to tell us what the Bible says. Abortion is NOT Condemned by the Bible. Not even close.
This is my comment:
In regards to the original post. The Bible says that God knew us and formed us in our mothers womb.Psalm 139:13
For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb.Job 10:11
You clothed me with skin and flesh, and wove me together with bones and tendons.Psalm 119:73
Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding so that I can learn Your commands.It makes no mention of WHEN He did that. Therefore, saying that life only begins after a certain amount of time is an arbitrary human decision. We now know that the method God uses to knit us together in our mother's womb is cellular mitosis (I think that's right...). And that begins at conception.
If God takes the time to knit us together inside our mother's womb, He obviously considers us alive, or at least worth something. Hence, killing a baby in the womb is murder.
Quote from Gus: "For example, IF God knew us and protected us in the womb, that does not necessarily mean we were there from conception."
Um, that doesn't make sense, you can come to both conclusions. God knowing us and protecting us in the womb could mean that He did so from conception, OR some arbitrary point of time after conception. Thus, saying one way or another is human interpretation. Which means you have to take the whole Bible into account. Taking the Bible as a whole leads me believe that God is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Bible quote), and since we are made in the image of God, we are just as alive now as we were at conception.The passage quoted in the OP is obviously referring to an accident. Which is why only a fine was required. Also, when speaking about the Old Testament Law in regards to Christianity, you have to remember that most Christians consider it fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Basically, the Law was given to demonstrate how utterly impossible it is for humans to be right with God on their own. We can only become right with God through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. It's the old covenant versus the new covenant. Judgment versus Grace. In the case of the man who caused the baby's death, grace is extended to him because he did not kill the baby intentionally. Abortion is most definitely intentional.
Also, the Bible doesn't have to outright condemn abortion. It is painfully obvious that life begins at conception, and the fact that people have been able to confuse that amazes me. The only difference between a grown up human and an unborn human is that the unborn human needs the womb to survive, and the grown up needs the Earth's atmosphere to survive...
A couple other points. There are lots of Christians who help mothers who choose not to have an abortion. And I wish there were more.
Also, I personally believe that trying to use the Bible in a debate with people who are not Christian is utterly stupid. I only used it in this post because the OP was about the Bible. I also have spent quite a bit of time formulating the beliefs I learned from the Bible in a non-religious manner so that I could talk to people who are not Christian.