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Reproductive health is a whole lot bigger than abortion. It’s about prenatal services, safe childbirth, and access to contraception. But so many focus exclusively on abortion. So let’s go there, starting with the Bible which says life begins at first breath, [Genesis 2:7] and the non-viable fetus doesn’t have rights over a fully formed pregnant adult [Exodus 21].
The vast majority of Christians have long agreed. Abortion is more than a moral or political issue, it is a necessary and life-saving medical procedure. The decision to have an abortion can be a deeply difficult one, but it’s not meant for the government to make. It’s a decision for a woman or couple, her doctor, and God. Only when abortion was turned into the political organizing tool it is today did that change. Now Christian-driven efforts to make access to abortion services and contraception illegal are putting lives and families at risk.
The very first thing the Bible says about human life is that it begins at first breath. [Genesis 2:7] Science defines “first breath” around 24 weeks of pregnancy, that’s when lungs are developing and fetal viability is a possibility.
And what does the Bible say about contraception? Nothing. But let’s also acknowledge, the Bible was never meant to be a medical text, and even if it was, it is outdated by some 2000 years of scientific discovery.
In 1981, long after Roe v Wade made abortion legal in 1973, one of the most conservative and influential Christian denominations in the U.S., the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), wrote this: “It is questionable that Christian love and justice would be served by extremely restrictive laws which do not give conscientious people with proper medical advice the opportunity to choose when they are faced with very grave moral dilemmas related to abortion.”
No need to adjust your glasses, it’s true. The conservative SBC supported protecting a woman’s right to an abortion both before and after Roe v Wade. Even the most conservative branches of Christianity and the founders of today’s conservative evangelical movement recognized the right to abortion care. Most SBC leaders viewed abortion as a deeply personal issue that was a complex and difficult moral decision, but it was morally permissible and not a sin. How that changed has nothing to do with abortion. Read on for a quick (and surprising) history of abortion in the U.S.:
Before Roe, in its 1971 resolution, the SBC called for legislation to allow “abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother.” This statement was reaffirmed several times and according to the SBC, “dealt responsibly from a Christian perspective with complexities of abortion problems in contemporary society.”
Then after Roe, the SBC again affirmed access, “in the best interest of our society, we reject any indiscriminate attitude toward abortion, as contrary to the biblical view…and support the right of expectant mothers to the full range of medical services and personal counseling for the preservation of life and health.”
Some of the biggest names in the modern evangelical movement spoke out in support of abortion access. Carl F. H. Henry, one of the movement’s founders who became the first editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, would affirm “a woman’s body is not the domain and property of others.” Harold Lindsell, a founding member of the incredibly influential evangelical Fuller Theological Seminary, went further, “If there are compelling psychiatric reasons from a Christian point of view, mercy and prudence may favor a therapeutic abortion.” Evangelical heavy weights like Billy Graham, James Dobson, and Jerry Falwell weren’t anti-abortion back then, either.
Contemporary Christianity has remained steadfast in its support for access to reproductive services, including abortion care. Only the Catholic Church has maintained consistent anti-abortion and anti-contraception theology, though in practice, 90% of Catholics use birth control not approved by the Church. The vast majority of Catholics disagree with Church dogma and choose to make their own decisions about what’s best for their family.
So how did we get to where we are today?
Modern medicine remains welcome by almost all Christian denominations on other health matters. But when it comes to women, their doctors and abortion care, they are taking the place of God, even when the mother’s life is in grave danger.
Given the most conservative Christian denominations long-supported the right to abortion care and contraception, what changed to make abortion the issue it is today?
One word and it may be unexpected: Segregation.
When segregation was outlawed, the tax-exempt status of whites-only private Christian schools came under fire by the IRS. This became a “cause” that really fired-up the conservative Christian base. Court battles ensued and when they lost in court, conservative Christian leaders were left to find another “cause.” They landed on abortion. It wasn’t until 1987 that any SBC resolutions called for prohibiting abortion, and even then, they kept the exception “to save the life of the mother.”
That’s radically changed today. Psalm 139, “You have formed me and know me, you knit me together in my mother’s womb” is interpreted to mean life begins at conception. Notably most theologians interpret Psalm’s poetry here to tell us how intimately God knows us.) They also cite Genesis 1:28b “Be fruitful and multiply,” to ban contraception because all sex acts ought to have the possibility of pregnancy/birth. Yet, the SBC has now come out against IVF, a widely accepted solution to infertility that helps people “be fruitful“ and have a child.
The current extreme pro-life stance isn’t biblical and never has been. Nor have Christians been consistent on this issue. Now multiple state legislatures are being lobbied by extremists to ban safe and reliable contraception for women (not men), and some 19 million women already live in contraception deserts.
Reducing access to safe and scientifically sound contraception is the opposite of life-affirming. Family planning—the healthy spacing and timing of births—is about family values and the well-being of a woman and her family. It’s the ability to decide if and when to have a child; the ability to space out having children for healthier births and babies; as well as economic stability for the family.
It’s also about patriarchy. Denying a women rights over her own body is an on-going effort to control women, using Christianity as cover. Here’s the thing though. Women are frequently powerful biblical characters and women were central to Jesus’s ministry. At a time that did not see women as equal to men, Jesus offered a powerful example. According to the Biblical record, women were also the only followers who stayed with our Lord and Savior as he suffered for us on the cross. In John, a woman is the first to see the resurrected Jesus. Galatians makes it clear there is no longer “male or female” rather all are equal. Taking away rights from women to keep control over them is not biblically guided.
There’s also a practical reality about abortion.
Not only is banning contraception a pathway to increasing abortions, making abortion illegal does little to reduce it. The abortion rate in America decreases when our nation invests in healthcare, paid family leave, childcare, equal pay for women, publicly funded access to family planning and reliable birth control, sex education—policy choices that notably reflect Christ’s call to care for others. (Abortions statistically decrease more under Democratic presidents than Republican presidents, but not exclusively.) Study after study also shows the lack of access to abortion care increases the chances of unemployment, dependence on welfare, domestic violence, and mental health issues.
Let’s also address late term abortions, defined at or after 21 weeks. They exclusively address medical problems with the fetus or mother and they barely exist—just 1% of all abortions in the U.S. Of course obstructing access to early abortion care can cause delays. Whether this has led to increased abortions performed later in troubled pregnancies is unknown.
As for making contraception illegal, the Bible says nothing about contraception, and while laws now tell a woman what she can do with her body, there is no law that tells a man what he can and cannot do with his body. An interesting question to think about… could this be the first?
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