What the Early Church Taught About Abortion?

The Law of Moses on Harm to a Pregnant Woman

In the Law of Moses, it is stated, when men strive together and hit a pregnant woman so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined as the woman's husband shall impose on him and he shall pay as the judges determine.

But if there is harm, then you should pay life for life. In his commentary on this passage, John Calvin wrote, the unborn, though enclosed in the womb of his mother, is already a human being, and it is an almost monstrous crime to rob it of life which it has not yet begun to enjoy.

If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man's house is his most secure place of refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy the unborn in the womb before it has come to light.

The Early Church Condemns Abortion

The church has condemned abortion without distinction from its earliest days, as read in the teaching of the 12 apostles known as the Didache. There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and between the two ways, there is a great difference.

Concerning the way of life, it states, do not murder a child by abortion or kill a newborn infant. In 197 AD, Tertullian wrote, for us, murder is once for all forbidden. So even the child in the womb, while yet the mother's blood is still being drawn on to form the human being, it is not lawful for us to destroy.

Why Abortion Is Quicker Murder

To forbid birth is only quicker murder. It makes no difference whether one take away the life once born or destroy it as it comes to birth. He is a man who is to be a man. The fruit is always present in the seed.

The Church Must Protect Unborn Life

The church is to protect that life when we understand the text.