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Abortion

23 Episodes

Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy, but in these discussions the harder question is not the procedure itself so much as when a fetus counts as a person and whether biblical or Christian traditions ever speak with one voice about that threshold. The episodes gathered here repeatedly frame abortion as a debate shaped by changing ideas about personhood, scriptural interpretation, and political identity rather than by a single clear biblical rule.

Why this topic matters

Abortion is where arguments about the Bible, personhood, and public ethics get forced into direct contact. Episodes under this topic tend to resist simple proof-texting, asking instead how ancient texts treated fetal life, how later Jewish and Christian interpreters argued about quickening and birth, and why modern readers keep demanding a single timeless answer.

It also matters because abortion became a powerful identity marker in modern Christian politics. The conversations collected here often trace how a complex moral and legal issue gets recast as a boundary line for belonging, and how debates about scriptural authority, theological tradition, and bodily autonomy get folded into broader struggles over power and social control.

Where to start

Start here for the best in-depth listening on Abortion: featured segments, featured episodes, and the episode with the most mentions.

Quotes from the Data

“I'm saying that the Bible absolutely nowhere actually addresses the practice of abortion.”

Dan McClellan Episode 23

“The debates have focused overwhelmingly on is it a person. Personhood is something that is distinct from a member of the species Homo sapiens.”

Dan McClellan Episode 23

“Do not abort a fetus or kill a child that is born.”

Dan McClellan Episode 110

“At least in the case of abortion, this is of recent historical origin, right?”

Dan McClellan Episode 124

Top episodes

Ranked by mentions of Abortion across the transcript. Start with the top mention above, then keep going here.

All episodes

Every episode currently tagged with Abortion.