The Abortion Debate: Clarifying Misrepresentations
Opening Statement
I did not expect to enter this debate, but one thing must be made clear: twisting words, redefining terms by association, and misrepresenting arguments are destructive habits. They fuel ignorance, which in turn breeds arrogance. This is especially evident in the abortion debate.
Key Points
Weak Argument from Opponents
Critics of Pro-Life positions often demand: “Where in the Bible does it say abortion?”
This is poor debating technique. The Bible does not use the word abortion, but it does contain passages that imply its rejection.
Scriptural Evidence
Exodus 21:22–25: If a pregnant woman is injured and her child is lost, a fine is imposed; if the mother dies, the penalty is “life for life.”
This shows the unborn is recognized as a child, and its destruction is treated as a criminal act.
Historical Context of the Word “Abortion”
First appeared in English around 1537, borrowed from Latin.
Originally meant any non-term pregnancy (including miscarriage).
Later evolved to mean intentional termination.
Ancient practices:
Egypt (Ebers Papyrus, 1550 BCE) described abortion methods.
Greek and Roman physicians (Hippocrates, Soranus) discussed abortion openly.
Terms (phthora, abortus) did not distinguish miscarriage from induced abortion.
Jewish Teaching
Fetus seen as potential life, not full personhood until birth.
Abortion may be permitted to save the mother’s life or health.
This view is rooted in Talmudic interpretation, not directly in the Torah.
Hebrew Language Analysis
Terms like yasa (to go out) and yeled (child) suggest abortion caused by injury, not natural miscarriage.
Oldest Torah manuscripts explicitly refer to the unborn as a child.
Killing the child is treated as a criminal act.
Conclusion
Regardless of translation nuances, the consistent message is clear:
The intentional killing of an unborn child is condemned.
The Torah offers no justification for abortion-on-demand.
Coupled with other scriptures, abortion is understood as the destruction of life—an act of murder.
For many it is also considered synonymous as Child Sacrifice...
📖 Scripture Examples Against Child Sacrifice
Leviticus 18:21 “You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.”
Deuteronomy 12:31 “You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abomination which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.”
Deuteronomy 18:10 “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering.”
2 Kings 23:10 “He defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, so that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech.”
Jeremiah 32:35 “They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded—nor did it enter my mind—that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.”
Ezekiel 16:20–21 “You took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and gave them up when you caused them to pass through the fire.”
Then we have to also consider that the view is the Jewish and Christian concepts of God is involved with the formation of life "knowing/aware of" each soul before they were formed and described as "knitting them together."
Psalm 139:13–16 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb… Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. → God’s intimate involvement in forming life in the womb shows its sacredness and protection.
Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart. → God recognizes and appoints individuals even before birth, affirming personhood in the womb.
Isaiah 44:2 Thus says the Lord who made you and formed you from the womb, who will help you… → The unborn are described as already formed and chosen by God.
Job 31:15 Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? → Job acknowledges God as the creator of all life in the womb, equating unborn life with born life.
Ecclesiastes 11:5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. → The mystery of life in the womb is attributed directly to God’s creative work.
Luke 1:41–44 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb… As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. → John the Baptist is described as a baby in the womb, capable of response, affirming the humanity of the unborn.
✨ Key Takeaways
Child sacrifice is consistently condemned as an abomination and a profanation of God’s name.
The practice is linked to pagan worship (especially Molech and Baal) and is forbidden for Israel.
These prohibitions reinforce the sanctity of life and the responsibility to protect children as gifts from God.
The repeated warnings show that this was a real temptation in Israel’s cultural environment, but God demanded absolute separation from such practices.
The unborn are consistently described as children, not mere tissue.
God is portrayed as the direct creator and sustainer of life in the womb.
Scripture equates harm to the unborn with harm to any other human life.
Scripture shows a reasonable—even powerful—argument that God views the unborn as valuable as any other human being.
Therefore, killing an unborn child is prohibited as a violation of God’s law and design.
Now, couple this with the fact the Bible consistently condemns promiscuity and sexual immorality, teaching that sexual intimacy belongs within marriage and warning that those who practice fornication, adultery, or lustful living will not inherit the kingdom of God, among other things, and be cast out as little more than restless wandering ghosts never to know peace or comfort.
📖 Key Scriptures Against Promiscuity
Exodus 20:14 “You shall not commit adultery.” → Sets the foundation that sexual intimacy is reserved for covenant marriage.
Leviticus 18:22–30 → Lists forbidden sexual practices, warning Israel not to follow the promiscuous customs of surrounding nations.
Proverbs 6:32 “He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.” → Promiscuity is portrayed as self-destructive.
1 Corinthians 6:18–20 “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit…?” → Sexual sin is unique in its corruption of the body, which belongs to God.
Galatians 5:19–21 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery… those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” → Promiscuity is listed among sins that exclude one from God’s kingdom.
Ephesians 5:3 “But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people.”
Hebrews 13:4 “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”
Revelation 21:8 “…the sexually immoral, idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
✨ Key Takeaways
Promiscuity is repeatedly condemned as destructive to both body and soul.
Sexual purity is tied to holiness, with marriage upheld as the proper context for intimacy.
Consequences are severe: exclusion from God’s kingdom and divine judgment.
The Bible frames promiscuity not merely as a moral failing but as rebellion against God’s design for human relationships.
The False Claim
It is often argued that prohibitions against abortion, child sacrifice, and sexual immorality are unique to monotheistic religions such as Judaism and Christianity. This claim is historically inaccurate. Many polytheistic cultures also condemned these practices, sometimes even more explicitly, showing that the protection of life and sexual boundaries is a universal moral concern.
🌍 Polytheistic Cultures and Moral Prohibitions
Ancient Egypt
While medical texts like the Ebers Papyrus (c. 1550 BCE) describe abortion methods, Egyptian law and religion often emphasized the sanctity of fertility and motherhood.
Children were considered blessings, not burdens, from the gods, and infanticide or child sacrifice was not a normative practice and often condemned, even with abortion methods were recorded in medical texts.
Fertility and motherhood were sacred, tied to goddesses like Isis and Hathor.
Greco-Roman World
Philosophers such as Hippocrates explicitly prohibited abortion in the Hippocratic Oath: “I will not give a woman a pessary to cause abortion.”
Roman law under certain emperors penalized infanticide and abortion, recognizing them as destructive to family and society.
Promiscuity was condemned by Stoic philosophers, who emphasized self-control and marital fidelity as virtues.
Hindu Tradition (Polytheistic)
Ancient Hindu texts (e.g., Manusmriti) condemn abortion as a grave sin, equating it with the killing of a priest or destroying sacred fire.
Sexual immorality, including promiscuity, is repeatedly prohibited, with chastity and fidelity upheld as dharmic duties.
Buddhist and Jain Traditions
Though not strictly theistic, these traditions are polytheistic in practice with multiple deities and spirits. Both condemn abortion as a violation of ahimsa (non-violence).
Sexual misconduct, including promiscuity, is listed among the Five Precepts to be avoided.
Mesoamerican Cultures (Aztecs, Mayans, Incas)
While child sacrifice did occur in some ritual contexts, it was not universally accepted. In fact, many city-states and priestly traditions condemned excessive sacrifice as corrupting.
Sexual immorality was often punished severely; the Aztecs executed adulterers, showing a strong cultural prohibition against promiscuity.
Canaanite and Near Eastern Polytheists
Child sacrifice to Molech and Baal was practiced, but it was also condemned by reformist leaders and rival priesthoods within polytheistic cultures themselves.
These prohibitions were not unique to Israel; they reflected broader regional rejection of practices seen as destructive.
✨ Key Takeaways
Polytheistic cultures often prohibited abortion, child sacrifice, and promiscuity, showing these values are not exclusive to Judaism or Christianity.
Philosophical traditions (Stoicism, Hindu dharma, Buddhist ethics) reinforced sexual purity and protection of life.
Legal codes and priestly reforms in polytheistic societies condemned destructive practices, sometimes more clearly than monotheistic texts.
The claim that these prohibitions are “just monotheistic” is historically false; they are cross-cultural moral constants.
✨ Closing Statement
The evidence is clear: prohibitions against abortion, child sacrifice, and sexual immorality are not confined to monotheistic traditions. They appear across cultures, languages, and religions — from Egypt to Greece, India to Mesoamerica. This universality demonstrates that the protection of life and the rejection of promiscuity are not merely theological constructs, but deeply rooted moral constants recognized by humanity throughout history.
The claim often made by Jews, Christians, and even some Muslims that they are superior in such beliefs — or that murder and immorality were entirely acceptable outside their traditions — is demonstrably false. Equally false are those who attempt to justify such practices by claiming their “Neo-pagan” religions are rooted in ancient polytheistic cultures. The historical record shows the opposite: many polytheistic societies condemned abortion, child sacrifice, and promiscuity with clarity and severity. In other words, their claims collapse under scrutiny and must be shut down.
✨ Ethical Leaning Toward Pro-Life
In light of these considerations, we must acknowledge that the moral and ethical weight leans more toward a pro-life position. Abortion cannot be treated as a casual alternative to contraception, for it involves the deliberate ending of a developing human life. Instead, children should be regarded as they truly are — a gift for the future, the continuation of our species, and the embodiment of potential.
Whether one interprets this potential in religious, philosophical, or purely human terms, the reality remains: each unborn child carries within them the possibility of a future life, of knowledge, of contribution, and of continuity. To deny that potential is to deny not only the child’s existence but also the shared future of humanity.
It would be better instead that such are simply rendered infertile or sterilized (by their own choice) because clearly not all people are worthy of the gift of parenthood, just as those who would deny one of such a gift for cruel and petty reasons is unworthy of any right to decree anything in such matters.
