In the latest installment of his podcast “Ask N.T. Wright Anything,” the New Testament scholar made statements about abortion that are raising eyebrows among some Christians. Wright said in some dire circumstances, although “we do not want to do this in principle, but with sorrow and a bit of shame, the best thing to do is as soon as possible to terminate the pregnancy.”
Those circumstances, according to Wright, include severe fetal deformity, the mother’s mental health, and cases of rape and incest.
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On the June 1 podcast episode, moderator Michael Bird read a question from a female college student in Germany. “Why should Christians defend life from the moment of conception?” she asked. The student said she knows that as a Christian she should oppose abortion, yet the stance seems less intuitive at the early stage of pregnancy.
“It seems very abstract to me to say that from the moment of conception, when only two cells have met, there is life that is just as valuable as any human being on earth,” the woman added.
After Bird acknowledged that abortion isn’t a “black-and-white issue,” Wright offered his perspective—noting that he’s not a scientist and that the topic is tough for men to address.
Speaking from Oxford University in England, Wright noted that abortion is a political and ethical “hot potato, particularly in America.” As possible reasons, he cited the sexual revolution, the availability of the procedure, and “the breakdown of traditional Christian values as a whole.”
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N.T. Wright said some close family members once learned that the pregnant wife had been exposed to rubella. Because of the high risk of fetal deformities, the doctor—despite being a “devout Christian”—said termination might be warranted.
Although the child was eventually born healthy, Wright recalled, “At the time it was absolutely clear for the mental health—never mind anything else—of the mother and the potential father as well that [abortion] was the way to go.”
After that experience, Wright said, he became “very sensitive” to the “many, many cases where [choosing abortion] is about the mother’s health versus the health of the child.” That’s when terminating as soon as possible might be the “best thing to do,” according to the scholar.
But Wright emphasized that late-term abortions and infanticide are “not only wrong but repulsive,” comparing them to behaviors of ancient pagans. “The early Christians didn’t do that because they valued every human being,” he said. “In principle, [abortion] is not something which we should welcome. It is not something which we should collude with.”
Wright continued:
At the same time, there may be certain exceptions, of which severe deformity might be one, of which certainly incest and rape would be others. And in those cases, I would say the sooner the better, because at a certain point—and I am not medically qualified to say at what point I would draw a line—then this is a viable human being that should then be cherished.
From his experience as a father, Wright said, he knows that unborn children have awareness from inside the womb. “So we’re not just talking about some inert lump of matter which we can just get rid of as we please,” he explained.
