This is a chapter from The Baha'i Faith and Abortion
Jesus was a Jew. The Book of Laws for the Jews in Jesus' day was the Mishnah; which was considered the "Oral Law". The Mishnah was the oral decisions of the "Beth-Din" ("House of Justice") that the Lord established in the time of Moses.
In the Book of Numbers (Old Testament) God says to Moses to take 70 of the Elders of Israel and bring them up to Mount Sinai, and that "I will take the Spirit which is upon thee, and I will put it upon them." (Numbers 11:17). The 70 Elders were to be judges in Israel, and be overshadowed by the Holy Spirit even as Moses was (i.e. to be directly inspired by the Holy Spirit and thus infallible in their collective judgements).
The 70 men formed a council which became known as the "Beth-Din" ("House of Justice").
In Genesis 9:6 Moses wrote part of the Holy Law. It says in that verse that "He who sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood also be shed" (Gen. 9:6). But what it actually says in Hebrew is, "He who sheds the blood of a man-within-a-man shall also have his blood shed". This is how the House of Justice, the Beth-Din, interpreted that verse:
"We infer the death penalty for killing the embryo from the text, 'He who sheds the blood of a man within a man, his blood shall be shed'; what is 'a man within a man'? An embryo." (Mishnah, Sanhedrin 57b)The punishment for killing a fetus was death. However, the House of Justice made one exception to this rule! When a woman was trying to give birth (not trying to kill her child but birth it), but the child become stuck in the birth canal, and will thus kill the woman, the House declared that the child can be dismembered and removed; because the life (not "life-style" or "health" but LIFE) of the woman took presidence over the life of the child.
The House of Justice decided:
"If a woman was in hard travail the child must be cut up while iit is in the womb and brought out member by member, since the life of the mother has priority over the life of the child; but if the greater part of it was already born it may not be touched, since the claim of one life cannot override the claim of another life." (Mishnah, Ohaloth 7:6)That was the "Law of God" in Jesus' day regarding abortion. He did not abrogate it. That holy law that is not abrogated, remains! Jesus only abrogated two holy laws.
When Jesus' apostles went out to teach Gentiles (non-jews) the Gospel, they discovered that pagans frequently used drugs to produce abortions, and Greek women frequently killed newborn children who were deformed. The Apostles therefore had a statement written called the "Didache" ("The Teachings") which were specifically for pagans who became Christians. Jews who became Christians were already familiar with the written and oral law, but pagans were not. They needed to be taught what the Holy Law was. So, the Didache was written in 70 A.D.
(A.D. 70) Collective statement of Jesus' apostles:
"The second commandment of the teaching: You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery. You shall not seduce boys. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal. You shall not practice magic. You shall notuse potions. You shall not procure abortion, nor destroy a newborn child." (The Didache 2:1-2)Many other letters and epistles were written by various Christians of the first centuries A.D. Every one that mentions abortion is against abortion; considering it murder (except when the mother's life is in jeapardy).
(A.D. 74) Barnabas:
"The way of light, then is as follows: if anyone desires to travel to the appointed place, he must be zealous in his works. The knowledge, therefore, which is given is given to us for the purpose of walking in this way, is the following...Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born." (Letter of Barnabus, v.19)(A.D. 177) Athanagoras:
"When we say that those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder, and will have to give an account to God for the abortion, on what principle should we commit murder? For it does not belong to the same person to regard the very fetus in the womb as a created being, and therefore an object of God's care?" ( A Plea to the Christians, part 35)
(A.D. 210) Tertullian:
"Now we allow that life begins with conception because we contend that the soul also begins from conception; life taking its commencement at the same moment and place that the soul does." (The Soul, part 27)
"In our case, a number being once for all forbidden, we may not destroy even the fetus in the womb." (Apology 9:8) Today, many Liberal churches have "watered-down" the law against abortion, and have decreed that abortion is a "woman's choice" or that abortion is permitted if the mother's life, or "health" (even mental health) is endangered. All a woman must do is say her pregnancy will give her "stress" then an abortion is permitted. For all practical purposes, under the "health" and "well-being" clauses, abortion is legal in all circumstances.
But the House of Justice that the Lord formed in the time of Moses, upon which He placed His Holy Spirit (so they are divinely-guided) said that abortion was murder, and only made one exception; to save the physical life of the mother, and only if the child is stuck!
Jesus did not abrograte that Holy Law, and neither did the prophet Muhammad.
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