Church Fathers on Abortion

This topic is well outside the intended scope of this blog, but as it is a topic which has come up several times on another blog on which I comment, and as I would like to keep this information somewhat handy (and not least, as this is my blog and I can do with it whatever I please), I have decided to post this collection of quotes from the Church Fathers on the topic of abortion. I have been surprised to discover that some people aren't aware that the Church condemned abortion as murder from the very beginning; these quotes should help demonstrate that this was, in fact, the case. I hope to add to this post as I come across other quotes from early Christians regarding abortion, so this list may end up growing as time goes on. I also plan to add several other similar posts about pedophilia, birth control, homosexuality, and any other topics which may come up during the course of conversation elsewhere on the Internet. With that, the quotes:

Ecclesiastical Quotes:

"You shall not kill the child by obtaining an abortion. Nor, again, shall you destroy him after he is born." —Barnabas, c. 70-130.

"You shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill one who has been born." —Didache, c. 80-140.

"We say that those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder. And we also say they will have to give an account to God for the abortion... We also teach that it is wrong to expose an infant. For those who expose them are guilty of child murder." —Athenagoras, c. 175.

"What cause is there for the exposure of a child? The man who did not desire to beget children had no right to marry at all. He certainly does not have the right to become the murderer of his children, because of licentious indulgence." —Clement of Alexandria, c. 195.

"There are some women who, by drinking medical preparations, extinguish the source of the future man in their very bowels. So they commit murder before they bring forth." —Mark Minucius Felix, c. 200.

"You shall not slay your child by causing abortion, nor kill the baby that is born. For 'everything that is shaped and has received a soul from God, if it is slain, shall be avenged, as being unjustly destroyed" (Ezekiel 21:23, LXX) —Apostolic Constitutions, c. 390.

Note that most of these quotes on abortion also discussed infanticide in the same context. The early Christians did not see a difference between those two acts.

Non-Ecclesial Sources:

(The following quotes are from Abortions in Byzantine Times (325-1453 AD):)

"Similar opinions about abortions were expressed by the Imperial Legislation, that whenever practised, meant destruction of a living being."

"The Imperial Legislation never accepted legal abortions except those performed for medical reasons. Justinian's Digest included experts on early Roman law. The punishments for the women are usually banishment, divorce when the abortion is practised and the husband ignores it, corporal punishments especially for the unmarried.

"Even in the 14th c. collection Hexabiblos, the providers of drugs and herbs for abortion are considered as murderers."

"In conclusion: civil and canon law, as well as the lay opinion in Byzantine times equated abortion with murder and consequently condemned it."

The following quote purports to be from the Code of Justinian, but it is a questionable quote as far as I can determine. I will include it here regardless, but do not take it at face value, as it may be spurious:

"Those who expose children, possibly hoping they would die, and those who use the potions of the abortionist, are subject to the full penalty of the law for murder." —Code of Justinian, 18.51-52