Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street. Back in February, James Tallarico, a U.S. Senate candidate from Texas, claimed that the biblical story of the Annunciation from the Gospel of Luke supports his pro-abortion position. It was on the Joe Rogan podcast that he asserted that because the angel sought Mary's consent.
A woman also has the right to choose her own procreative destiny.
Now, the most obvious flaw with that assertion is that the angel did not, in fact, ask Mary's permission for anything. The angel of the Lord said, quote, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
Now, Mary, of course, submits to accept this as the will of God, but the only person with questions in the whole conversation was Mary. The angel declared what was going to happen. Mary humbled herself and accepted it as a calling on her life. The deeper flaw in this and just about every other pro-abortion argument is the assumption that whatever is in the womb is not a human life worth protecting. The inherent value of life in the womb, as evident throughout scripture, from Psalms to Jeremiah to Isaiah to Job to Joshua, is something that Christians have insisted upon since the very earliest days of the church.
To deny this theological reality, as Tellerico does, is to commit a Christological heresy. Because in the same chapter in Luke, Elizabeth declared that her baby, John the Baptist, leapt in her womb when he heard the voice of, and I quote, the mother of her Lord. In other words, both John in the womb and Elizabeth out of the womb sense that the Lord was present, though still in his mother's womb. And there are other passages of scripture that are wrongly used to argue for abortion. For example, Exodus 21.
In the middle of several laws covering violent crimes, the text says this, quote, when men strive together and hit a pregnant woman so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, end quote. If there is harm, the passage continues, there is a much harsher penalty. A pro-abortionist argued that only harm to the woman matters and the child is not as valuable. But the more reasonable interpretation here is if, because of a fight, a woman goes into premature labor and the baby lives, there is no harm. Thus, there is no harm.
There's a financial penalty, but if the baby dies or is injured, if there is harm, then the attacker should face punishment, even up to death. Another example was numbers five. In a different list of rules here, Moses provided a test for a husband's claim of his wife's unfaithfulness. The accused woman was to take an oath of innocence and then drink a mix of water and dirt from the tabernacle floor. If innocent, nothing would happen.
If guilty, among many other things, she would become infertile.
Now, it's a strange passage, and theologians differ on how best to understand it.
Some suggest it was a kind of psychosomatic test to root out a woman's guilty conscience. Others think it's a sneaky way for a defenseless woman to escape her husband's jealousy. Pro-abortionists assert that it's an example of an abortion that was ordered by God's law. But for that to be the case, however, the punishment would have to involve the death of the baby.
However, the curse here that is referenced is not the ending of a current pregnancy, it's the prevention of future ones. All of these etymological gymnastic attempts aside, the Bible's Human life is sacred. In the womb, babies are valued, purposed, and yes, human. Throughout the biblical texts, including war and sacrifice, as in Leviticus or 2 Kings or Jeremiah, the very worst crimes or horrors that someone can commit are to murder children. In no way does God's word dismiss, much less justify, the slaughter of the innocent.
Contrary to Mr. Tallarico's claim, the message of Annunciation Day is not that life and death are somehow up to our choice. Rather, it's that life and death belong in God's hands. Even in the womb of his own mother, Jesus Christ was still the Messiah, fully God, fully human. And even in the womb of our own mothers, we too are fully human and made in God's image.
For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. Today's Breakpoint was co-authored with Dr. Timothy Padgett. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review on your favorite podcast app. And for more resources or to download and share this commentary with others, go to breakpoint.org.
Educators, join us in Colorado Springs June 15th through the 17th for the 2026 Rooted Educators World Youth Summit. This year's theme is created and called Biblical Anthropology for Christian Education. We'll hear from John Stone Street, Sean McDowell, Megan Allman, Elizabeth Urbanowitz, and more. Save $50 when you register by March 31st with the code Rooted 50. Register at colsoneducators.org slash rooted.
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