Every life matters, from the very beginning.

In a way, so are you. Every one of us is a group of cells, but organised as a whole, living human being. That's what begins at conception: a new human, with their own DNA, directing their own growth, who will grow through every stage you did if they're given time and nourishment. It isn't a potential life. It's a life with potential. So the real question isn't whether it's a living human being. It's whether every human being counts.

Psalm 139:13–16For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 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 was none of them.Psalm 139:13–16 (ESV) · Read it in context · Jeremiah 1:5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV) · Read it in context

Sources: Britannica: zygote · Moore & Persaud, The Developing Human (7th ed., 2003), p. 16

Then what makes someone a person? There are really only four differences between an unborn child and you: size, level of development, environment, and how dependent they are. None of those decides whether someone matters. A toddler is smaller and less developed than you. A newborn is the same child she was an hour earlier, just a few inches further along. A person on a ventilator is dependent. And if being aware of yourself is the line, newborns and people in comas fall outside it too. You matter because of what you are, a human being made in God's image, not because of what you can do yet.

Genesis 1:27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.Genesis 1:27 (ESV) · Read it in context · Genesis 9:6“Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.Genesis 9:6 (ESV) · Read it in context

Scientists honestly disagree about when an unborn baby can feel pain. But pain was never the point. It isn't all right to kill someone painlessly in their sleep, or under anaesthetic. Taking a life takes away a whole future, whether or not the person feels it.

Genesis 1:27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.Genesis 1:27 (ESV) · Read it in context

Sources: Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, 2022 review

We're happy to use that word. Zygote, embryo, fetus, newborn, toddler, teenager: they're all names for the same human being at different ages. (“Fetus” comes from a Latin word that can mean “offspring.”) The Bible uses ordinary words: Luke calls John “the baby” in his mother's womb, with the same word he uses for newborn Jesus and for the babies brought to Jesus (Luke 1:41And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,Luke 1:41 (ESV) · Read it in context, 2:12And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”Luke 2:12 (ESV) · Read it in context, 18:15Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them.Luke 18:15 (ESV) · Read it in context). And the question doesn't need emotional words. Put plainly, it's this: is it wrong to end the life of a living human embryo?

Luke 1:41And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,Luke 1:41 (ESV) · Read it in context

Sources: Etymonline: fetus · Bible Hub: brephos (Greek for baby)

We agree that your body is yours, and no one should ever force or use you. But a pregnancy involves two bodies. Your baby has their own DNA, sometimes a different blood type or a different sex, and their own heart, which starts beating around five or six weeks into pregnancy. They're inside your body, but they aren't part of it. Your rights over your own body are real, and so are theirs. No one should force anyone to become pregnant. But once you are, you're already a mother.

1 Corinthians 6:19–20Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (ESV) · Read it in context · Deuteronomy 30:19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV) · Read it in context

Sources: Cleveland Clinic: fetal development · MedlinePlus: Rh incompatibility

This is the strongest argument for abortion, and it deserves a real answer. Refusing to help someone is different from ending their life, and abortion doesn't just stop helping; it ends a healthy child's life. A mother isn't a stranger to her child. She's the child's parent, and parents owe their children care they never signed up for: no one thinks a mother may stop feeding her newborn. And there's always another way if she can't raise her child: every state has a safe-haven law that lets a mother safely hand over her newborn baby, usually without giving her name.

Isaiah 49:15“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.Isaiah 49:15 (ESV) · Read it in context · Psalm 127:3Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.Psalm 127:3 (ESV) · Read it in context

Sources: Child Welfare Information Gateway: infant safe haven laws

We agree that a child is never a punishment, and sex isn't shameful. But a pregnancy isn't like an injury that only affects you. There's now a second person, who consented to nothing. If a driver hits someone by accident, he can't finish them off because he never agreed to the crash. And we already expect a father who never wanted a child to support that child. The question isn't whether you agreed to become pregnant. It's whether your child may be killed.

Psalm 127:3Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.Psalm 127:3 (ESV) · Read it in context · 1 Timothy 5:8But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.1 Timothy 5:8 (ESV) · Read it in context

If this is your story, we're so sorry. What happened to you was evil, it wasn't your fault, and the man who did it should face life in prison. You deserve care, protection and real support. But your child didn't commit the crime. We don't punish a child for what their father did; the law doesn't even allow the death penalty for a rapist. Abortion can't undo what happened, and many women say it added a second wound rather than healing the first. Your child is innocent, and so are you.

If you're pregnant and need help, call or text Option Line at 1-800-712-4357, any time. If you're not safe, here's who you can call.

Deuteronomy 24:16“Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.Deuteronomy 24:16 (ESV) · Read it in context · Psalm 34:18The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.Psalm 34:18 (ESV) · Read it in context

Sources: Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008)

When a mother's life is truly at risk, doctors act to save her, and that's not the same thing as elective abortion. An ectopic pregnancy, one growing outside the womb, can't survive and will threaten the mother's life if it isn't treated; treating it is right. In a late emergency, doctors can deliver the baby early and try to save both lives. The aim is always to save life, never to end the child's. These cases are real, and they're not what most abortions are about.

Matthew 12:11–12He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”Matthew 12:11–12 (ESV) · Read it in context

Sources: Cleveland Clinic: ectopic pregnancy · MedlinePlus: preeclampsia

This is heartbreaking, and if you're facing it, we're so sorry. A baby with a fatal condition may live only hours or days. But a short life is still a life. Many parents who carry their baby to term, with the help of perinatal hospice, say those hours with their child mattered and helped them grieve. Ending the pregnancy doesn't spare the loss; it only changes how the life ends.

Psalm 139:16Your 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 was none of them.Psalm 139:16 (ESV) · Read it in context · Romans 12:15Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.Romans 12:15 (ESV) · Read it in context

Sources: MedlinePlus: anencephaly · Wool et al., Journal of Clinical Ethics, 2018

Maybe you were that child, or you love someone who was. Would they have been better off never living? Almost no one says that about someone they know. We don't solve poverty by ending the lives of poor people; we solve it by helping them. And “unwanted” describes other people's feelings, not the child. Feelings change, and many families are hoping to adopt a baby.

Psalm 68:5–6Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.Psalm 68:5–6 (ESV) · Read it in context · James 1:27Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.James 1:27 (ESV) · Read it in context

Where Christians have failed mothers and children, that's shameful, and we want to do better. But look at what already exists: about 2,775 pregnancy centers across the country give free ultrasounds, diapers, clothes, classes and more, mostly run by churches and volunteers, and there are nearly 500 maternity homes. That's what this site exists to connect you with. And even where help falls short, the answer to a hard life is help, never a shorter life.

James 2:15–17If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.James 2:15–17 (ESV) · Read it in context · 1 John 3:17–18But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.1 John 3:17–18 (ESV) · Read it in context

Sources: Charlotte Lozier Institute, pregnancy center report 2025 · Maternity Housing Coalition

Lots of wrong things are legal, like lying or being unkind. But there's one kind of wrong the law exists to stop: when one person takes another person's life. If the unborn child is a human being, abortion belongs in that category. And “people will do it anyway” isn't a reason to make something legal, or we'd say the same about any violence. Laws protect and they teach. The answer is both: protect every child in law, and surround every mother with help.

Proverbs 31:8–9Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.Proverbs 31:8–9 (ESV) · Read it in context · Isaiah 1:17learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.Isaiah 1:17 (ESV) · Read it in context

You don't need the Bible to see this. It's wrong to kill an innocent human being; science tells us the unborn child is a human being; so ending that life is wrong. Neither step needs a church. Laws against murder and slavery agree with the Bible too, and no one calls them religious. Personal tastes don't belong in law, but basic rights do, and the most basic right of all is the right to live.

Romans 2:14–15For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse themRomans 2:14–15 (ESV) · Read it in context

The word isn't there, but the Bible doesn't list every way to kill someone either. It says “You shall not murder”, and it speaks of unborn children as people: God knit David together in the womb, knew Jeremiah before he was born, and John the Baptist leapt for joy in his mother's womb. The first Christians said it outright. One of their earliest writings, the Didache, from around the end of the first century, says: “you shall not murder a child by abortion.”

Exodus 20:13“You shall not murder.Exodus 20:13 (ESV) · Read it in context · Psalm 139:13–16For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 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 was none of them.Psalm 139:13–16 (ESV) · Read it in context · Jeremiah 1:5“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV) · Read it in context · Luke 1:41–44And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.Luke 1:41–44 (ESV) · Read it in context

Sources: The Didache, chapter 2 (New Advent)

We're so glad you're here. You don't have to explain anything. Some women feel relief, some carry grief, and some have never told anyone. Whatever you feel, here's what's true: Jesus died for exactly this. The good news isn't that it didn't matter. It's that he takes it on himself and forgives completely, and there is no condemnation for those who belong to him. Many women have found real peace and healing. If you'd like to talk with someone:

Deeper Still: Christian weekend retreats for healing after abortion, with separate retreats for women and for men. deeperstill.org

You can also talk with a pastor, or with a pregnancy center near you.

Romans 8:1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.Romans 8:1 (ESV) · Read it in context · Psalm 103:10–12He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.Psalm 103:10–12 (ESV) · Read it in context · 1 John 1:9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.1 John 1:9 (ESV) · Read it in context

If you're a man carrying this, you're allowed to grieve. Many men feel they have no right to, because it wasn't their body. You do. We won't pretend it didn't matter, and we won't pile on either; you already know. The gospel is for this too. Jesus prayed for the men who nailed him to the cross while they were doing it. There is forgiveness and a new start for you.

Deeper Still: Christian weekend retreats for healing after abortion, with separate retreats for women and for men. deeperstill.org

You can also talk with a pastor, or with a pregnancy center near you.

Psalm 51:1–12Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.Psalm 51:1–12 (ESV) · Read it in context · Luke 23:34And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.Luke 23:34 (ESV) · Read it in context · 2 Corinthians 5:17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV) · Read it in context