Abortion is not mentioned in the Bible — because it happened so often
In the next few articles, I’m looking at birth control and abortion…in the Bible. The point of these articles is not to categorize abortion or birth control as right or wrong.
It’s simply to point out the usage of both in the Bible in order to better understand the hardships of women in antiquity and highlight that the Bible is not clear on its stance regarding abortion.
Abortion was an unfortunate yet common part of life in ancient cultures. Primarily due to poor medical knowledge and understanding of human anatomy.
Additionally, there was no morality attached to abortion. So to claim that the Bible is liberating of either perspective on the matter is a poor interpretation. And in reality, abortion and birth control did not seem to be of high concern in ancient Near Eastern literature.
To get a better understanding of how abortion is understood in the Bible versus how it is understood by the Bible's interpreters and translators, let’s look at a different example.
We don’t see any Bible passages definitively affirming or condemning how much meat to eat. Due to the lack of nutritional knowledge and far more immediate stressors of that time, it was not an item worth attention or concern.
Sure we see Bible passages that could support a nutritious diet — “your body is a temple” 1 Corinthians 6:19,
But that passage could also be referring to what you watch or what chemicals you clean your home with. It’s a metaphor, not a literal instruction with any definitive meaning so it can’t be used to exclusively support or condemn anything, including abortion.
A side note here: this passage could be taken as proof that abortion is healthy and good. If a woman is facing medical or mental trauma from a pregnancy, would abortion be considered an effort to honor her body? (*In spooky voice “We’ll never know..”)
You could look at the countless laws surrounding meat preparation in Leviticus as support for a protein-centered diet. Or you could look at the story of Adam and Eve and their sin resulting in the killing of animals as evidence that we are destined for a vegan lifestyle (*even spookier voice…“We’ll never know…”).
There is no Bible verse that clearly supports or condemns meat in one's diet. But we could use different passages to support our preexisting beliefs on the matter.
Similarly, we get passages like Psalm 139 “You knitted me together in my mother’s womb” to support pro-life. But Hosea 13 says “pregnant women will be ripped open”.
Both of these are examples of Hebrew poetry. These are metaphors, literary tools to emphasize the power of God, or large-scale events and prophecies. No Bible passage can be used to exclusively support or condemn abortion because it is not specifically mentioned anywhere in the Bible.
While abortion certainly happened in antiquity, there was no morality attached to it in that time. It was a routine part of life. And therefore, morality surrounding abortion does not exist in the Bible.
