Every human being is created carrying the image of God (Gen.1: 27), and lives by the gift of life given by God so that he may glorify God and enjoy the joyful fellowship with Him. For this reason the Christian teachings insist on the sacredness of human life from its inception.
The first question about abortion is: At what point does human life begin?
All religious and even the non-religious thoughts agree that willful ending of the human life is murder. However,, even those who are for abortion do not encourage killing, but just deny that the fetus is a true human being.
The beginning of life:
The Church teaches us that life begins by the sperm entering the ovum to form a human person characterized with qualities inherited from the parents. The theologians agree that the human soul is created at the moment of pregnancy and the forming of zygote from the male cell and the female ovum to create a full human. The Holy Bible says: “…and forms the spirit of man within him”(Zech. 12: 1). This means that human life in its entirety begins with pregnancy.
The Church expresses this fact through celebrating the feasts of the annunciations. For example, the annunciation of the birth of St. John the Baptist (26 of the Coptic month of Tut, October 6), and the annunciation of the birth of St. Mary the Mother of God (Misra 7, August 12), and the annunciation of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself ( Baramhat 29, April 7) and consider it a major feast.
Here the Church respects the beginning of pregnancy honoring the human life and entitles this life with all rights. This is the thought of God regarding man during his phase of life inside the womb, He said to Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations”(Jer.1: 5). Also it is said in the book of Isaiah, “The Lord has called Me from the womb; from the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name…Who formed Me from the womb to be His servant”(Is. 49: 1, 5).
During the pregnancy of Rebecca, God considered the human beings in her womb as a great nations. “Two nations are in your womb, two peoples shall be separated from your body; one people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger.”(Gen. 25:23). St. Paul also says about Jacob and Esau, “For the children not yet being born…the older shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”(Rom. 9:11-13, Mal. 1:2-3).
From all these Biblical texts it is clear that the human life is precious from the womb, and God works in human's life even before their birth.
