Many advocates for abortion use the Bible’s silence on the issue as a way of proving that God is not against abortion. While it is true that the Bible doesn’t say anything about abortion directly, biblical silence on this issue, actually speaks volumes on why the practice is so unbiblical.
Kerby Anderson shares the following insights to help us understand the Bible’s silence on abortion: “Why the silence of the Bible on abortion? The answer is simple. Abortion was so unthinkable to an Israelite woman that there was no need to even mention it in the criminal code. Why was abortion an unthinkable act? First, children were viewed as a gift or heritage from the Lord. Second, the Scriptures state–and the Jews concurred–that God opens and closes the womb and is sovereign over conception. Third, childlessness was seen as a curse.”1
And as far as biblical references as to what is taking place in the womb, the two best passages that support life beginning at conception can be found in Psalm 139 and Psalm 51.
Psalm 139
Perhaps there is no other portion of Scripture that gives us a description of what is taking place inside the mother’s womb before birth than (Psalm 139:13-16): “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
In these verses we notice several things. First, we see that God has a relationship with David (the author of this psalm) while He is forming him in the womb. From conception, to embryo, to fetus, to birth, God is skillfully crafting His masterpiece of life called David. Second, the phrase, “when I was woven together in the depths of the earth,” speaks of a continuous process of creation from conception until birth. Science clearly shows us that right from conception an explosion of cellular formation is taking place. And all of this growth is being directed by God. And third, God see us as a precious life, way before we are known to others – well before birth.
You see the whole purpose of (Psalm 139:13-16) is to let us know that God is in charge, crafting and forming us into His masterpiece, from the moment of conception. God makes no distinction between conception and actual birth. To Him they are just different points of growth on His creation scale. No wonder David could proclaim that he is fearfully and wonderfully made!
Psalm 51
Again, Kerby Anderson offers us an important insight on (Psalm 51:5) when he says: “Another significant passage is Psalm 51. It was written by David after his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and records his repentance. David confesses that his sinful act demonstrated the original sin that was within him, “Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Ps. 5l:5). David concludes that from his time of conception, he had a sin nature. This would imply that he carried the image of God from the moment of conception, including the marred image scarred from sin.”2
From these two passages of Scripture, the Bible makes it crystal clear that the foreknowledge of God becomes the reality of life at conception. To abort any time after conception is to destroy a precious life created in the image of God.
Abortion is killing life. The Bible is not silent about abortion. The Sixth commandment says: “Thou shall not kill” (KJV); “You shall not murder” (NIV).
Jeremiah 1:5 says: “Before I formed in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…”