In a recent segment of ABC’s “The View,” co-host Whoopi Goldberg gave a dubious Biblical justification for abortion. According to Goldberg, the sixth commandment, which states, “Thou shalt not kill,” doesn’t necessarily apply to the issue of abortion.
Whoopi introduced the topic, stating that while she wishes no one would ever have to go through the process of having an abortion, she believes women should retain the right to terminate a pregnancy if they decide that’s what they “need.”
“No one is obligated to have an abortion. So you never have to have one. And I hope no one ever has to have one. But if you find yourself in a position where you have to, I want to make sure, and I’m way past having kids, I want to make sure that if you decide this is what you need to do, I’m gonna get behind you,” Goldberg said.
The co-host continued explaining that because she doesn’t know someone’s individual circumstances, she believes it is justifiable to end a pregnancy at “75,000 weeks,” seeming to advocate for late-term abortion. “Because I don’t know your life. And if you say this is what you need, that’s what I’m gonna do. Fifty weeks, 75,000 weeks, whatever, how many weeks. It’s nobody’s business, it’s you, your doctor, and God,” Goldberg added.
Whoopi then brought God into the discussion, given that Christians consistently argue that abortion is murder, violating the teachings of the Bible. “It’s not mentioned in the big ten I’m just going to say. In the big ten, it is not mentioned,” she said, referring to the Ten Commandments given to Moses in the Old Testament.
“God was pretty clear. Here’s the stuff that’ll make your life better on Earth. Don’t lie because you don’t want people lying to you, don’t mess with somebody’s wife cuz you’re gonna be mad if they’re messing with yours. You know common sense stuff,” she continued.
Hostin, who is a Catholic, pointed out that evangelical Christians will cite the Sixth Commandment, claiming abortion would fall under the act of killing. However, Goldberg refuted this assertion. Watch the discussion on abortion below:
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According to Whoopi, the Sixth Commandment shouldn’t be applied to the case of abortion because war is permissible. Hostin added to this comment, pointing out gun ownership and the death penalty as other forms of killing present in society.
“Here’s the thing. I think ‘Thou shalt not kill’ cannot be used as the block because we allow wars all the time. Yes, we do that because crusading allow the debt we’re about all these things,” she said. “So there is some conversation to be having. And so you either you Thou shalt not kill for everybody. Yes, and everything and everything. Or we have to talk about all the things that you and I need to do.”
Christians often argue that a more literal translation of “kill” in the sixth commandment would provide “Thou shalt not murder,” making a moral distinction between the two words. In the context of abortion, Christians assert that life begins at conception and an unborn child is innocent, therefore making it murder if a pregnancy is aborted.
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.