Is the unborn a person? Hear what the Bible says

THE EDITOR: In the ongoing debate on Abortion there appears to be an imbalance between the availability of the scientific date and the spiritual “data” in favour of the scientific. While most seem to be quite acquainted with the biological development of the unborn, they are not as thoroughly informed on the biblical. Please permit me some space to share the following information.

In any biblical discussion regarding abortion, the most crucial question is whether God considers the unborn to be a person. This takes precedence over other considerations such as free will of the mother, rights of women over their bodies, equality of the sexes, socio-economic distress, mental anguish, illegitimacy and a host of other considerations put  forward by others. If the Holy Scriptures clearly show the personhood of the unborn, then men and women have an obligation to seek their protection through educational, religious, and even legislative action. One must bear in mind that the ancients had only the most rudimentary knowledge of human physiology. They knew little or nothing of the respiratory system or the internal organs. The word for “lung” does not ever occur in the Old Testament. There are no distinctive biblical Hebrew or Greek terms for brain, nerves, diaphragm, or blood vessels etc. As such the texts examined here are not focused on the physiology of prenatal life but are intended to reveal the reality of God’s concern and involvement with prenatal human life. It is these texts, rather than any “physiological” passages, that constitute an appropriate judgment of the value of prenatal life in God’s sight.

First, there are passages where personal pronouns, proper names etc are used to refer to the unborn, indicating that the Holy Spirit regards them as persons. (a) Genesis 4:1 “...she conceived and bare Cain.” The first man to be born. Interest in Cain extends back beyond his birth, to his conception. That is when his “personal” history begins. Here the individual conceived and the individual born are one and the same, namely Cain. His conception, birth, and post-natal life form a natural continuum. (b) Job 3:3 “...A man-child (hebrew: geber) is conceived.” Again the basic continuity between the individual conceived and the individual born. Job’s personal history is traced back beyond his birth to the night of his conception. Note, that a “man-child” is conceived! This word “man-child” (geber) is generally used for the “post-natal.” (c) Psa 51:5-7 “...in sin did my mother conceive me.” The psalmist traces his involvement with sin to the very inception of life. This application of “moral and spiritual values” to David as an unborn suggests a relationship to God and the moral law even at his conception! (d) Psalm 139: 13-16 The psalmist’s praise, spoken from a post-natal perspective (v 14), assumes his identity with the prenatal individual described in verses 13, 15 and 16.

Next, there are passages showing that God has a relationship to the unborn that can be traced to conception or prior to conception. The capacity for such relationships with God is a foundation of personhood. In some cases such relationships can long precede the individual’s awareness. God’s dealings with individuals are intense and personal long before society treats them as persons in the “whole sense.” (a) Job 10:8-12; here the development of prenatal human life is understood not as a blind natural process, but as God’s creative and sustaining effort similar to Adam’s creation. (b) Jeremiah 1:5; here the prophet is commissioned before conception! (c) Judges 13: 2-7; Samson’s conception and consecration to God are described as acts, not of parental will, but of the Lord’s sovereign determination. (d) “...the babe leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke 1:44). Human emotion is explicitly attributed to Elizabeth’s unborn baby (sixth month v 36), John the Baptist. It is now well known that an unborn child can respond to touch at eight weeks and at 25 weeks can respond to human voices and feel pain and discomfort.

In addition, there is a provision in the Mosaic law relating to the unborn. Exodus 21: 22-25. It has been observed that “the most significant thing about abortion legislation in the Biblical law is that there is none. It was so unthinkable that a woman should desire an abortion that there was no need to mention this offence in the criminal code.” Nevertheless, this passage sheds light on the status of the unborn child in Biblical law. In spite of the obvious exegetical problems, this text does grant the unborn child a status in the eyes of the law equal to the mother’s. While some allowance can be made for the metaphorical, it is certain that God takes a deep interest in the unborn. Even if the texts examined do not constitute strict proof of personhood, they certainly do not rule that out. Far from showing that the unborn at any stage of development are less than persons, these texts point to the opposite. If therefore, there is any possibility that personhood is present from conception, then the more ethically responsible approach is to act on that assumption and treat the unborn as persons at every stage of prenatal development.

SYLVAN JAMES
Debe