by Barbara Buzzard

Exodus 21:22-23 is twisted by those who favor abortion:

“If men fight and hit a pregnant woman and her child is born prematurely, but there is no serious injury, the one who hit her will surely be punished in accordance with what the woman’s husband demands of him, and he will pay what the court decides. But if there is serious injury, then you will give a life for a life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

This Scripture is not about abortion. It is about unintentional harm coming to a baby (which is the opposite of abortion). It does not speak to the intentional killing of a child in the womb. The scenario is two men fighting who unintentionally injure a pregnant woman, so that her child is born prematurely, not that her baby dies. But those arguing for abortion say that this incident results in the death of the baby and since capital punishment is not then carried out, killing the baby must be OK or without consequence.

“However, any reliable translation shows that this is not at all the sense…Plainly, this passage says and means: if men are fighting and injure a woman who is pregnant, so that her child is born prematurely, and yet no harm results [the baby is healthy and lives], he shall be punished as appropriate…It is a very strong support for recognizing the full humanity of the unborn child…if someone caused the death of an unborn baby, the penalty would be death — a life for a life.” [The Lives of the Innocents, p. 41, 42.]

The NET Bible note agrees: “Child is born prematurely: This line has occasioned a good deal of discussion. It may indicate that the child was killed, as in a miscarriage; or it may mean that there was a premature birth. The latter view is taken here because of the way the whole section is written: (1) ‘her children come out’ reflects a birth and not the loss of children, (2) there is no serious damage, and (3) payment is to be set for any remuneration…U. Cassuto says the point of the phrase is that neither the woman or the children that are born die.”

Again, this passage is not about abortion.

It is a tragedy that this fallacious argument is still used today to give approval to the killing of a child created in God’s image.

This passage is about unintended injury.

It is not about the intentional killing of an innocent child.