by Rev. Fr. Brian J. Crenwelge
I am writing in response to the guest essay, “The Bible is not-anti-abortion” by the Rev. Wes Bergen. Yes, we can always do more to support women in their role as mothers by introducing more legislation that provides funding for all prenatal and postnatal care, covering out-of-pocket costs for birth and early childhood health care and other prudential actions the government might take.
However, crisis pregnancy centers throughout the state and country do extraordinary work that is underappreciated by so many people. These centers fulfill the desire that the Rev. Bergen expresses in providing for mothers in need.
That being said, the Bible does teach against abortion: “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13). If a fetus is a human person, then, using logic, “Thou shalt not kill” applies. We know now through science, reason and the Bible that human beings are breathing and alive before they are born from their mothers’ wombs (Gen 16:11; Gen 25:21-22; Hosea 12:3; Romans 9:10-11; Job 10:8, Psalms 22:9-10, Psalms 139:13-15, Isaiah 44:2, and Luke 1:41 to name only a few). We can very safely say that the truth is evident from the Bible that life begins at conception.
No matter what some Christians choose to believe, historically, it is undeniable that the Church started by Christ has unanimously held that abortion is wrong and that it is the killing of a human person. The earliest extra-biblical source that attests to this is from the A.D. 50s-70s — the “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles” or the “Didache” in Greek.
It says, “Thou shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is begotten.” The “Letter of Barnabas” from roughly the same period condemns abortion explicitly as well. These are from the first century and written before the New Testament was even completed. This means that Christians were still being taught by the Apostles at the time of the writing of these documents. From earliest times, Christians distinguished themselves from surrounding pagan cultures by rejecting abortion and infanticide.
I could go on, because the witness of the Catholic Church for 2,000 years has never changed. Yet in the 20th century, certain Christian sects began using politics as a means to remove their beliefs from the truth of the matter. Yes, the Rev. Bergen is correct in saying that some Catholics support abortion. Yet that doesn’t mean that the Church teaches that. The Catholics who support abortion will have to answer to Almighty God for their actions, as we all will.
Given the scientific fact that a human life begins at conception, the only moral norm needed to understand the Church’s opposition to abortion is the principle that each and every human life has inherent dignity and thus must be treated with the respect due to a human person.
Conversely, to claim that some live, breathing human beings do not deserve respect or should not be treated as “persons” is to deny the very idea of inherent human rights. Such a claim undermines respect for the lives of many vulnerable people before and after birth.
Every life has dignity, and every life is worth living. That’s what the Bible teaches. That’s what Catholics have believed for 2,000 years.
