When Does Life Begin?

Psalms 139:13-16

13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there were none of them.
ESV

This is a great Psalm - for other reasons than I address in this blog entry. But I wanted to point out something. For the past 30+ years we have debated the issue of abortion. Supreme Court decisions not withstanding - neither side of the debate has backed down. Abortion proponents cite that a woman is in charge of her body and so can decide the fate of an unborn fetus.

Abortion opponents contend that you cannot end a life - that's murder - and that a baby, born or still in it's mother's womb, is a life.

So the debate tends to center around when life begins. Some say it begins when a baby is out of the womb and on it's own. You run into a problem there because what about premature babies who must be taken by a surgical procedure and kept on life support.

Science has continually pushed back the time when "life" begins. I think that one day even science will admit that life begins at conception. I think Scripture is already there.

Check out the reference above - especially verse 16: "Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them."

This verse strongly suggests that while in the womb, God considers the fetus to be a person, with a future. To cut off that future would be to end life, and life belongs to God. He decides when it should start and when it should end.

So consider this as you think about the abortion debate - who is really in charge?