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When does life begin?


As we study the subject of abortion, it is important for us to see what the Bible says about when life begins. Some supporters of abortion try to say that the Bible teaches that life begins when a baby takes it’s first breath. They point to one Scripture as the basis for this position.

Gen 2:7 7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. They say that this verse teaches that life begins when the person starts breathing, and that prior to this the object in the womb is merely a potential life. We must recognize that this verse is unique in that it is referring to the first man, Adam. Adam was not born of a woman, and therefore was never in a womb. This one-of-a-kind situation can not be used to “prove” that life begins at birth.

Our next series of verses teach that life begins at or even before conception.

Ps 139:16 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Isa 46:3 3 "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived,

Judg 13:5 5 because you will conceive and give birth to a son.

Luke 2:21 21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.

Jer 1:5 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

The bible frequently speaks of life before conception when it looks towards the generation yet to be conceived.

Heb 7:9-10 9 Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.

Gen 3:15 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

2 Sam 7:12 12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. Onan, recognizing that life begins at conception, even spilled his seed on the ground to prevent the propagation of future generations.

Gen 38:8-9 8 Then Judah said to Onan, "Lie with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother." 9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. 10 What he did was wicked in the LORD's sight; so he put him to death also.

The fact that life begins at or before conception means that abortion at any stage of pregnancy is the killing of a human life.