Essay

Abortion: Understanding “My Body, My Choice”

You may have heard the phrase “My body, my choice” used to defend abortion. It can sound compassionate and reasonable, especially when the situation involves fear, poverty, an absent father, health concerns, or an unexpected pregnancy.

“My body, my choice.” Of all the phrases abortion uses, why this? Is it by chance? Why does “my body, my choice” sound so compelling and reasonable?

Yet, as a Christian, you may also notice that the phrase “my body” carries a different meaning in the gospel. On the night before His Crucifixion, Jesus took bread and said, “This is my body which is given for you” (Luke 22:19). Paul later repeated those words when teaching about the sacrament: “This is my body, which is broken for you” (1 Corinthians 11:24).

Why might these words matter when thinking about abortion? And why did our Lord and Savior choose to enter into human history of all places: His mother’s womb?

Life is at the Heart of Our Heavenly Father’s Plan

The Family: A Proclamation to the World helps us see an unplanned pregnancy within a much larger eternal story. It teaches that “each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents” and that each has “a divine nature and destiny.”

A baby developing in the womb is a beloved spirit son or daughter of Heavenly Parents, with a divine nature and an eternal destiny. This is small developing baby is a child of Heavenly Parents entering mortality with divine worth, potential, and purpose.

Perhaps this is one reason Satan seeks to wound the heart of the Father by attacking what God loves: His children, who are created in His image. Babies represent innocence, new life, and the creative power of God. For this reason, abortion is not merely a political issue; it is also a spiritual one involving God’s design for human life.

“This Is My Body”

At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted what Latter-day Saints know as the sacrament. Matthew records that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and said, **“**Take, eat; this is my body” (Matthew 26:26). Luke records the fuller statement: “This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). Paul later repeated the Savior’s words: “This is my body, which is broken for you” (1 Corinthians 11:24).

The words of abortion “my body, my choice” echo language at the center of the sacrament, but use the opposite, blasphemous meaning.

Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft discusses this connection in this short clip:

The same words—“This is my body”—can therefore point in opposite directions. Christ gives His body for us so that we may live. As John wrote, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). In giving His body, Christ teaches that love means sacrificing for the good of another person.

How the Cultural Message Can Be Confusing

“My body, my choice” is used so often that it simply feels like the compassionate or reasonable way to think about the issue. Looking more carefully at abortion and what it entails in each phase may require courage to reconsider assumptions that have been carried for years.

Jesus called Satan “the father of lies” (John 8:44). In the case of abortion, the distortion is to make the mother’s bodily autonomy appear to be the entire moral question while the developing child gradually disappears from view. The language itself can contribute to that. If the child is spoken of only as a pregnancy, a choice, a problem, or something that can be terminated, it can become easier to stop thinking about who is developing in the womb and what God has revealed about the sanctity of mortal life.

What Research Shows

Understanding is also needed for women who have had an abortion. A 30-year longitudinal study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry determined that women who have abortions face a significantly higher risk of psychological effects often associated with post-abortion syndrome (PAS), which mirrors symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). For women and even men, the experience is devastating, causing severe and long-lasting emotional, psychological, and spiritual distress. Women suffering from PAS may experience flashbacks, emotional numbness, and difficulty coping for many years to come. Healing is possible through intensive spiritual and religious care, therapy, counseling, and compassionate acknowledgment of the loss of the baby. (See British Journal of Psychiatry)

Why Clear Teaching and Compassion Belong Together

Many young women find that one of the most loving things parents, teachers, and Church leaders can do is help the next generation understand the sanctity of life clearly before they are facing a crisis. A young woman should not have to encounter the deepest questions about the life in her womb for the first time when she is frightened, overwhelmed, and being asked to make a decision quickly. A young man should not reach that moment without understanding that creating life brings responsibility. Teaching the doctrine beforehand gives young people something steady to hold onto when fear, pressure, or uncertainty makes it difficult to think clearly.

A young woman facing an unexpected pregnancy is a beloved daughter of heavenly parents whose future matters deeply to God. The father is a beloved son of heavenly parents whose choices and responsibilities matter as well. And the baby developing in the womb is also a beloved child of heavenly parents, with immeasurable worth, divine potential, and an eternal future.

That is why practical family support matters so much. The Family: A Proclamation to the World teaches that “extended families should lend support when needed.” An unexpected pregnancy is exactly the kind of moment when that principle can become deeply personal. When family relationships are safe and supportive, reaching out to parents or grandparents can be an important first step. This is their grandbaby too.

Parents and grandparents may be able to offer emotional steadiness, financial help, transportation, housing, childcare, wisdom, or simply the reassurance that an unexpected pregnancy does not have to disrupt a young woman’s future. They may have a meaningful opportunity to help protect this new life while strengthening and supporting the young parents who are trying to decide what comes next.

Christ’s Atonement Covers Abortion

Jesus Christ gave His body for us and died so that we may live. But His Atonement does more than teach us the sanctity of life. Christ also came to heal and redeem those who are carrying the consequences of choices they deeply regret—including abortion. No one who turns sincerely to Him is beyond the reach of His mercy.

Elder Neil L. Andersen spoke directly to both women facing an unexpected pregnancy and those carrying regret from an abortion in “Cherishing Life.” He also spoke directly to those carrying “deep pain and regret” from having or participating in an abortion and taught that although the past cannot be changed, “God can heal the past.”

A Few Things Worth Thinking About

• Where did I learn to think about abortion through the phrase “my body, my choice”? What might those words leave out about the child developing in the womb?
• Why might that phrase sound so compelling? How does its opposite meaning change when I compare it with the Savior’s words, “This is my body which is given for you”?
• If someone I loved faced an unexpected pregnancy, how could I offer the emotional, spiritual, and practical support that would help her know she can courageously allow her baby to live and have a beautiful future?

Related Articles:

Abortion: What God Teaches, and the Hard Cases

Related Information

Consider the following:

Word Jujutsu In everyday language, verbal jujitsu (or word jujitsu) refers to using clever or indirect communication tactics 

Euphemism A euphemism is a mild, indirect, or polite word or phrase used to replace one that is considered harsh, blunt, vulgar, embarrassing, or taboo.

These terms often use neutral or positive language to describe ideas that may be more specific or controversial. Their plain meanings can vary by context, but in abortion discussions they may refer to the following: