Saturday, January 24, 2015

Tertullian: On abortion

“For us murder is once for all forbidden; so even the child in the womb, while yet the mother’s blood is still being drawn on to form the human being, it is not lawful for us to destroy. To forbid birth is only a quicker murder. It makes no difference whether one takes away the life once born or destroy it as it comes to birth. He is a man, who is to be a man; the fruit is always present I the seed.”

~Tertullian (Quintus Florens Tertullian, c. 160 – c. 225 AD): Apology, 9, 8.