The case against abortion rests on two premises: (1) the sanctity of human life and (2) the humanity of the foetus.

From the Scriptures, the first premise is easily validated. The sanctity of human life is plainly taught in many places in the Bible.

The second premise, however, is not so plain in the Scriptures. The humanity of the foetus is nowhere specifically stated in the Bible. While the Word of God says unambiguously, “You shall not murder”, it does not specifically say, “The foetus is human”.

Nonetheless, Scripture strongly implies that the foetus, the unborn child, is fully human. There are a number of passages in the Bible that lead us to infer the humanity of the unborn.

For example, Genesis 4:1 expresses a common formula in the Bible concerning the coming-into-existence of a new human being: “Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain”. Here, and in many other places, the Bible cites conception as the start of a person’s life, thereby implying that the person is a person from conception.

Genesis 25:21-23 records that Rebekah “conceived” and “the children” Jacob and Esau “struggled together within” her womb. The humanity of the children in the womb is not in doubt, and is further confirmed by the fact that the Lord speaks of them as human beings who will found two, contending nations.

In the light of the great abortion deception and the consequent great slaughter of the innocents, it is impossible to overstress the fact that God’s Word indicates that human life commences at conception, and that there is an unbroken continuum from conception to birth to maturation: “Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son” (Gen 21:2). “Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben” (Gen 29:32; cf  29:33-35; 30:7-19). “Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son” (Gen 30:5; cf v. 7). Shua “conceived and bore a son” (Gen 38:3). “The woman conceived and bore a son” (Exodus 2:2). Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel” (1 Sam 1:20; cf 2:21). “[S]he conceived and bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah” (1 Chron 4:17). “Ephraim went in to his wife, and she conceived and bore a son. And he called
his name Beriah” (1 Chron 7:23). “She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy” (Hosea 1:6). And so on …

Job, in common with his companions, understood that human life began at conception when in the depth of depression he said, “Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived’” (Job 3:3).

David (Psalm 139:13-16), Jeremiah (1:4-5) and Paul (Galatians 1:15) all acknowledge that they were formed and set apart by God before birth.

As for Jesus, Mary rejoiced in his existence from conception, not from birth. Furthermore, John the Baptist, while still in his mother’s womb, leapt for joy when he heard the voice of Mary, because she was carrying Jesus in her womb (Luke 1:39-44). From passages such as these we may fairly infer that, from a biblical perspective, the foetus is fully human.

None of this is surprising, of course. The Bible is always in accord with sound science and reason, and both science and reason confirm that human life begins at conception.

I recall presenting a lecture some time ago on the biblical evidence against abortion. In essence, I established two biblical premises—the sanctity of human life and the humanity of the foetus—then drew a pro-life conclusion. My argument could be summed up in two syllogisms:

     I.  1. Human life is sacrosanct.

          2. Human life begins at conception.

          3.Therefore human life is sacrosanct from conception.

    II.  1.The wanton destruction of human life is murder.

          2. Abortion is the wanton destruction of human life.

          3. Therefore abortion is murder.

After the lecture I was approached by a young man who told me that he was not convinced by my arguments.

“You haven’t cited a single, specific command against abortion from the Bible,” he said.

I acknowledged that my case depended upon logical deductions from the biblical texts, and briefly reiterated my arguments. The young man, however, kept repeating his objection: There is no specific statement in the Bible condemning abortion.

Finally, I said to him, “But can you show me a single statement in the Bible that condones abortion?”

That stymied him. For the truth is, there is nothing in the Bible that condones abortion. In fact, there is nothing in the Bible that can be interpreted—or even misinterpreted—to condone it.

Between the silences and the inferences of Scripture, the case against abortion is compelling.