage deals with the special role and authority of Jesus. It is faulty biblical interpretation to generalize from this passage to the personhood of every fetus.