Stan had a good post (actually, all his posts are excellent . . . be sure to subscribe to his feed if you don’t already) in Winging It: Early Christianity on Abortion.

The early church leaders were very strongly pro-life.  Here are some other quotes by church fathers on abortion. They are part of a delightful post where I show how a pro-choice theological liberal tried to use a quote from a church father to support pure pacifism. Not only did he have to take it out of context to do so, he didn’t realize that his reference included a clear anti-abortion message. Turns out he didn’t really care what that church father said after all.

Also consider how these Christians knew when life began, even without the aid of ultrasounds and advanced science.  Even the pagans knew that abortion was wrong for thousands of years, as noted in the Hippocratic Oath.  Here’s a great link to use on the “where life begins” debate — it is a series of quotes from mainstream embryology textbooks and even some pro-aborts, all conceding the obvious: a new human being is created at conception.

Hey, even Planned Parenthood used to be pro-life. Seriously, in a 1964 ad for birth control they said:

Is it [birth control] an abortion? Definitely not. An abortion kills the life of a baby after it has begun. It is dangerous to your life and health. It may make you sterile so that when you want a child you cannot have it. Birth control merely postpones the meaning of life.

I wonder what scientific discovery made them change their mind? Or was it a financial discovery (abortions make some people very wealthy) or just philosophical (abortions are required to perpetuate the myth of consequence-free sexual freedom)?