The Biblical Take On Reproductive Rights

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘God blessed <Adam & Eve> and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”’ (Genesis 1:28); ‘(4) The word of the Lord came to <Jeremiah>, saying, (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.”’ (Jeremiah 1:4-5)

God wants humans to reproduce.  In the Bible, in its literal sense means reproduction is from a natural, physical, and matrimonial sexual relationship.  It can only be between a biological male and a biological female.  One of the first edicts God placed upon Adam and Eve, upon creating them in Genesis 1:27 (and in creating them, married them together) was to tell them go be fruitful and multiply in Genesis 1:28.  (Our son and daughter-in-law have been faithful in this edict, most recently providing us another grandson.)

Adam and Eve, after the fall from grace due to the original sin and their eviction from the Garden of Eden, was when they started to have children.  We know of Cain, Abel, and Seth; it is without doubt they also had daughters as we know Cain and Seth had wives, and from then until Noah the world became populated with people, all originating from Adam & Eve.  The flood reduced the population to Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, but after the flood subsided the Earth again was populated and is still being populated to this day, with over 7.5 billion people alive today. 

God had given some instructions in Leviticus 15 there are to be no sexual relations among couples when either or both are ‘unclean’, and a man who does have relations with his wife while she is ‘unclean’ would be liable to have them both exiled from Israel (Leviticus 20:18).  For the most part, sex is part of God’s plan between married couples, as is having children.  It is meant only for married couples.

Since Cain killed Abel people have been murdering others (fortunately at a lower rate far less than the reproduction rate).  There is also a warning on abortion, even if done by accident; in Exodus 21:22-23 if a premature birth or miscarriage was determined to be done by a violent act, the culprit could be fined (the amount determined by the husband) if an injury occurred or executed if the wife and/or the baby died.  But in the 20^th century, the act of abortion, or the killing of an unborn fetus, became popularized as a form of racial eugenics by Margaret Sanger who started the forerunner organization to today’s Planned Parenthood in 1916, and later focused on ways to provide contraceptives and abortions to prevent the growth of the African-American population. 

However, contraceptives and abortion were illegal at that time in every state until a handful of states began legalizing abortions in the mid-1960s.  The US Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade in 1973 provided abortions were a federally-protected right, until Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade which returned it to the individual states to handle legally.  Since God stated in Jeremiah 1:4-5 that He knows each person formed in the womb, as He did with Jeremiah, and that only God is the author of life and death, and we have his ruling on the punishment regarding abortion in Exodus 21:22-23 which gives us His repudiation of the practice.

In terms of in-vitro fertilization (IVF), it is in God’s Will that can allow barren women to have children.  Sarah (Genesis 21), Leah (Genesis 29), then Rachel (Genesis 30), among other women, were barren before God provided them the opportunity to bear children for their wives.  However, the form of how the conception happened was in the ‘old-school’ fashion of marital relations.  Taking the knowledge God provides, IVF allows women (and men) today who are otherwise incapable of having children in the ‘old-school’ way to have them. 

However, the controversy of IVF stems not from the benefit of allowing infertile couples to have children, but what happens to the excess embryos created that are not wanted after the desired number of children the couples have is achieved.  If we believe life begins at conception, and an embryo is created as a result of conception, then a viable embryo unused and discarded can be considered a form of abortion.  But is it if in conjunction of the ability of providing life to other embryos that otherwise would not have the chance to live? Also, IVF goes against the literal Biblical sense that reproduction is from a natural, physical, and matrimonial sexual relationship. Does this, however, go against the Spiritual sense God gives us on the need to reproduce, as the Bible when written did not have such technology?

This Word-of-the-Day will not answer the debate on IVF; the Southern Baptist Convention has voted against the practice of IVF, and the state of Alabama is the 1^st to tie civil penalties if embryos are viable but destroyed.  On the other hand, the practice is endorsed by other religious groups and many couples, including Christians, have benefited from the practice and now have children of their own that they would not otherwise have.  Also, as the technology improves, IVF should be able to reduce the number of embryos to only what is needed.  The Lord is not ambiguous and will make clear His thoughts on the matter, but He will do so in His time and fashion.  This is a subject needing us to pray to the Lord to provide clarity, understanding, and compassion (as with all things when we need to know His ways).