Abortion Conversation

 

A woman once came into my office and asked me if I agreed with the Bible's view on abortion. I reached for a Bible and gave it to her. Here, show me a passage about abortion, I said.

She looked at the Bible, then looked back at me. I don't know where to look, she said.

I replied, That's because there is nowhere to look. There is no passage in the Bible about abortion. It's never mentioned in Scripture.

She looked surprised. But there have to be verses in the Bible about abortion, she said, because preachers talk about it all the time.

Yes they do, I said, but they never quote a verse about abortion because there aren't any.

She bit her lip and said, Well, I don't know what to say.

But she wouldn't give up. You mean, Jesus never said anything about abortion?

No, Jesus never talks about it. Paul never talks about it. The prophets don't mention it. The Ten Commandments say nothing about abortion.

But, she said, isn't abortion murder? (Ah! Now we're getting somewhere.)

I looked her in the eye and said, Mary (not her real name), do you know anyone who has had an abortion? She said she didn't. I said What if your daughter got an abortion? Would she be a murderer?

She took a deep breath. I guess so, she said.

Would that mean that your daughter should be executed for murder?

She bit her lip. She knew and I knew that debating abortion on an intellectual level is one thing; but when we begin to talk about real people and apply Biblical laws consistently, putting mothers and doctors and nurses into prison or putting them to death for participating in an abortion is 'over the top.'

I said to her: Mary, if I read Scripture like pro-life advocates do, I would believe in capital punishment (because it's in the Bible), and I would support the execution of mothers and doctors involved in abortion, because that would be the only conclusion I could reach if I were reasoning in a consistent manner. But I can't believe that. I can't support the execution of doctors and mothers for being involved in an abortion. And that's just one reason I am pro-choice.

Mary left my office that day with much to think about. When I saw her the next Sunday at church she said to me, I've thought about what you said, and it makes perfect sense.