Christianity's Pro-Life History
Abortion is no new thing. Societies and cultures have practiced it for thousands of years. But 2000 years ago, the Greco-Roman culture was practicing things even worse than abortions: Infanticide and infant abandonment.
Infanticide was the killing of newborn infants, usually right after birth. Infants were killed for various reasons, commonly because of birth defects or gender (boys were usually preferred). Cicero, a popular Roman statesman and philosopher, justified infanticide by citing the ancient Twelve Tables of Roman law when he said “deformed infants shall be killed” (De Legibus 3.8). Seneca, a 1st-century Roman philosopher, said: “We drown children who at birth are weakly and abnormal” (De Ira 1.15). Infanticide was such a popular practice among Greco-Roman society that Polybius, a Greek historian, blamed the population decline of ancient Greece on it (Histories 6).
If unwanted babies were not killed, they were also commonly abandoned. There were designated places that parents would cast away their unwanted children. In Rome, for example, unwanted infants were abandoned at the Columna Lactaria (“Milk Column”) because there, the state provided wet nurses to feed some of the infants. Still many, if not most, abandoned infants died shortly after.
Even though it is true that some abandoned their infants in hopes that they would get adopted, many did so knowing full well that their children would die. Some even took measures to make sure that their children died after abandoned. It was Emperor Claudius who insisted that one of his daughters be “cast out naked”, greatly reduce the chance of her survival (Suetonius, Claud. 27).
Early Christians responded by condemning both infanticide and infant abandonment. The Didache, one of the earliest 1st century Christian treaties, says “Thou shalt not… commit infanticide.” About infant abandonment, Clement of Alexandria, an influential church father in the 2nd century, condemned Romans for saving and protecting young birds and other creatures, all the while lacking the moral repulsion of abandoning their own children.
More than just condemning the practice of infant abandonment, Christians were also known for taking these castaways into their homes and adopting them. Benignus of Dijon (2nd Century) provided protection and nourishment for abandoned children, some of whom were deformed due to failed abortions. Afra of Augsburg (3rd Century) was a prostitute who converted to Christianity and then spent her life ministering to abandoned children of prisoners, thieves, smugglers, pirates, runaway slaves, and gang members.
Thankfully, by 374 A.D. infanticide was formally outlawed by Emporer Valentinian (Codex Theodosius 9.41.1). It was also Valentinian who also criminalized child abandonment (Code of Justinian 8.52.2). He was the first to make these laws, and he did so largely because he was heavily influenced by Christianity.
Christianity is arguably the primary reason that human life has been a value of the West throughout the centuries (Schmidt, How Christianity Changed the World). However, as our culture has become more and more secular, we have increasingly neglected this value.
From 21st century western eyes, these practices of killing newborn babies or casting them out to die are certainly horrifying and sickening. But is the current practice of abortion really any different?
As described by former Abortion specialist Dr. Levatino, during the first trimester the child can be sucked from the mother’s womb whole through a tube. However, during the second trimester and further, the doctor must remove the child limb by limb. It is removed this way because as the doctor clasps the child for removal, the weak tissue tears. The doctor must keep track of each limb to be sure nothing is left inside; if not, it could lead to the mother’s death.
Abortion is promoted as a simple procedure that is fundamental to empowering a woman’s right to choose. But in reality, it is an operation that murders an unborn child. This is hardly any different than the Greco-Roman practice of infanticide.
According to Worldometers, 40% of unwanted pregnancies in the U.S. end in abortion, and 22% of all pregnancies in the U.S. end in abortion. This percentage is likely higher because it is impossible to track every abortion. Nonetheless, it is terribly high and reflects just how much the West has regressed back to its morally degraded Greco-Roman beginnings.
Christians have been pro-life from the beginning, believing that each person is created in the image of God and deserves the right to life (Gen. 1:27). Further, each person is personally known by God even before their birth and is intricately woven together while yet in the womb (Psalm 139:15-16). Christians stood out as pro-life in Greco-Roman society, not just in word but also in deed. May we do the same today.