Abortion

Very much in line with conservative politics in the United States, most Mormons in the US are anti-abortion. Abortion is a very sad thing and the majority of women and couples who decide to have one typically do so with great reluctance and much deliberation.

One of the major topics of debate in the issue of abortion concerns our understanding of when life begins. Typically you either side with the "life begins at conception" team or the "life begins at birth" team. It's a sticky subject, to say the least. Your traditional Mormon take on things is that the zygote or embryo or fetus you have growing was predestined to come to Earth to have a body. There is a soul waiting for that body to slip out of the uterus and into the world so that soul can then take its place in the grand Plan of Salvation. Mormons would never want to rob a soul of its Earth body!

However I read something in the Book of Mormon that made me think Mormons shouldn't be all too worried about the souls of aborted fetuses. It's a nice little moment in 3 Nephi. The believers are about to be killed by the wicked because the sign of Christ's birth (the star) hasn't shown up yet and Nephi (no, not that Nephi) is so worried he prays for the protection of the believers. And guess what happens! The voice of the Lord (a.k.a. Jesus Christ, the dude who's about to be born into the world) bears Nephi tidings of great joy!

How the hell would Jesus have spoken to Nephi if his spirit were lodged inside the little fetus in Mary's uterus on the verge of being born? I looks like life just might begin at birth according to Mormon scripture... What's a boy to think?

If you wonder what the Bible has to say about abortion you might want to watch this Betty Bowers video: