“Before I Formed You”: The Misuse of Jeremiah 1:5 in Abortion Debates

“Before I Formed You”: The Misuse of Jeremiah 1:5 in Abortion Debates

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”— Jeremiah 1:5

This verse has become a rallying cry for many in the pro-life movement, used to assert that all unborn life is divinely ordained and known by God. But is that what the text actually says—or means?

To be clear:

Abortion is wrong—not because of modern politics, but because every human life is sacred and known by God.

But this is not an article about abortion politics. This is about hermeneutics. About reading the Bible in context and refusing to rip verses from prophetic literature to build a theology it never intended to support.

Let’s take a closer look at the real purpose of Jeremiah 1:5—and how its misuse ironically ignores the horrifying realities God warned about in that very same book.

1. The Context of Jeremiah 1:5 – A Prophet’s Unique Calling

Jeremiah 1:5 is not a general statement about all unborn children. It is a specific calling of a prophet, much like God’s call to Moses or Paul.

• “I appointed you as my prophet…”

  This is not about personhood or fetal rights. It’s about prophetic appointment.

• “Before you were born, I set you apart…”

  God, in His sovereignty, foreknew Jeremiah and designated him for a task—to be a prophet to a rebellious people on the verge of judgment.

Not About Biology, But Divine Commission

Jeremiah is not speaking biologically. This isn’t a lesson in embryology or about fetal consciousness. It’s a theological truth about God’s foreknowledge and calling, a theme repeated throughout Scripture with prophets, kings, and apostles.

Even Paul speaks similarly:

“But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace.” (Galatians 1:15)

This doesn’t mean every fetus is an apostle.

2. The Logical Problem: Selective Reading and Application

If Jeremiah 1:5 is about universal personhood in the womb, then what do we do with the rest of Jeremiah’s life?

• Why was Jeremiah cursed for being born? (Jeremiah 20:14)

• Why does God say He is “full of the Lord’s wrath” and can no longer hold it in (Jeremiah 6:11)?

• Why does God threaten, in vivid horror, that children will die by sword, famine, and even be eaten by their own parents?

We don’t see those verses on bumper stickers.

It’s a logical inconsistency to weaponize one poetic verse as a prooftext for modern political debates while ignoring the rest of the context, which is far more disturbing—and reveals a people so rebellious that even their infants would not be spared.

3. The Larger Picture: Judgment, Not Celebration

The rest of the Book of Jeremiah paints a bleak picture:

Jeremiah 6:11 – Full of Wrath

“I am filled with the Lord’s anger and am tired of holding it in! ‘I will pour out my judgment on children and adults alike, on husbands and wives and on those who are old and gray.’”

This is not a feel-good, baby-dedication kind of book. This is God warning a people so corrupt He’s about to unleash destruction on their entire society.

Jeremiah 18:21 – Imprecation and Horror

“Let their children starve. Let them die by the sword. Let their wives become childless widows. Let their old men die in a plague, and let their young men be killed in battle!”

Jeremiah, the very prophet people quote to defend unborn life, begs God to kill the children of his enemies.

This is the same prophet weeps for Israel and watches them go down in flames.

This isn’t sentimental. It’s judgment.

4. The Cannibalism Texts: Lamentations 2 & 4

If you want the full theological arc of Jeremiah’s prophecy, it ends in Lamentations—where the curses come to pass:

Lamentations 2:20

“Should mothers eat their own children, those who were once their bouncing babies?”

Lamentations 4:10

“Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege.”

These aren’t metaphors. This is what Jeremiah foresaw when he warned Jerusalem. The prophetic calling in chapter 1 was to deliver a message so disturbing, it would break his heart and ours.

The horror that followed was not from abortions—but from judgment because the people refused to listen to God.

5. Misuse of Scripture: Turning Judgment Into a Poster Slogan

Jeremiah 1:5 is about calling, not biology. And it’s dangerous to ignore the surrounding context:

• You lose the prophetic urgency of Jeremiah’s message.

• You reduce a deeply personal commission to a political slogan.

• You create a false theology that forgets God’s judgment, wrath, and justice—central to Jeremiah’s entire life.

6. A Better Application: Be Who You Were Appointed to Be

If you want to apply Jeremiah 1:5, do it rightly.

You were called for a purpose. You were known before your birth—not to make Twitter arguments, but to be holy, faithful, and unflinching in your obedience.

Like Jeremiah, we are to speak truth to power, to call out wickedness in all forms, and to lament deeply when people reject God.

And if you must quote Jeremiah, then also quote:

“This is what the Lord says: Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it.”— Jeremiah 6:16

Conclusion: Let Jeremiah Be Jeremiah

Don’t rip Jeremiah 1:5 from its spine just to win a debate. Read the whole scroll.

Let the prophet speak his uncomfortable truth: that God knew him, called him, and sent him to suffer for a message nobody wanted to hear. Let that message be heard again—full of weeping, warning, and hope for those who return.

Because in the end, Jeremiah wasn’t pro-life.

He was pro-obedience.