ABORTION

(Cf. John R.Connery, Abortion: The Development of the Roman Catholic 
Perspective, Chicago, Loyola Univ. Press, 1977, and Germain Grisez, 
"Abortion: The Myths, the Realities, and the Arguments," NY Corpus Books,1970)

1.Exodus 21.22 RSV: "When men strive together and hurt a woman with child, 
so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no harm follows, the one who hurt 
her shall be fined, according as the woman's husband shall lay upon him; 
and he shall pay as the judge determine. 23. If any harm follows, then you 
shall give life for life, eye for eye etc." 

COMMENT: Hard to determine whether chief point is harm to the child or to 
the woman & husband. Probably chiefly the latter, but yet the harm to the 
child seems not ruled out. The Septuagint reads: "If two men fight and 
strike a woman with child, and the child that is not fully formed, comes 
forth, there shall be a fine according as the husband of the woman imposes, 
he shall set it with fair measure. But if it was fully formed he will 
impose life for life, eye for eye, etc."

2. Pseudo-Phocyclides, lines 184-85: "Do not let a woman destroy the unborn 
babe in her belly, nor after its birth throw it before the dogs and the 
vultures as a prey."

COMMENTS: Phocylides was an Ionic poet in Miletus, middle of sixth century
BC. Was famed for useful advice for daily life. It is a part of propaganda
for favor to the Jewish religion. The translator in The Old Testament
Pseudepigrapha II (ed. James H. Charlesworth, Doubleday, 1985) was W. Van
der Horst. He estimates the date as between 220 BC and 200 AD.
     
Note 1 on p. 580 says: "Abortion and exposure of children were the 
current methods of family planning in pagan antiquity. Though the OT 
forbids neither practice (but see the LXX translation of Ex 21:22f), they 
are frequently condemned (in this combination) in Jewish and Christian 
writings, e.g, Philo, Spec. Leg. 3:108-09; Josephus  Apion 2:202; Sib Or  
2:281ff.; Did 2:2; EBar 19.5,etc."

3. Flavius Josephus, "Against Apion" 2:202: "The law [Jewish law] orders us
to bring up all our children,and forbids women to cause abortion of that
which is begotten; and if any woman seems to have done so,she will be a
murderer of her own child,by destroying a living creature." (Probably late
first century AD).

4. Sibylline Oracles 2.281-82: " ...as many as aborted what they carried in 
the womb, as many as cast forth their offspring unlawfully [will be 
punished after the resurrection]."

COMMENT: The editor in Charlesworth, J.J.Collins, estimates second century 
A.D. for Christian redaction, but the Jewish original was about the turn of 
the era. The lines cited above seem Jewish original.

5. Didache 2,2: "you shall not kill a child by abortion nor kill it after it 
is born." 

COMMENT: date usually given as 100-150 AD.

6. Epistle of Barnabas: Those on the "way of darkness" include in 20.2, "the 
murderers of children, aborting the work of God." COMMENT: Probable date
perhaps between 132 & 138 AD.

7. Tertullian, Apologeticum 9:8: For us, since murder has been forbidden, it 
is also not permitted to dissolve  what is conceived in the womb while the 
blood is being formed into a human being. It is an anticipation of murder 
to keep one from being born; nor does it make a difference whether one 
takes the life of one already born, or disturbs one in the process of being 
born: even the one who is going to be a human being is one." Text from