Abortion has become a highly polarised and toxic issue in our society. It seems as though those who argue for and against abortion lob verbal grenades at one another, without any kind of genuine dialogue or understanding. Very often there is no real engagement, or meeting of minds. But I believe that when we try to enter this battleground, our Christian task is first to listen and to understand, to empathise. Only in this way are we going to be able to speak with integrity, with authenticity and with compassion.
To start exploring this important topic, you can read my short introductions to some of the key themes:
Essay: Abortion and infanticide in the ancient world
What perspective can we gain on today’s abortion debates from delving into ancient history?
Essay: Abortion in Britain – the current realities
To delve into this topic we need to understand what is actually going on – statistically, legally, and also emotionally
Essay: Contemporary secular philosophers on abortion and infanticide
Examining two very different non-Christian thinkers and their views on abortion
Essay: When is a person? Christian perspectives on the beginning of life
What can Scripture teach us about an authentically Christian view of abortion?
Essay: Ethical dilemmas and compassionate responses to abortion
What might our ordinary human intuitions have to teach us about this difficult subject?
To go deeper into some of these issues, please take a look at some of the resources I have uploaded to the website:
Talk: Christians facing the issue of abortion
We must break through the social taboo and speak compassionately, practically and faithfully about abortion
Debate: A civilised abortion discussion at the Battle of Ideas
Making the value of the unborn human depend on how wanted they are is a novel postmodern twist
Article: Medical paternalism and the fetus
The relationship between a pregnant mother considering a termination and the doctor should be an expert-expert one
Debate: Should Christians accept Covid-19 vaccines which used fetal cell lines?
Untangling the Biblical, ethical and theological arguments
Article: The doctor’s conscience
The doctor who refuses to fit in with the agreed protocol because they have a conscientious objection is seen as problematic
Debate: Your conscience, my health, whose right to refuse?
It’s not obvious how much society should accommodate medical professionals who have moral objections to certain procedures
Lecture: Responding to a diagnosis of a life-limiting fetal condition
Discovering your unborn child has a serious medical condition is one of the worst fears for any parent
Talk: Caring for the weakest – a paediatrician’s perspective on abortion and neonatal care
What does the revolution in care for premature babies mean for the debate over abortion?
Pregnancy crisis 1
A constructive Christian response, heads versus hearts, feeling like a ‘bad feminist’, and the three options
Pregnancy crisis 2
Paternalistic gynaecologists, holding truth with grace, ambiguity in the ultrasound clinic, and refusing the culture war
There is also plenty of more material on abortion in my book Matters of Life and Death, in particular chapter six.