ISS:Church History and Abortion

   CHURCH HISTORY AND ABORTION 

   "Thou shalt not murder a child by abortion." The Didache; first
century Christian teaching.

   ("Abortion and the Early Church", Michael J. Gorman, Inter-Varsity
Press, Downers Grove, IL, 1982, p.49).

   "For those who conceal sexual wantonness by taking stimulating drugs
to bring on an abortion wholly lose their own humanity along with the
fetus."

   Clement of Alexandria; second century.

   "...women who take drugs to procure abortion are guilty of homicide
and ... they will have to answer to God for this abortion." Athenagoras
before the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

   ("Abortion: the Myths, the Realities, and Arguments", Germain
Grisez, New York: Corpus, 1972, p.139).

   "...those who have no regard for pregnant women and do not spare the
tender fruit are murderers and infanticides." Martin Luther

   ("What Luther Says", E. Plass, Vol. II, p.905, Concordia Publishing
House, St. Louis, MO, 1959).

   "The fetus, though enclosed in the womb of it's mother, is already a
human being and it is almost a monstrous crime to rob it of the life
which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems more horrible to kill
a man in his own house than in a field, because a man's house is his
place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more
atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light."

   (John Calvin, "Commentaries on the Four Last Books of Moses", Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1950, vol 3, p.41).

   PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS & ABORTION

   A study in 1980 indicated that of 99 Protestant denominations, 59
have either adopted formal resolutions opposing abortion or have stated
their opposition in other forms, 15 oppose abortion with exceptions for
rape, incest, or fetal deformities, 14 denominations are in favor of
abortion, and 11 refuse to take a position. ('Abortion, the Bible, and
the Church', Tj. Bosgra, Hawaii Right to Life Educational Foundation,
Honolulu, 1980).

   BIBLICAL POSITION 

   "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my
mother's womb. 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." Psalm 139:13,15

   "Children are a gift of the Lord." Psalm 127:3

   "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones." Matthew
18:10

   "You shall not murder." Exodus 20:13

   "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I
set you apart;" Jeremiah 1:5

   "There are six things the Lord hates... hands that shed innocent
blood...etc." Proverbs 6:16-17

   See Psalm 10:68,82; Galatians 1:15; Luke 1:15; Matthew 25:40,45. No
Distinction is made in the Scriptures between babes in the womb and
those already born. (example: 'brephos' used to describe Elizabeth's
baby prenatally in Luke 1:41 and postnatally in Luke 18:15- 17.) The
word means "an unborn child, embryo, fetus, a newborn child, an infant,
brephos, a babe." (Thayers Greek English Lexicon, p.105).

   WHAT DOES GOD DEMAND? 

   "Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering
toward slaughter. If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does
not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Will He not repay each person
according to what he has done?" Proverbs 24:11-12

   FOR MORE INFORMATION 

   Americans Against Abortion Box 70 Lindale, TX 75771-0070

   Christian Action Council 701 W. Broad St. Suite 405 Falls Church, VA
22046

   The Rutherford Institute Box 510 Manassas, VA 22110

   Right To Life League of So. Ca. 1616 W. 9th Street, Suite 220 Los
Angeles, CA 90015

   California pro-life legislation hotline. 1-800-992-VOTE
