Abortion, Down Syndrome, and the Image of God

Introduction

According to the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, “approximately 67 percent of babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted.”¹ This number is far too high. To think that the world could have over twice as many individuals with Down syndrome as it does at this moment is something that should be fought for, embraced, and encouraged, for individuals with Down syndrome are people made in God’s Image, too. If I were ever asked for advice concerning the abortion of a baby diagnosed with this genetic syndrome, the Image of God and the sanctity of human life would be my resting place. I deeply hope and pray that this realization and conviction will flood over doctors and physicians around the globe, who too often recommend this awful, life-ending procedure.²

Life Expectancy and Morale of Individuals with Down Syndrome and the Physician’s Sin

“Down syndrome [Trisomy 21] is a condition in which an individual is born with an extra copy of chromosome 21,” resulting in intellectual disability, a distinct facial appearance, weak muscle tone, and various other medical problems.³ The complications can be serious, yet they are less serious than some other conditions in which the fetus or baby will surely die. Still, many people with Down syndrome go on to live happy, fulfilled lives with proper medical care and familial and communal support, so their life expectancy has increased from thirty to sixty within the last twenty-five years.⁴ Despite this reality, physicians still recommend the murder of these fetus individuals to an absurd and depraved degree.

The Imago Dei

Why exactly is abortion sinful? Briefly, abortion finds its sinfulness in two Biblical claims: 1) All people, including those with Down syndrome, are made in God’s Image, and 2) The murder of Image bearers is hated and condemned by God, for it is contrary to His intended design for creation and the glory of Himself. These two points will be addressed in this section, but it is worth mentioning a third point first: human life and imaging begin at conception. A fetus in their mother’s womb, whether healthy or not, is made in the Image of God, as all people are. This is truly where the abortion argument in general, whether for it or opposed to it, finds its complications, for not all people believe in this origin. However, most Christians have traditionally understood conception to be the beginning of life, and therefore divine imaging.⁵

Firstly, God created humans in His Image through decree:

God said, “Let [U]s make man in [O]ur [I]mage, after [O]ur likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in [H]is own [I]mage, in the [I]mage of God [H]e created him; male and female [H]e created them (Gen. 1:26-27).⁶

These two verses provide a theological sandwich of sorts. God begins by declaring His Image over His creation and ends with the same. In the middle, He demonstrates how the Image will appear: “let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Gen. 1:26). Essentially, God declares that His creation will be like Him to a degree—intelligent, personal, creative, and domineering (not in an unhealthy sort of way over fellow Image bearers, but over all of creation). These are characteristics and a likeness to God that those with Down syndrome have as well. They are intelligent, despite their intellectual disability, personal with fellow Image bearers, and creative. Moreover, most of those with Down syndrome are fertile and are capable of following the cultural mandate, which states, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28). This mandate is closely tied with the Imago Dei, for the superiority of humanity over the rest of creation is due to the likeness of God. Furthermore, this theology of God’s Image is not tied only to the Old Testament (Gen. 1:26-28; 5:1-2; 9:6; Ps. 8:4-6), but also to the New (1 Cor. 11:7; Col. 1:15; 3:10; 2 Cor. 3:18; Jam. 3:9). The most striking tie to the Imago Dei is found in Romans 8:29: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the [I]mage of [H]is Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Through the power of the economic Trinity—the Father, Son, and Spirit working together in creation and redemption—Christians can be brought to a fuller realization of being made in God’s Image, for they have become one with Christ. Becoming a Christian and a renewed Image is not limited to those who are healthy; those with Down syndrome can follow and place their faith in Christ as well as anyone else.

Secondly, abortion is ultimately murder, and murder is overwhelmingly condemned in the Old Testament and the New Testament: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in [H]is own [I]mage” and “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment’” (Gen. 9:6; Exo. 20:13, qtd. in Matt. 5:21). Bonhoeffer elaborates on abortion understood in light of these verses: “To kill the fruit in the mother’s womb is to injure the right to life that God has bestowed on the developing life. Discussion of the question whether a human being is already present confuses the simple fact, in any case, God wills to create a human being and that the life of this developing human being has been deliberately taken. And this is nothing but murder.”⁷

Conclusion

These simple facts—that humanity was made in God’s Image and murdering a fellow Image bearer is wrong—remain true to all people, and those with Down syndrome, although it should not be the case, need to be defended as people the same as the rest. While going through with the birth of one with certain defects is undoubtedly hard, the birth of the little loved one should be celebrated as any birth is celebrated. The birth of a child with Down syndrome is a gift from God, for the baby is made in the Image of their Creator and has a God-given right to life purpose to fulfill.

Footnotes

1. Global Down Syndrome Foundation, qtd. in Alan Branch, 50 Ethical Questions: Biblical Wisdom for Confusing Times (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2021), 68. ↩

2. Branch, 67-68. ↩

3. National Institutes of Health, “About Down Syndrome,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Reviewed on June 20, 2018. https://www.nih.gov/include-project/about-down-syndrome ↩

4. Ibid. ↩

5. Branch, 70. ↩

6. Unless otherwise specified, all Scripture references are to the English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016). ↩

7. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, qtd. in Ken Magnuson, Christian Ethics: Moral Reasoning and Contemporary Issues, Invitation to Theological Studies Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2020), 329. ↩