It spelled out a few guidelines that must be followed for abortions performed in the later stages of pregnancy, but in effect it made it legal for anyone to have an abortion who wants one. Only two points can be made briefly here. First, from a scientific and medical point of view, from the moment of conception the developing embryo possesses in latent form all the characteristics of a complete human being. Second, from the Biblical standpoint, an individual is considered to be a person while still in the mother s womb. There really is no ground for denying the personhood of the developing embryo or baby in the womb.
Abortion is murder.
Its only possible justification would be in the case where a choice must be made between the life of the mother and the life of the baby. In such a case it would be the lesser of two evils, but would still be an evil. Fortunately, because of the advances of modern medical technology, this choice is becoming more and more infrequent. Some actions violate the sixth Commandment even if they do not result in the death of the person assaulted. For instance, any kind of physical violence inflicted with the malicious desire to injure someone is done in the spirit of murder.