Essay

"This Is My Body": Christ and the Sanctity of Life Before Birth

You might have heard this in the culture: “My body, my choice.” It has become one of the most familiar ways abortion is defended, in part because it appeals to something we deeply value: agency. But if you are a Christian, there may also be something familiar about those words. Jesus Christ spoke similar words on the final night of His mortal ministry when He took the bread at the Last Supper and said, “This is my body which is given for you” (Luke 22:19). Paul later repeated the Savior’s words as he taught about the sacrament: “This is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24). Why do you think the same words “my body, my choice” are the same as the Savior’s but with the opposite meaning? Of all the phrases our culture uses, why this one?

You may have also wondered, Why does “my body, my choice” sound so compelling and reasonable? What does that way of thinking leave out about the life developing in the womb? Why do the words “my body” sound so different when Jesus Christ speaks them? You may also understand why some Christians hesitate to look closely at abortion. They may not fully understand what happens in an abortion, or they may feel uncomfortable examining the question because it could cause them to reconsider things they have heard or believed.

All of these are really important questions, so let’s take a closer look at answering them through the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the Way For Understanding the Sanctity of Life

Jesus taught that He is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). His mortal life can therefore teach us something about how to see life in the womb from its earliest stages. For a disciple of Jesus Christ, the sanctity of life in the womb is connected to some of the deepest truths of the gospel: where mortal life comes from, why our bodies are sacred, what it means to protect vulnerable life, why Jesus Christ gave His own body for us, and how His Atonement makes repentance, forgiveness, and healing possible. The similarity between “my body, my choice” and Christ’s “This is my body” invites us to think more deeply about what agency is for. In the sacrament, Christ speaks of His body in the language of self-giving love: “This is my body which is given for you.” He gives His body so that others may live.

Our Savior Entered Human History in a Womb

There is something equally meaningful at the beginning of Christ’s mortal story: our Savior Himself chose to enter mortality through His mother’s womb. Before His birth, His identity and divine mission were already known. Looking at Christ both in the womb and at the sacrament can help us understand the sanctity of unborn life, the purpose of our bodies, and the kind of love the Savior teaches us to choose.

Luke’s account is especially meaningful. Mary, already carrying Jesus very early in her pregnancy—what we would call the first trimester—visits Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist. When Elizabeth hears Mary’s greeting, “the babe leaped in her womb” (Luke 1:41). Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost, explains that “the babe leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke 1:41–44).

Then Elizabeth says something even more significant. She calls Mary “the mother of my Lord” (Luke 1:43). Jesus has not yet been born, yet Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost, recognizes the child Mary carries as “my Lord.” John is also still in the womb, yet Luke describes him responding with joy to the presence of Christ.

Mary is still in the earliest months of pregnancy—her first trimester—yet Jesus is already recognized for who He is. Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost, calls Him “my Lord,” while John, still in the womb himself, leaps for joy in His presence. Luke presents both unborn children as distinct individuals with identity and purpose even before birth.

That makes this passage especially meaningful when thinking about abortion, because most abortions occur during the first trimester—the same general stage of pregnancy in which Jesus is recognized as the Lord. Before Bethlehem, before the manger, and before anyone could see Him outside His mother’s body, His identity was already real and His divine mission was already unfolding. Luke’s account invites us to look at life in the womb with greater reverence and to see the unborn child not merely as a pregnancy or a future possibility, but as a developing human life with worth, identity, and divine potential.

“This Is My Body”

Now follow that same Savior from the womb to the final night of His mortal ministry. The child Elizabeth recognized as “my Lord” would one day sit with His disciples, knowing that within hours He would give His life for them and for all of us.

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).

Those words give the Christian understanding of the body a deeper meaning. Jesus does not speak of His body as though agency means that His choices concern only Himself. He says, “This is my body which is given for you.” He willingly gives His body and His life so that others may live. In Christ, agency is joined to love, responsibility, sacrifice, and concern for the good of another person.

That is part of what makes the abortion slogan “My body, my choice” so striking for Christians. The words “my body” echo language that is at the very center of the sacrament, but they point in a very different direction. Christ’s words turn attention outward toward another person: My body is given for you. The cultural slogan turns attention primarily toward individual autonomy, even when another developing human life is involved.

This powerful clip explains this connection:

At the sacrament table, Jesus answers that question with His own body. He gives His body so that others may live. This helps us with a deeper way to understand the difference between our culture’s teachings and our Savior’s teachings through His life, His sacrament, and His Atoning sacrifice.

Mortal Life Belongs to God’s Eternal 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.”

That means the baby developing in the womb is a beloved spirit son or daughter of Heavenly Parents, with a divine nature and an eternal destiny. Before receiving a mortal body, that child lived with God. Now, through the sacred process of mortal creation, that child is receiving the physical body that is essential to God’s plan for His children. This is a child of Heavenly Parents entering mortality with divine worth, potential, and purpose.

This is part of what the phrase “my body, my choice” can leave out. It directs attention almost entirely toward one person’s body and one person’s future. For a disciple of Jesus Christ, then, abortion reaches into some of the deepest truths of the gospel: where mortal life comes from, why receiving a body matters eternally, what agency is for, what mothers and fathers owe their children, and what it means to protect vulnerable life. God’s plan gives dignity and responsibility to everyone involved because each person is His child.

That is why the doctrine of divine identity matters so much here. God asks us to see the mother as His daughter, the father as His son, and the baby as His child. Each has divine worth. Each has an eternal future. And each deserves to be seen within the larger purposes of the God who gave them life.

How the Cultural Message Can Become a Spiritual Deception

You may understand why some Christians hesitate to talk about abortion or look closely at what it involves. The subject is difficult, and for some people it is deeply personal. Others may have heard “my body, my choice” so often that it simply feels like the compassionate or reasonable way to think about the issue. Looking more carefully at abortion may require them to reconsider assumptions they have carried for years.

Once you understand what God has revealed about mortal life, however, you can begin to see what the cultural message leaves out. “My body, my choice” is persuasive partly because it begins with something true: a woman has agency, her body matters, and pregnancy can profoundly affect her life. She may be frightened about relationships, education, finances, family expectations, embarrassment, or an uncertain future. Those concerns are real and should never be dismissed.

The spiritual deception comes when one real truth—I have agency over my life—is separated from the other truths that give agency its eternal meaning. The adversary does not always need to convince us that something completely false is true. Sometimes it is enough to narrow our vision until we can see one truth clearly while almost losing sight of another.

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.

The deception can also change the way we understand agency itself. In Heavenly Father’s plan, agency means that we genuinely have the power to choose, but it does not mean that every possible choice is equally good or equally consistent with who we are becoming. God gives commandments and reveals truth precisely because our choices matter. He wants us to learn to use agency in ways that protect life, honor our responsibilities to one another, and gradually make us more like Jesus Christ.

Why Clear Teaching and Compassion Belong Together

Abortion can be difficult to talk about because for some people it is not an abstract question. Someone listening may have experienced an abortion, helped someone obtain one, faced an unexpected pregnancy, or still be carrying grief, regret, or questions they have never shared. That is why this subject should be taught with care and compassion. But compassion does not require silence or uncertainty about what God has revealed.

One of the most loving things parents, teachers, and Church leaders can do is help the rising 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 as well as choice. Teaching the doctrine beforehand gives young people something steady to hold onto when fear, pressure, or uncertainty makes it difficult to think clearly.

That teaching should begin with divine identity. 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.

When families and trusted leaders avoid abortion entirely, a young woman may face an unexpected pregnancy without fully understanding what abortion involves or without having thought carefully about the life developing within her. She may also assume that continuing the pregnancy means facing everything alone. Compassionate teaching should help her see something different: there are faithful ways forward, and there can be people willing to help her take them.

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 destroy a young woman’s future. They may have a meaningful opportunity to help protect a new life while strengthening and supporting the young parents who are trying to decide what comes next.

The young man involved also has a responsibility that should not disappear from the conversation. An unplanned pregnancy is not solely the young woman’s burden to carry. Fatherhood brings moral obligations to the mother and the child, and he may also need parents, grandparents, Church leaders, and other trusted people to help him understand what faithful responsibility now requires.

Clear teaching and compassion belong together because both are forms of love. Truth helps young people recognize the sanctity of life before fear or pressure narrows their choices, while compassion helps them know that choosing what is right does not mean they have to carry every consequence alone. In moments like these, the Lord’s pattern includes not only the courage of a mother and father but also the strength of families willing to step forward and “lend support when needed.”

What Research Shows

Deep compassion is also needed for women who have had an abortion. The research summarized here reports that women experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTS) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following an abortion. The emotional consequences do not end when the procedure is over, and walking through its aftermath can be a lifelong process. Grief, regret, memories of the abortion procedure, or questions about the baby remain. Research shows that abortion, far from being something as simple, affects women on a much deeper level. Other sources, like Shockwaves: Abortion’s Wider Circle of Victims, catalogue the emotional impact of abortion on fathers, grandparents, siblings, and other relatives of the aborted child. If you or someone you know needs healing after an abortion, please visit Project Rachel, The Elliot Institute, and Silent No More.

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.”

Isaiah described that power with one of the most hopeful images in scripture. Speaking for the Lord, he wrote, “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Scarlet and crimson suggest something deeply stained—something a person may believe can never really be made clean again. Yet the Lord does not say that such sins are beyond His reach. He invites His children to come to Him and be made clean.

That promise matters deeply for someone who has participated in an abortion. Jesus Christ is “mighty to save” (Isaiah 63:1). A woman may carry grief, regret, sorrow, or memories that remain long after the abortion itself.

The Lord gives another remarkable promise about sincere repentance: “he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:42). Someone who has participated in an abortion is still a beloved son or daughter of heavenly parents, with divine worth and an eternal future. Through Jesus Christ, scarlet really can become white.

And sometimes healing changes what a person is able to offer others. With humility, someone who has experienced abortion may eventually be able to support another woman facing an unexpected pregnancy, share what she wishes she had understood earlier, and help her see that parenting or adoption can be pursued with the loving support of family and friends. Christ does not merely forgive. He can take what has been broken, teach us through repentance, and help us become instruments of greater compassion, courage, and life.

A Few Things Worth Thinking About

• Where have most of my assumptions about “my body, my choice” come from? What truths about the developing child might that phrase leave out?
• Have I ever stopped to consider why “my body, my choice” can sound so compelling and reasonable? What changes when I compare those words with the Savior’s own words at the Last Supper: “This is my body which is given for you”?
• What does Luke’s account of Jesus and John, both still in the womb, help me understand about the sanctity of unborn life? What is significant about Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Ghost, recognizing Mary as “the mother of my Lord” while Mary was still early in her pregnancy?
• If someone I loved were facing an unexpected pregnancy, would I be willing to offer enough emotional, spiritual, and practical help that choosing life did not feel like facing the future alone?

Three Things You Can Do This Week to Understand This More Deeply

First, read Luke 1:39–45 slowly. Notice how Luke speaks about Jesus and John while both are still in the womb, and pay particular attention to Elizabeth’s words after she is filled with the Holy Ghost. Then reread the portions of The Family: A Proclamation to the World about divine identity, procreation, children, and the sanctity of life. Consider how those teachings change the way you see the mother, the father, and the child.

Second, read or listen to Elder Neil L. Andersen’s “Cherishing Life”. Pay attention not only to what he teaches about abortion, but also to what he asks disciples of Jesus Christ to do for women and men facing an unexpected pregnancy. Think about what practical support you, your family, or your ward could offer someone who needed help choosing a faithful path forward.

Finally, if you are facing an unexpected pregnancy yourself, do not try to carry the decision alone. Pray and reach out to trustworthy people who love you—parents, grandparents, your bishop, or others who can provide real spiritual and practical help. If abortion is part of your past, turn toward Jesus Christ rather than away from Him. His Atonement makes repentance, forgiveness, healing, and a different future possible.

Conclusion

The life of Jesus Christ brings these truths together in a powerful way. He entered mortality in the womb of Mary and was recognized as the Lord before His birth. He received a mortal body, lived among us, and then willingly gave that body for our salvation. At the Last Supper, His words “This is my body which is given for you” (Luke 22:19) show us a way of understanding the body and agency that is rooted in love, responsibility, sacrifice, and concern for the life of another person.

Seeing abortion through the life and teachings of Jesus Christ also changes the way we see the people involved. A woman facing an unexpected or frightening pregnancy needs truth, but she also needs people willing to stand beside her, help her find real support, and remind her that she is a beloved daughter of heavenly parents. The father is also a beloved son of heavenly parents with responsibilities toward the mother and child. And the baby developing in the womb is also precious to God, with divine worth and potential.

Someone who has participated in an abortion needs that same combination of truth and compassion. The Savior does not ask us to pretend that our choices do not matter, but neither does He teach that a past sin must determine the rest of a person’s life. Through sincere repentance and the grace of Jesus Christ, forgiveness and healing are possible.

As we understand these truths more clearly, we can protect life with greater courage, support mothers and fathers with greater generosity, and respond to those carrying regret with greater compassion. Jesus Christ shows us both how to cherish life and how to redeem what has gone wrong. Following Him can help us honor His truth while extending the same mercy, sacrifice, and love He has offered to us.