Where does the Bible say abortion is wrong?
The short answer
The word "abortion" is not in the Bible, but Scripture, together with natural law, reason, Church teaching and the Fathers, shows it is intrinsically evil. Scripture treats the child in the womb as a living person from conception, and to kill that living child is murder.
Although the word does not appear, we can conclude from Scripture, as well as from natural law, reason, Church teaching and the Fathers, that abortion is intrinsically evil.
Consider Job 10:8, Psalm 22:9-10, Psalm 139:13-15, Isaiah 44:2 and Luke 1:41. Also:
- A woman with child is told she will bear a son, to be named Ishmael (Genesis 16:11).
- Rebekah conceives, and the children struggle within her womb (Genesis 25:21-22).
- In the womb he supplanted his brother (Hosea 12:3).
- Paul speaks of Rebekah's children before they were born or had done good or evil (Romans 9:10-11).
These verses show that life begins at conception: Rebekah conceived a child, not something that might become one. And "the body without a spirit is dead" (James 2:26). Since the soul gives life to the body, a living child in the womb has a soul. To kill it is murder.