Some Thoughts About Abortion

Abortion is a complex and emotional matter and it may be viewed from biological, legal, and religious perspectives. Arguments about abortion often center around the concepts of the beginning of life and personhood. The focus of this discourse will be to understand biologically when human life begins, the legal view of abortion, and the theological view of life and abortion.

THE BIOLOGICAL VIEW OF WHEN LIFE BEGINS

Human life begins at the instant the male sperm containing 23 chromosomes and the female oocyte (ovum or egg) also containing 23 chromosomes combine to form a new and distinct cell of 46 chromosomes called a zygote or one-celled embryo. This zygote contains all the ingredients of the two gametes (sperm and egg) but is distinct in composition from either the sperm or the egg and behaves differently from them.

Dr. Maureen Condic[1] discussed the beginning of human life when she wrote:

that human life begins at sperm-egg fusion is uncontested, objective, based on the universally accepted scientific method of distinguishing different cell types from each other and on ample scientific evidence (thousands of independent, peer-reviewed publications). Moreover, it is entirely independent of any specific ethical, moral, political, or religious view of human life or of human embryos … A neutral examination of the evidence merely establishes the onset of a new human life at a scientifically well-defined “moment of conception,” a conclusion that unequivocally indicates that human embryos from the one-cell stage forward are indeed living individuals of the human species; i.e., human beings.[2]

Maureen Condic, “A Scientific View of When Life Begins,” On Point, Charlotte Lozier Institute (June 2014), https://lozierinstitute.org/a-scientific-view-of-when-life-begins/.

Dr. Jerome Lejeune, a world-renowned geneticist who discovered the genetic cause for Downs syndrome, speaking before a committee of the Canadian Parliament discussed a proof of human life beginning at conception when he wrote:

We know beyond any possible doubt that when the sperm enters the ovum all the information required to make a human being…is present. We also know, with the same degree of certainty, that no subsequent genetic information, after fertilization, is passed on to a human being.

This is neither the opinion of a moralist nor the hypothesis of a metaphysician, it is a very specific observation made in the course of experiment. If it were not true that all the information required to define each human being is present at fertilization, In-Vitro Fertilization would not be possible. If a human being did not exist at fertilization, it would be impossible for a sperm to enter an ovum in a test tube and for the embryo that may result to be transferred to a woman who is not the biological mother. In other words, the fact that In-Vitro Fertilization exists proves, beyond a doubt, that human life begins at fertilization.[3]

T.A. Smith, “Dr. Jerome Lejeune: life begins at fertilization,” Clinic Quotes, (December 13, 2016), https://clinicquotes.com/dr-jerome-lejeune-life-begins-fertilzation/.

Consequently, since the unborn human being in the body of the mother is a living human being, the killing of that unborn child no matter the stage of development is the ending of a human life. This from a biological and scientific view is indisputable fact.

THE LEGAL VIEW OF ABORTION

The mid-term elections were held recently and the highly anticipated “red wave” of republican wins was to give both houses of congress to the GOP. However, the red wave became a purple wave with democrats effectively holding the majority in the senate though they appear to have narrowly lost the majority in the house.

Speculation is widespread in the media regarding the reason for the stronger-than-expected-democrat showing. Most articles I read in the New York Times, Real Clear Politics, Politico, and others as well as broadcast and cable news reports indicate that abortion was a major reason.

The democrat election strategy utilized a heavy level of abortion ads as well as abortion ballot initiatives in several states to bring out pro-abortion voters to vote against the party they blamed for the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade (“Roe”) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (“Casey”) ―the republicans. In effect, the vote became a referendum against the recent ruling on abortion and the republicans. It seems to have worked.

One commentator suggests that the problem was voter quality which he describes in this way: “a decadent, vegetative electorate easily swayed by platitudes and sentimental appeals, fervently attached to its entitlements.”[4]

I don’t want to focus on politics in this article but I mention the election strategy and results for the pro-abortion left because their concern may be unwarranted. The sad truth is that after the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe and Wade, abortion remains alive and well in the United States. In roughly half the states, abortion remains legal and even the states that prohibit abortion have exceptions to the prohibition, such as rape, incest, fetal anomaly (birth defect), life of the mother, etc. So, abortion is still widely available even after the recent ruling regarding abortion.

On December 21, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States (the “Court”) heard arguments regarding the Mississippi case DOBBS, STATE HEALTH OFFICER OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, ET AL. v. JACKSON WOMEN’S HEALTH ORGANIZATION ET AL. (“Dobbs”) on certiorari from the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

This case involves Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act (the “Act”) which provides that “[e]xcept in a medical emergency or in the case of a severe fetal abnormality, a person shall not intentionally or knowingly perform . . . or induce an abortion of an unborn human being if the probable gestational age of the unborn human being has been determined to be greater than fifteen (15) weeks.” Miss. Code Ann. §41–41–191. The respondents in this case, the Jackson Women’s Health Organization, an abortion clinic, and one of its doctors, challenged the Act in Federal District Court, alleging that it violated the Court’s precedents establishing a constitutional right to abortion in Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (“Roe”), and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U. S. 833 (“Casey”). The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of respondents (i.e., agreed with the abortion clinic) and permanently enjoined (i.e., prohibited) enforcement of the Act, reasoning that Mississippi’s 15-week restriction on abortion violated the Court’s cases forbidding States to ban abortion pre-viability.[5] The Fifth Circuit affirmed (i.e., agreed with the lower court’s ruling in favor of the abortion clinic).

The critical issue before the United States Supreme Court was whether the Constitution, properly understood, confers a right to obtain an abortion.

On June 24, 2022, the Court decided this case as follows: The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.

This is a landmark ruling in that it expressly overruled two previous and longstanding Court decisions. Roe and Casey enabled laws to be passed in several states legalizing abortion. It also resulted in the overturning of many state statutes limiting or prohibiting abortion.

Many citizens misunderstand what this Court ruling means to women’s access to abortions. The Dobbs ruling does not prohibit abortions in the United States of America. The Court in Dobbs ruled that a woman does not have a constitutional right to terminate her pregnancy by aborting her unborn child. The Court did not rule that abortion is illegal in the United States. The Court ruled that the issue of abortion is a state decision and is beyond the purview of fundamental rights in the U. S. Constitution (though some state courts have ruled that abortion is a fundamental right under their state constitutions). In other words, it is a state issue not a federal issue. As a result of the Dobbs ruling, each state will have to decide on the matter of abortion.

Since the Dobbs ruling a dozen or so states have eliminated abortions and some have allowed abortions but limited abortion to viability or have instituted gestational limits to abortion. More than twenty states have allowed abortion.  Even those states which prohibit abortion, usually allow abortions in cases of rape or incest or both or the life of the mother or even in cases of fatal fetal anomaly (birth defects). So, abortion is still legal in much of the United States.

At the end of the day, if states want to protect unborn children from abortion, they must pass statutes prohibiting abortions, which were previously prohibited by Roe and Casey, but which are now allowed under Dobbs.

THE THEOLOGICAL VIEW OF LIFE AND ABORTION

Scripture is clear that life begins at conception (Ps. 51:5; 139:13-16) and the unborn human being in the mother’s body is in fact a living (though yet unborn) person (Gen. 25:22; Luke 1:41-44). God knows all human beings in the womb (Ps. 139:13; Job 31:15; Jer. 1:5; Is. 49:1, 5; Ps. 139:13; Is. 44:2, 24; Gal. 1:15). The Greek word βρέφος (brephos) found in Luke 1:41, 44 means “unborn child.” According to Scripture, a human being is a person at conception. Therefore, abortion is the killing of an unborn human being and is contrary to the word of God (Gen. 9:6).

Unfortunately, the so-called political left in this country support the sins of Romans 1:18-32. The left not only encourages those who exchange natural relations for dishonorable passions contrary to nature but they practice, encourage, and enable the arbitrary and capricious killing of unborn children, all in violation of Scripture and the will of God.

Having rejected God, they devalued God-given life. They consider life to begin at birth which is contrary to science, the Bible, and the laws of many states. They give the power of life or death of an unborn child to the mother who may kill for mere convenience.

Pro-abortion folks look upon an unwanted pregnancy as a sexually transmitted disease[6] and abortion is their cure. The abortion promoters say that women have a right over their bodies. Christians agree but point out that the unborn child is not the woman’s body. It is a completely separate human life which the mother has the responsibility to protect and has no right to end.

The capability of sexual generational procreation was built into every human being and this natural process involving one male and one female begins with conception (Ps. 104:30). God also made human beings in His own image (Gen. 1:27). The indisputable fact is that abortion is the killing of a living human being and according to Scripture is contrary to the will of God (Gen. 9:6; Ex. 20:13).

THE SIN OF ABORTION

For those who perform or assist in performing abortions and those women who have submitted to the abortion of their unborn child, it is certain that like any committed sin, they cannot undo what has been done (Rom. 2:5). Many of these individuals, subsequent to the abortion carry a great guilt. But God has provided an answer to those guilty of the sin of abortion who ask how they can receive forgiveness from this sin. Jesus Christ died on the cross in payment for all the believers’ sins. The person who commits any sin, including abortion, may be forgiven by God’s grace (Rom. 10:9, 10, 13; Eph. 2:8-10; John 3:16; etc.) and needs only to have a godly sorrow for committing the sin (2 Cor. 7:10–11), repent or turn away from the sin (Prov. 28:13; Is. 30:15; Luke 5:32; 24:47; Acts 3:19; 5:31; 11:18), believe through faith in Jesus as his or her Savior making Him Lord of his or her life and Scripture assures us that the blood of Christ by the grace of God will cleanse him or her of the sin forever (1 John 1:9). No sin is too great for God to forgive (Titus 2:14).

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[1] Dr. Condic is Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She is also Director of Human Embryology instruction for the Medical School and of Human Neuroanatomy for the Dental School.

[2]Maureen Condic, “A Scientific View of When Life Begins,” On Point, Charlotte Lozier Institute (June 2014), https://lozierinstitute.org/a-scientific-view-of-when-life-begins/.

[3] T.A. Smith, “Dr. Jerome Lejeune: life begins at fertilization,” Clinic Quotes, (December 13, 2016), https://clinicquotes.com/dr-jerome-lejeune-life-begins-fertilzation/.

[4] Matthew Boose, “Third World Electorate,” Elections, American Greatness (November 12, 2022), https://amgreatness.com/2022/11/12/third-world-electorate/, accessed November 15, 2022.

[5] Fetal viability refers to the ability of the unborn child to survive outside the uterus. The Casey case which injected viability into the abortion discussion did not define the term. Generally, fetal viability is held to be 23-24 weeks gestation.

5 William C. Brennan, The Abortion Holocaust: Today’s Final Solution, (St. Louis: Landmark Press 1983).