Christianity[edit]

Main articles: Abortion and Christianity and Catholic Church and abortion
There is scholarly disagreement on how early Christians felt about abortion, and no explicit prohibition of abortion
in either the "Old Testament" or "New Testament" books of the Christian Bible. Some scholars have concluded that
early Christians took a nuanced stance on what is now called abortion, and that at different times, and in separate
places, early Christians have taken different stances.[9][10][11] Other scholars have concluded that early Christians
considered abortion a sin at all stages; although there is disagreement over their thoughts on what type of sin it
was[12][13][14][15] and how grave a sin it was held to be, it was seen as at least as grave as sexual
immorality.[12][14] Some early Christians believed that the embryo did not have a soul from
conception,[9][16][17][18] and consequently, opinion was divided as to whether or not early abortion was murder or
ethically equivalent to murder.[11][15]
Early church councils punished women for abortions that were combined with other sexual crimes, as well as
makers of abortifacient drugs,[11] but, like some early Church Fathers such as Basil of Caesarea, did not make
distinction between "formed" and "unformed" foetuses.[19][20] While Gregory of Nyssa and Maximus the
Confessor held that human life already began at conception,[20] Augustine of Hippo affirmed Aristotle's concepts
of ensoulment occurring some time after conception, after which point abortion was to be considered
homicide,[21] while still maintaining the condemnation of abortion at any time from conception onward.[22] Aquinas
reiterated Aristotle's views of successive souls: vegetative, animal, and rational. This would be the Catholic Church's
position until 1869, when the limitation of automatic excommunication to abortion of a formed foetus was
removed, a change that has been interpreted as an implicit declaration that conception was the moment of
ensoulment.[16] Most early penitentials imposed equal penances for abortion whether early-term or late-term, but
later penitentials in the Middle Ages normally distinguished between the two, imposing heavier penances for late-
term abortions and a less severe penance was imposed for the sin of abortion "before [the foetus] has life".[23]
Contemporary Christian denominations have nuanced positions, thoughts, and teachings about abortion, especially
in extenuating circumstances.[24][25] The Catholic Church,[26][27] the Eastern Orthodox Church[28][29] Oriental
Orthodoxy, and most evangelical Protestants oppose deliberate abortion as immoral, while allowing what is
sometimes called indirect abortion, namely, an action that does not seek the death of the foetus as an end or a
means, but that is followed by the death as a side effect.[30] Some mainline Protestant denominations such as
the Methodist Church, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian Church (USA)[31], and the Evangelical Lutheran Church
of America, among others, are more permissive of abortion. More generally, some Christian denominations can be
considered pro-life, while others may be considered pro-choice. Additionally, there are sizable minorities in some
denominations that disagree with their denomination's stance on abortion.[25]