Christianity and abortion
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Christianity and abortion have a long and complex history. There is no direct reference to abortion in the Bible, nor any explicit condemnation of abortion. The lack of discussion of abortion in Christian scripture has led to varied and divergent stances on the moral acceptability of abortion across Christian denominations and among Christians. Today, Christian denominations hold widely variant stances.[1]
Range of positions taken by Christian denominations
Some Christian denominations can be considered
Daniel C. Maguire asserts that European-generated "mainline" Protestant denominations have clearly moved in the direction of accepting family planning and contraception as well as "support for legal access to abortion, although with qualifications regarding the moral justification for specific acts of abortion." This general trend among "mainline" Protestant denominations has been resisted by Christian Fundamentalists who are generally opposed to abortion.[8] Thus, religious leaders in more liberal Christian denominations became supporters of abortion rights while Evangelical and other conservative Protestants found themselves allied with the Catholic Church which remained staunchly anti-abortion.[9]
Biblical passages
A number of biblical passages are often cited by Christians on either side of the abortion question. Some frequently cited ones and common arguments surrounding them are as follows:
Passage | Perspective Allowing Abortion | Perspective Against Abortion |
---|---|---|
Genesis 2:7 (Garden of Eden narrative, see also Soul in the Bible § Genesis 2:7) - "Then the LORD (Yahweh)[note 1] God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being". (NIV) | Christian advocates of abortion rights cite this passage as proof that human personhood begins once the "breath of life" enters the body;[10][11] lungs of a fetus are not considered fully-functioning until around 37 weeks gestation and cannot breathe until birth.[12] | Opponents of legalized abortion reject this interpretation and say that Adam and Eve, having been fully formed as adults, should not be compared to a fetus.[11] |
Exodus 21:22–25 (Harm to a pregnant woman, see Mishpatim § Exodus chapters 21–22 at "Harm to a Pregnant Woman" for parallels in other Ancient Near Eastern legal texts): "When men have a fight and hurt a pregnant woman, so that she suffers a miscarriage, but no further injury, the guilty one shall be fined as much as the woman's husband demands of him, and he shall pay in the presence of the judges. But if injury ensues, you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." (NAB) | Christians who are in favour of legalized abortion cite this passage because it shows that when a woman suffers miscarriage from a blow during a fight, only a fine is required in compensation, while if the woman is injured or killed, then the punishment must be equal to the injury suffered, including capital punishment if the woman dies.[13] According to abortion rights advocates, the significance of this Biblical passage is that causing a woman to miscarry "warrants financial compensation only (to her husband), suggesting that the fetus is property, not a person."[14] | Christians who are against legalized abortion, however, argue that this passage still represents the causing of a miscarriage as sinful.[15][16][citation needed]They also claim that the arguments in favor of abortion are based on a mistranslation of the Hebrew in Exodus 21.[17] |
Numbers 5:11–31 (Ordeal of the bitter water) -- Numbers 5:27: 'Once she has done so, if she has been impure and unfaithful to her husband, this bitter water that brings a curse will go into her, and her belly will swell and her thighs will waste away, so that she will become an example of imprecation among her people.' (NAB) | In this passage, a woman who is suspected of adultery is made to drink something that will cause her thigh to waste away and her belly to swell if she was guilty of adultery. Christians who support legalized abortion believe that this is talking about the woman's fetus being destroyed if she was guilty of adultery with another man.[14][18][19][20] | Christians against legalized abortion, however, argue that this passage is not referring to an abortion and that the effects on the woman's body refer to a divine punishment for oathbreaking in Jewish tradition. The practice is also not believed to have been practiced in Christianity. It was also undertaken by both Men and Women as a test for adultery.[21][22][23] [24] [15] |
Jeremiah 1:5 (calling of Jeremiah narrative): "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you." (NAB) | Christians who support legalized abortion, however, have argued that this passage refers only to Jeremiah alone and explains his uniqueness by saying that God made plans for him even before he was born. They say that this passage is "a reference to a special plan for one man rather than a general approach to biology and reproduction."[13] | Christians opposed to legalized abortion have interpreted this passage to mean that life begins prior to birth, thus making abortion the taking of a person's life.[25][26][27][28][29] |
Luke 1:15 (in the prologue, featuring John the Baptist's parents): "For he shall be great before the Lord; and shall drink no wine nor strong drink: and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." (KJV); and
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As in the case of the passage from Jeremiah, supporters of abortion rights argue that this passage explains the uniqueness of John the Baptist and does not say anything about other fetal life.[13] They also maintain that passages that relate to the later stages of pregnancy are not relevant to the general abortion question, because the vast majority of abortions occur early in pregnancy, before "quickening" (when the woman first feels movement of the fetus) or "ensoulment" (when the fetus is "formed" or "ensouled" according to ancient beliefs). In early times, true pregnancy was usually interpreted as beginning at quickening or ensoulment.[30][31]: 61 | Christians opposed to legalized abortion point to these verses dealing with Elizabeth's pregnancy with her son (the future John the Baptist) as showing that the fetus was a person, because the fetus was filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother's womb and leaped for joy at the sound of Mary's salutation. The Greek word used in line 44 'βρέφος' (Brephos) is also used for infants after birth and it was used by the gospel writer in describing the baby Jesus in Bethlehem in the second chapter of Luke.[29][32] |
Catholic Church
Part of a series of articles on |
Abortion and the Catholic Church |
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Official opposition |
Catholic Church portal |
The
With the papal bull
Apart from indicating in its
I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion. The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the
Sacrament of Reconciliation.[48]
Many, and in some Western countries most, Catholics hold different positions on abortion than those promulgated by the Church; the views of these people range from generally anti-abortion positions allowing some exceptions, to more general acceptance of abortion.[49][50][51]
Politics
Anti-legal abortion organizing
Connie Paige has been quoted as having said that, "the Roman Catholic Church created the right-to-life movement. Without the church, the movement would not exist as such today."[52]
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1968–1973
The National Conference of Catholic Bishops selected
NRLC Incorporation, Human Life Amendment
When the NRLC was formally incorporated in May 1973 in response to the
Following incorporation in 1973, the committee began publishing National Right to Life News. The newsletter has been in continuous publication since November 1973 and is now published daily online as the news and commentary feed, National Right To Life News Today.
Withholding communion
Many controversies have arisen over its treatment of Catholic politicians who
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church believes that life begins at conception, and that abortion (including the use of abortifacient drugs) is the taking of a human life. The Basis of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church states that, if it is because of a direct threat to her life that a woman interrupts her pregnancy, especially if she already has other children, she is not to be excommunicated from the church because of this sin, which however she must confess to a priest and fulfill the penance that he assigns:
In case of a direct threat to the life of a mother if her pregnancy continues, especially if she has other children, it is recommended to be lenient in the pastoral practice. The woman who interrupted pregnancy in this situation shall not be excluded from the Eucharistic communion with the Church provided that she has fulfilled the canon of Penance assigned by the priest who takes her confession.[59]
The document also acknowledges that abortions often are a result of poverty and helplessness and that the Church and society should "work out effective measures to protect motherhood."
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) opposes elective abortions "for personal or social convenience".[60]: 45 [61] It also states that abortion is an acceptable option in cases of rape, incest, danger to the health or life of the mother, or where the fetus will not survive beyond birth.[62][61][63] In a 2023 US-wide PRRI poll that included 402 LDS-identifying respondents, 30% said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 69% said it should be illegal in all or most cases.[64] The church has no official position on when life begins,[65] but does state that ordinances such as naming and blessing children and sealing them to their parents are not needed for stillborn or miscarried children.[66]
Jehovah's Witnesses
They believe that deliberately inducing an abortion for the "sole purpose of which is to avoid the birth of an unwanted child" is an "act of high crime" in the eyes of God.[68] In the case of the mother's life being at risk, Jehovah's Witnesses suggest the mother needs to make a "personal decision about which life to save".[69][70]
For baptized Jehovah's Witnesses that have had an abortion, it is demanded that the individual turns to God in prayer, and demonstrate repentance. It is common for the mother to be the subject of a judicial committee hearing. It is possible that a judicial committee - made up of Church elders - will rule that the individual should be
Protestant denominations
In the twentieth century, the debate over the morality of abortion became one of several issues which divided and continue to divide Protestantism. Thus, Protestant views on abortion vary considerably with Protestants to be found in both the "anti-abortion" and "abortion-rights" camps.[73] Conservative Protestants tend to be anti-abortion whereas "mainline" Protestants lean towards an abortion-rights stance. The Black Protestant community is strongly pro-choice, with 71% supporting legal access to abortion in all or most cases, while only 25% believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.[74] Black Protestant support for legal access to abortion has risen since the Dobbs decision, including 65% of Black evangelicals who support legal access to abortion and 80% of non-evangelical Black Protestants.[75]
Former
Even among Protestants who believe that abortion should be a legal option, there are those who believe that it should nonetheless be morally unacceptable in most instances. This stance was expressed by former President Bill Clinton when he asserted that abortion should be "safe, legal and rare." Other Protestants, most notably the Evangelicals, have sought to sharply restrict the conditions under which abortion is legally available. At the other extreme, some Protestants support freedom of choice and assert that abortion should not only be legal but even morally acceptable in certain circumstances.[73]
Protestant supporters of abortion rights include the United Church of Christ, the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Lutheran Women's Caucus.[9][78] At its 2016 General Conference, the United Methodist Church voted by a margin of 425 to 268 to withdraw from the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. The vote reflects a growing conservative tide on social issues among United Methodists, including abortion.[79]
In the United States, the Reformed Church in the United States, Southern Baptist Convention and Assemblies of God USA are opposed to abortion, except when necessary to protect the life of the mother.[80][81]
Fundamentalist and evangelical movements
Despite their general opposition to abortion,
National (United States) Association of Evangelicals
The
Baptist churches
American Baptist Churches
The General Board of the
Southern Baptist Convention
Southern Baptists played an integral part in the pro-choice movement prior to 1980. During the 1971 Southern Baptist Convention, the delegates passed a resolution recognizing that "Christians in the American society today are faced with difficult decisions about abortion", stating that laws should recognize the "sanctity of human life, including fetal life", and calling upon Southern Baptists to work for laws allowing abortion in extreme cases such as rape, severe fetal deformity, and the health of the mother.[85] The stance was described in the media as "hedging" on abortion and a resolution opposing all abortions was defeated.[86] W. Barry Garrett wrote in the Baptist Press, "Religious liberty, human equality and justice are advanced by the [Roe v. Wade] Supreme Court Decision."[87] In 1980, the SBC revised their 1971 position by only making exceptions for the life of the mother.[88]
Today, the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, opposes elective abortion except to save the life of the mother.
Anglican Communion
Positions taken by Anglicans across the world are divergent and often nuanced.
The Church of England
The Church of England generally opposes abortion. In 1980 it stated that: "In the light of our conviction that the foetus has the right to live and develop as a member of the human family, we see abortion, the termination of that life by the act of man, as a great moral evil. We do not believe that the right to life, as a right pertaining to persons, admits of no exceptions whatever; but the right of the innocent to life admits surely of few exceptions indeed." The Church also recognizes that in some instances abortion is "morally preferable to any available alternative."[91]
The Episcopal Church
The
The Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia does not take an official position on abortion.[93] However, in December 2007, an all-woman committee representing the Melbourne diocese recommended that abortion be "decriminalised", on the basis of the ethical view that "the moral significance [of the embryo] increases with the age and development of the foetus".[94] This is seen to be the first approval of abortion by an official Australian Anglican group.[95]
Lutheran Churches
Lutheranism in the United States consists largely of three denominations: the
ELCA
"Because of our conviction that both the life of the woman and the life in her womb must be respected by law, this church opposes:
- the total lack of regulation of abortion;
- legislation that would outlaw abortion in all circumstances;
- laws that prevent access to information about all options available to women faced with unintended pregnancies;
- laws that deny access to safe and affordable services for morally justifiable abortions;
- mandatory or coerced abortion or sterilization;
- laws that prevent couples from practicing contraception;
- laws that are primarily intended to harass those contemplating or deciding for an abortion"[96]
The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod
The
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod adopted a resolution in July 2011 on social issues, where it includes the twofold approach:[99]
- "Encouraging the WELS ministerium to continue the faithful proclamation of God's Word also when it addresses social issues."
- "Encouraging the membership to be a positive influence in the battle against sin by their public testimony and vote."
In this resolution of social issues, a resolution of the topic of abortion has been included. Within it, on the topic of abortion, the WELS continues to express its commitment to the Holy Scriptures and believes that the Holy Scriptures "clearly testify to a reverence for the life of the mother and the life of her unborn child as both being equal in value."[99] Furthermore, the intentional termination of a life should be considered a sin because the WELS would consider the unborn a life and the Bible commands against murder.[100] On the issue of the endangering the mother's life during the pregnancy, the WELS states that effort to save both the mother's and baby's life, but if that is not possible, then there should be effort to save at least one life.
Methodist Churches
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain takes a moderate anti-abortion position.[101] The Methodist Church of Great Britain believes its members should work toward the elimination of the need for abortion by advocating for social support for mothers. The MCGB states that "Abortion must not be regarded as an alternative to contraception, nor is it to be justified merely as a method of birth control. The termination of any form of human life cannot be regarded superficially and abortion should not be available on demand, but should remain subject to a legal framework, to responsible counselling and to medical judgement."[102]
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church was a founding member of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in 1973.[103] Within the Coalition's website is this statement, "Subsequently, if sex serves purposes beyond reproduction, then a woman has the legal right to both prevent and interrupt a pregnancy". In 2008 the United Methodist General Conference went on record in support of the work of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC).
In 1987 the
American Presbyterian and Reformed Churches
The
Quakers (The Religious Society of Friends)
The
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) General Assembly has "repeatedly affirmed its support for the principles of a woman's right to reproductive freedom, of the freedom and responsibility of individual conscience, and of the sacredness of life of all persons. While advocating respect for differences of religious beliefs concerning abortion, Disciples have consistently opposed any attempts to legislate a specific religious opinion regarding abortion for all Americans."[111]
United Church of Christ (UCC)
The
Community of Christ
Community of Christ states they recognize that there is inadequacy in any simplistic answer that defines all abortion as murder or as a simple medical procedure, and recognize a woman's right in deciding the continuation or termination of pregnancy.[114]
Church of God in Christ (COGIC)
As the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a traditionally anti-abortion Pentecostal Christian denomination, both male and female leaders and clergy of COGIC have always ardently voiced and actively taken opposition to all types of abortions, "except only in the absolutely necessary case of saving the life of the mother."[115][116]
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The
Anglican Church in North America
The Anglican Church in North America formed when congregations split from the Episcopal Church in the United States and Anglican Church of Canada and aims to represent conservative Anglicanism in North America. It is not a member of the Anglican Communion and is anti-abortion, proclaiming that "all members and clergy are called to promote and respect the sanctity of every human life from conception to natural death".[119]
Organizations and political parties
Worldwide, numerous notable political parties and organizations subscribe to similar attitudes. For example, the Christian right in Canada is more boldly anti-abortion, but is much more tacit in regards to other social issues. Generally, many Conservative or centre-right parties throughout the world are varied in their opinions surrounding abortion and the rights of women, reproductive and bodily. However, many parties and organizations have religious conservative views that have created issues politically and socially around the world.[122] However, this is not to say that there are no pro-choice advocacy groups around the world that are in favor of expanding and protecting abortion rights worldwide. For example, Catholics for Choice is a primary example prevalent in discourse within the United States. The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is another example based in the United States. Both groups directly advocate for the expansion and protection of abortion rights and the right for a woman (or anyone capable of pregnancy) to reproductive healthcare, specifically arguing that the issue of abortion should be rather a personal decision than a political or social decision.[123][124] However, these groups have expanded globally, and are often involved in global efforts to protect abortion rights.
Attitudes of Christians towards abortion
Catholics
In a 1995 survey, 64 percent of U.S. Catholics said they disapproved of the statement that "abortion is morally wrong in every case".[91] On the other hand, a 2013 survey by the Pew Research Center found that, whatever views they held on whether abortion should be legal, 53 percent of white Catholics in the United States considered abortion morally wrong, as did 64 percent of Hispanic Catholics. Among Hispanic Catholics, this percentage did not vary significantly between those who went to Mass at least once a week and those who did not, but there was a considerable difference in the case of white Catholics, with 74 percent of those who went to Mass at least once a week declaring having an abortion to be immoral, as compared with 40 percent of those whose religious practice was less frequent.[125] A 2008 survey found that 65 percent of American Catholics identified themselves as "pro-choice", but also found that 76 percent of these "pro-choice" Catholics believed that abortion should be significantly restricted.[126] In the same year some 58 percent of American Catholic women felt that they did not have to follow the abortion teaching of their bishop.[127] Only 22 percent of U.S. Catholics held that abortion should be illegal in all cases.[128] In a 2015 survey conducted by Pew Research Center, 33% of Evangelical Protestants believed in legalizing abortion compared to 63% who did not. 52% of Black Protestants believed in legalizing abortion, while 42% did not.[129]
A 1996 survey found that 72 percent of Australian Catholics say that the decision to have an abortion "should be left to individual women and their doctors."[91]
In Poland, where 85 percent of the population is Catholic,[130] a Pew Research poll from 2017 found that 8 percent of Polish respondents believed abortion should be legal in all cases and 33 percent that it should be legal in most cases. On the other hand, 38 percent believed that it should be illegal in most cases and 13 percent that it should be illegal in all cases.[131]
Catholics for Choice reports that Italy—97 percent Catholic—is 74 percent in favor of using Mifepristone, an abortifacient.[128] A majority of Catholics in Bolivia, Colombia and Mexico say that abortion should be allowed in at least some circumstances.[128]
Protestants
In a 2022 survey conducted by Pew Research Center, U.S adults were asked if abortion should be legal in all cases, with no exceptions; 5% of White Evangelical Protestants answered yes, 13% of White Protestants, not evangelical answered yes, 20% of Black Protestants answered yes. In the same survey, U.S adults were asked if abortion should be legal if pregnancy threatens a woman’s life; 51% of White Evangelical Protestants answered yes, 77% of White Protestants, not evangelical answered yes, and 71% of Black Protestants answered yes. In response to whether abortion should be legal if pregnancy is a result of rape; 40% of White Evangelical Protestants answered yes, 75% of White Protestants, not Evangelical answered yes, and 71% of Black Protestants answered yes. In this same survey U.S adults were asked should how long a woman has been pregnant matters in determining whether it is legal or illegal to have an abortion; 56% of White Evangelical Protestants answered yes, 64% of White Protestants, not Evangelical answered yes, 50% of Black Protestants answered yes. [132]
Modern Christian views on abortion may be related to the safety of modern legal abortions. Due to the morbidity and mortality associated with unsafe illegal abortions prior to Roe v. Wade, a group of 21 Protestant ministers and Jewish rabbis in New York City formed the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion (CCS),[133] which later incorporated chapters in thirty-eight states with some 3,000 clergy members.[134] The CCS counseled women with unwanted pregnancies and even provided referral to licensed physicians willing to perform the procedure for a national total of at least 450,000 people for safe abortions prior to 1973.[135] In addition, after abortion was legal in New York state, in 1970, the Clergy Consultation Service started Women's Services, an abortion clinic in New York City.[133] CCS members also publicly testified for their state legislators to repeal abortion laws. Florida Reverend Charles Landreth explains, "Whenever we try to make conditions for each other more human, we are engaged in a religious pursuit. Christians and the Christian church simply cannot turn their backs on the problem of abortion and the dilemmas which it creates."[136]
Prevalence of abortion among Christians
In 2011, the
According to the
In Nigeria, a 1999 study of 1,516 women having abortions determined that 69 percent were Protestant, 25 percent were Muslim, and the remainder were Catholic and other religions.[141] The estimated number of abortions per year in Nigeria is roughly 2 million.[142][143]
History
Early Christian thought on abortion
Scholars generally agree that abortion was performed in the classical world, but there is disagreement about the frequency with which abortion was performed and which cultures influenced early Christian thought on abortion.[44] Some writers point to the Hippocratic Oath (which specifically prohibits abortion) as evidence that condemnation of abortion was not a novelty introduced by the early Christians.[44] Some writers state that there is evidence that some early Christians believed, as the Greeks did, in delayed ensoulment, or that a fetus does not have a soul until quickening, and therefore early abortion was not murder;[144] Luker says there was disagreement on whether early abortion was wrong.[4] Other writers say that early Christians considered abortion a sin even before ensoulment.[145] According to some, the magnitude of the sin was, for the early Christians, on a level with general sexual immorality or other lapses;[146] according to others, they saw it as "an evil no less severe and social than oppression of the poor and needy".[147]
The society in which Christianity expanded was one in which abortion, infanticide and exposition were commonly used to limit the number of children (especially girls) that a family had to support.[148][149] These methods were often used also when a pregnancy or birth resulted from sexual licentiousness, including marital infidelity, prostitution and incest, and Bakke holds that these contexts cannot be separated from abortion in early Christianity.[144]
Between the first and fourth centuries AD, the
Early synods did not term abortion "murder" or punish it as such, and imposed specified penalties only on abortions that were combined with some form of sexual crime[4] and on the making of abortion drugs: the early 4th-century Synod of Elvira imposed denial of communion even at the point of death on those who committed the "double crime" of adultery and subsequent abortion,[154] and the Synod of Ancyra imposed ten years of exclusion from communion on manufacturers of abortion drugs and on women aborting what they conceived by fornication (previously, such women and the makers of drugs for abortion were excluded until on the point of death).[155][156]
Basil the Great (330-379) imposed the same ten-year exclusion on any woman who purposely destroyed her unborn child, even if unformed.[157][158] Canon II of Basil's "Ninety-two Canons" states that one is:
- a murderer who kills an imperfect and unformed embryo, because this though not yet then a complete human being was nevertheless destined to be perfected in the future, according to the indispensable sequence of the laws of nature.[159][160]
Other early canons which treat abortion as equal to murder are for example: Canon XXI of "The Twenty-five Canons of the Holy regional Council held in Ancyra" (315), Canon XXI of "The Thirty-five Canons of
While the Church has always condemned abortion, changing beliefs about the moment the embryo gains a human soul have led to changes in canon law in the classification of the sin of abortion.[162][163] In particular, several historians have written that prior to the 19th century most Catholic authors did not regard as an abortion what we call "early abortion"—abortion before "quickening" or "ensoulment."[164][165][166]
Quotations related to Abortion (pre-Reformation) at Wikiquote
Later Christian thought on abortion
From the 4th to 16th century AD, Christian philosophers, while maintaining the condemnation of abortion as wrong, had varying stances on whether abortion was murder. Under the first Christian Roman emperor
See also
- Abortion debate
- Abortion-rights movements
- National Abortion Rights Action League
- Anti-abortion movements
- Religion and abortion
- Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice
- United States abortion rights movement
- United States anti-abortion movement
Notes
- ^ Yahweh's name, written as 'YHWH' in the Hebrew Bible, has traditionally been rendered in English as the LORD (Adonai) or God by Jews and Christians. See Names of God in Judaism and Names of God in Christianity.
References
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- ^ ""Abortion and Catholic Thought: The Little-Told History"". Archived from the original on February 18, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-520-90792-8.
- ISBN 978-0-8476-9208-8.
- ISBN 978-0-521-52166-6.
- ^ Wiker, Benjamin D. "A house divided against itself cannot stand: The looming civil war over abortion". New Oxford Review. 66 (2).
- ISBN 978-0-19-516001-7. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7656-1761-3. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
- ^ Farrington, C. A. "Bible's truth about a fetus, abortion". The News-Press. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
- ^ a b "Abortion: Passages in the Hebrew Scriptures -- Old Testament". www.religioustolerance.org. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
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- ^ a b c Coren, Michael (October 15, 2021). "What Does the Bible Actually Say about Abortion?". Retrieved May 13, 2022.
- ^ a b Seering, Lauryn. "What Does the Bible Really Say About Abortion? - Freedom From Religion Foundation". ffrf.org.
- ^ a b "retrieved December 12, 2020". Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ Tertullian. "37" [On the Formation and State of the Embryo. Its Relation with the Subject of This Treatise]. De Anima [A Treatise on the Soul] (in Latin). Buffalo, NY: New Advent. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
- ^ Piper, John (February 8, 1989). "The Misuse of Exodus 21:22–25 by Pro-Choice Advocates". Desiring God. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
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- ^ The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures. American Publication Society of Hebrew. 1914.
- ^ This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "adultery". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
- ^ "Adultery". International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
According to the Mishna (SoTah 9) this ordeal of the woman suspected of adultery was abolished by Johanan ben Zaccai (after 70 AD), on the ground that the men of his generation were not above the suspicion of impurity.
- ^ Helena Zlotnick, Dinah's Daughters: Gender and Judaism from the Hebrew Bible to ... 2002 ISBN 0812217977
- ^ Joseph B. Tyson, The New Testament and Early Christianity (1984), page 199: "They each highlight a certain portion or aspect of Jesus' history, such as his family, his childhood, his resurrection, or his teachings. [...] But Mary became pregnant, and Joseph was afraid that his neglect had allowed an adulterer to seduce her. So the priests gave both of them a trial by bitter water, a trial they survived."
- ^ "Catholic Answers". www.catholic.com.
- ^ "What does the Bible say about abortion? | carm.org". February 22, 2010.
- ^ "What God's Word Says About Abortion". January 9, 2020.
- ^ "retrieved December 12, 2020". Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ^ a b "retrieved December 12, 2020". Retrieved August 16, 2021.
- ISBN 067427024X.
- ISBN 9780815336624.
- ^ "Catholic Church's Teaching on Abortion | EWTN". EWTN Global Catholic Television Network.
- ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church - IntraText". www.vatican.va. Archived from the original on October 8, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ISBN 978-1-58901-030-7.
- Eternal Word Television Network. Retrieved June 24, 2007.
- ^ "Catechism of the Catholic Church - IntraText". www.vatican.va. Archived from the original on November 14, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
- ^ John Connery, Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic Perspective, Loyola University Press, 1997.
- ^ Ann Hibner Koblitz, Sex and Herbs and Birth Control: Women and Fertility Regulation Through the Ages, Kovalevskaia Fund, 2014.
- ^ Angus McLaren, A History of Contraception from Antiquity to the Present Day, Basil Blackwell, 1990.
- ^ a b John Noonan, Contraception: A History of Its Treatment by the Catholic Theologians and Canonists, Harvard University Press, 1965 (2nd edition 1986).
- ^ John M. Riddle, Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance, Harvard University Press, 1992.
- ^ John M. Riddle, Eve's Herbs: A History of Contraception and Abortion in the West, Harvard University Press, 1997.
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External links
- Michael Gorman, Abortion & the Early Church. Intervarsity Press, 1982
- Dennis R. Di Mauro, A Love for Life: Christianity's Consistent Protection of the Unborn. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2008
- Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance a scholarly work by John M. Riddle. Published by Harvard University Press.
- Eve's Herbs, a scholarly work by John M. Riddle. Published by Harvard University Press.
- Christianity and Sexuality in the Early Modern World a scholarly work by Merry E. Wiesner. Published by Routledge.
- Abortion--my choice, God's grace: Christian women tell their stories by Anne Marie Eggebroten