Anglican leader NT Wright has ignited controversy after suggesting that abortion may be morally justified in some cases, with Matt Walsh and others condemning his comments.
(LifeSiteNews) -- Prominent Anglican theologian N.T. Wright is facing criticism after suggesting that abortion may be morally permissible in some circumstances, including when a baby is disabled or a mother’s health is allegedly at risk.
The remarks came during the June 1 episode of Ask N.T. Wright Anything, where a German student asked Wright why Christians should defend unborn life from conception.
Wright called late-term abortion and infanticide "not only wrong but repulsive." But he stopped short of condemning all abortion, suggesting that in early pregnancy "it may be the best thing to do."
He added, "I’m not a scientist," and admitted his uncertainty about when life begins. He also described abortion as a complex issue and expressed unease about men weighing in.
In the same video, he also calls the personal existence of Satan into question, based on a supposed danger of making the Enemy equal with God.
Wright is a former Anglican bishop of Durham and an influential New Testament scholar in the English-speaking world.
Given Wright’s influence on modern Christian thought, his comments have sparked dismay among both Protestant and Catholic pro-lifers.
The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh slammed Wright in a video titled “N.T. Wright just disqualified himself as a Christian leader.”
Walsh stressed “the reality that abortion kills a human child and that means that it’s always wrong in every case, no matter what.”
“N.T. Wright is disqualified from ever being taken seriously about any theological or moral issue ever again as a Christian,” he said.
The Gospel Coalition Canada responded to Wright’s comments, acknowledging the difficulty of exceptional cases, but affirming that “to terminate a human life would be to unmake what God has made and humans have begotten.”
“Wright holds to a position that is morally impossible to sustain,” the group's statement said.
Wright’s remarks come at a time when abortion laws are loosening across much of the West.
However, biology has long affirmed that human life begins at conception, and the Catholic Church teaches that causing or permitting an abortion is gravely immoral because it destroys the life of an innocent person.
Murder, especially of the innocent, is one of four sins so grievous that they “cry to heaven” for God’s vengeance. It cannot be justified based on gestational age, disability or medical complexity.
However, the Church not only proclaims the truth about life but also offers compassion and healing for men and women in pain due to the killing of unborn children.
If you’ve been involved in abortion – whether voluntarily, or through coercion or deceit – know that help is available.
Counseling ministries like Rachel’s Vineyard offer support for both men and women suffering grief or guilt after abortion.
A baby’s life cannot be restored, but truth, justice, and healing remain possible.
