Anti-choicers don't have a Biblical leg to stand on

[Panich52]

Pro-choice Action Network

ANTI-CHOICERS DON'T HAVE A BIBLICAL LEG TO STAND ON

The Bible is Pro-Choice

by Joyce Arthur
First published in "Humanist in Canada," No. 90 (Vol. 22, #3) Autumn, 1989. Revised and expanded August 2001.

Most anti-choicers claim obedience to the divinely inspired word of God, so let's review their performance by taking a look at what the Bible has to say about abortion. Extremely little, actually, but what it does say appears to be in direct contradiction to the anti-choice stance.

First, let's look at the Bible passages that anti-choicers generally cite to prop up their position. Incredibly, they rely mainly on just three that have nothing to do with abortion. Apparently, anti-choicers believe these vague passages say something significant about the status of the fetus, although it's impossible for any reasonable person to discern exactly what. The first such passage is found in Psalms 139:13-16:

"For Thou didst form my inward parts; thou didst weave me together in my mother's womb. I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works! Thou knowest me right well; my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."

All this passage states is that God is directly involved in the creation of a fetus and knows its future. This is useless for the anti-choice position, since God creates all living things, including trees and bugs. Plus, just because God is supposedly omniscient doesn't give fetuses any special status—it simply means God already knows whether they will live or die. It is dishonest to conclude from this verse that a fetus is a human being deserving of more protection than women. The passage is poetic prose that anti-choicers have twisted and trivialized by giving it a literal, objective meaning where there is none.

The second passage used by anti-choicers is similar:

"Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you'..." (Jeremiah 1:4-5)

Unfortunately, anti-choicers usually stop right there, and forget the rest of Verse 5, which negates their preferred meaning:

"...'and I appointed you a prophet to the nations.'"

This passage is specific to one, very special person—Jeremiah the prophet, whom God has called to provide miraculous powers and authority to the world. Since we are not all destined to be divine prophets, this verse cannot be construed as applying to any fetus except the unborn Jeremiah. Again, anti-choicers are being dishonest by pulling this verse totally out of its context.

Much more
http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/articles/bible.shtml

[AllyCat]

1. Awesome. Logical. I know the anti-choicers don't like logic

but this makes sense to me.

[Zen Democrat]

2. Life begins at breath. According to Genesis, God created Adam and breathed life into him.

According to Genesis, God created Adam and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. We do know that when we cease to breathe we die.

The belief that a fertilized egg is a person is just nonsense. At best, it's an unfounded conclusion.

[tonyt53]

4. Bingo.

[ErikJ]

5. And they counter-claim that that applies only to Adam who was

created from dust. But there are 2 others that claim life begins at first breath.


The bible tells us when a fetus becomes a living being. http://joeschwartz.net/life.htm

Many people think that a human being is created at the time of conception but this belief is not supported by the bible. The fact that a living sperm penetrates a living ovum resulting in the formation of a living fetus does not mean that the fetus is a living human being. According to the bible, a fetus is not a living person with a soul until after drawing its first breath.
After God formed man in Genesis 2: 7, He “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and it was then that the man became a living being”. Although the man was fully formed by God in all respects, he was not a living being until after taking his first breath.

In Job 33:4, it states: “The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

Again, to quote Ezekiel 37:5&6, “Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

In Exodus 21:22 it states that if a man causes a woman to have a miscarriage, he shall be fined; however, if the woman dies then he will be put to death. It should be apparent from this that the aborted fetus is not considered a living human being since the resulting punishment for the abortion is nothing more than a fine; it is not classified by the bible as a capital offense.

According to the bible, destroying a living fetus does not equate to killing a living human being even though the fetus has the potential of becoming a human being. One can not kill something that has not been born and taken a breath. This means that a stillborn would not be considered a human being either. Of course, every living sperm has the potential of becoming a human being although not one in a million will make it; the rest are aborted. .

God has decreed, for one reason or another, that at least one-third of all pregnancies shall be terminated by a spontaneous abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy and that a number will be terminated after the first trimester. It would appear that God does not have any more regard for the loss of a fetus than he does for the loss of a placenta or a foreskin despite the fact that these were living tissue as the result of conception.

In a number of versions of the bible, one of the commandments in Exodus 20 that was spoken by God to Moses states: “You shall not kill”. According to the Mosaic text, this should read “You shall not murder” since the bible has commandments stating that people shall be put to death for a number of different offenses. Exodus 21:17 states: “Whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death.” There are other capital offenses in Exodus 21. Of course, the commandment “You shall not kill” is not present in the commandments written by God on the stone tablets. For those who are not familiar with the commandments on the stone tablets that were placed in the Ark of the Covenant, they are enumerated in Exodus 34. The popular ten commandments that are enumerated in Exodus 20 were spoken by God to Moses who then relayed them to his people; they were never written.

There is nothing in the bible to indicate that a fetus is considered to be anything other than living tissue and, according to scripture, it does not become a living being until after it has taken a breath.

[Panich52]

8. Excellent continuation.

[ErikJ]

10. Extremely important issue.

Anti-choice single issue voters s a huge part of the GOP support. Probably the biggest.

[SunSeeker]

3. K & R

[shadowmayor]

6. Actually

The Bible does not proscribe abortion; it mandates abortion. Numbers 5:11-31 tells a wife who's husband is jealous to take the priestly drink, and if she's carrying another man's child, she shall abort. Some call it the bitter water ordeal, or the jealousy clause. And of course, if the woman is innocent, the man remains free of blame. I've told the "pro-lifers" about this part of the Bible for years, and they always look at me like I have 3 purple heads. Amazing what you find in books when you actually read them?

[Panich52]

9. Yet antis rely on wrongly held idea the bible absolutely proscribes it

[HAB911]

7. God The Abortionist

According to national estimates, roughly 15 to 20 percent of all pregnancies in the United States end in miscarriage, defined as the loss of a fetus before the 20th week. The majority of miscarriages occur within the first seven weeks of pregnancy.

There are about 4.4 million confirmed pregnancies in the U.S. every year.

900,000 to 1 million of those end in pregnancy losses EVERY year.

More than 500,000 pregnancies each year end in miscarriage (occurring during the first 20 weeks).

Approximately 26,000 end in stillbirth (considered stillbirth after 20 weeks)

Approximately 19,000 end in infant death during the first month.

Approximately 39,000 end in infant death during the first year.

Approximately 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage; some estimates are as high as 1 in 3. If you include loss that occurs before a positive pregnancy test, some estimate that 40% of all conceptions result in loss.

Approximately 75% of all miscarriages occur in the first trimester.

An estimated 80% of all miscarriages are single miscarriages. The vast majority of women suffering one miscarriage can expect to have a normal pregnancy next time.

An estimated 19% of the adult population has experienced the death of a child (this includes miscarriages through adult-aged children).