Early Church Teachings on Abortion

Compiled by Randy Alcorn

“You shall not kill an unborn child or murder a newborn infant.” — Didache

“You shall love your neighbor more than your own life. You shall not slay the child by abortion.” — Barnabas [c. 70-138], Epistles

“For us [Christians], murder is once and for all forbidden; so even the child in 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. To forbid birth is only quicker murder...He is a man, who is to be a man; the fruit is always present in the seed.” — Tertullian, 197, Apologeticus