The Evil of Abortion in 1776, 1876, and 2026. Compassionate Christians throughout US history have defended human life.

Christianity Today ^ | July August 2026 Issue | Marvin Olasky

[Morgana]

While Americans were having abortions in 1776, America’s founders in Philadelphia put their names on a statement that all, created equal, are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

One of the Declaration of Independence signers, James Wilson, specified several years later that “with consistency, beautiful and undeviating, human life, from its commencement to its close, is protected by the common law.”

Life often hasn’t been protected. But decade after decade, Americans who are now largely forgotten made noble sacrifices to help the least among us. Some pro-life heroes and heroines continue that work. Perhaps a historian 150 years from now will write about them, but now it’s my turn to tell you about a largely forgotten Philadelphian who stood for life 150 years ago

In 1876, abortion was illegal throughout the United States, but as my book The Press and Abortion, 1838–1988 shows, newspapers ran thinly veiled ads for abortion pills. Records from the American Medical Association chronicle criticism of the practice. And in the Library of Congress’s Manuscript Division, I learned about many doctors, including Andrew Nebinger, who spoke out on their own.

Philadelphia resident Nebinger had a reputation for compassion. During the Civil War he worked without pay as head surgeon of a hospital for wounded soldiers. Later he protested the city’s lack of action in cleaning up cesspools and flushing culverts, which contributed to a cholera epidemic in 1866. He reminded officials of “the long and weary hours of agony [among] these victims of public neglect.”

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TOPICS: General Discusssion; History; Mainline Protestant; Moral Issues
KEYWORDS: abortion; abortionhistory; christian; prolife

[Morgana]

"The commissioners to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) wrote of abortion as “infanticide,” viewing “the destruction by parents of their own offspring before birth … with abhorrence.”"

WOW 😮. What happened to the Presbyterian church?

[EnderWiggin1970]

The author here, Marvin Olasky, has several books on views about abortion through American history. Abortion Rites: A Social History of Abortion in America as well as The Press and Abortion, 1838–1988, and The Story of Abortion in America.

[Morgana]

I thought his name sounded familiar. I have one of those books.

[Texas Eagle]

Makes you wonder where we get the audacity to ask God to bless America and why He does. He will not be mocked forever, though. While Americans are killing their babies in their mothers’ wombs, women from sh*thole countries around the world are coming here to populate and eventually take over this country.

[sauropod]

Liberalism. Next question.

[chajin]

To be fair, it was a common belief that the fetus was not alive until s/he could be felt by the mother, which is why the old-fashioned term for feeling the baby was quickening, meaning coming alive. It is only after the science of obstetrics, the understanding of fetal development, and the replacement of midwives with trained doctors, did people begin to understand the life was alive from conception. It was many of the earliest feminists who were the most pro-life.

P.S. One of the earliest gynecologists was Ancieto Ortega, who when he wasn’t building Mexico’s first women’s hospital was writing the Zaragosa March (Zaragosa was the general at the original Cinco de Mayo) and other compositions.

[Tell It Right]

True that. And don’t forget Christianity’s impact on infanticide. Christian emperor Constantine limited it. Centuries later it became more widespread (often through exposure, leaving the newborn infant to die outside). But the First Great Awakening again moved us away at least from doing it as frequently.

[Persevero]

Like all denoms there are conservative and liberal branches. Conservative Presbyterians (pro life etc) are affiliated with naparc.org

[Persevero]

While I abhor America’s abortion position I am unaware of any prolife nation of any size. So while we are awful in this area we are not unique.

[Albion Wilde]

And don’t forget Christianity’s impact on infanticide. Christian emperor Constantine limited it. Centuries later it became more widespread (often through exposure, leaving the newborn infant to die outside).

My professor of Italian, while teaching the past participle of the verb "to expose" (esposito), also mentioned that unwanted newborns who were left on church steps to be cared for by nuns were baptized with a Christian name and the surname "Esposito."

[Albion Wilde]

r America’s abortion position I am unaware of any prolife nation of any size. So while we are awful in this area we are not unique.

It's just that we are the only nation founded on the principle that God's laws provide citizens with inalienable rights, among them Life...

Seems that people these days are taking Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness too far—they've become out of balance with the right to Life.

[Persevero]

Agreed and yet we must not despair.

We are still a great nation. And even at our founding we were not Perfection. Absent any other knowledge I still say we are the greatest nation on earth. Those of us contributing, persevering and reproducing need to just stay in the trenches.

I see so much dooming on FR realism is helpful but the extreme negativity I often see is not.