'Progressive Christian' turns Bible into a Planned Parenthood parable — but truth fires back

Who knew the Christmas story was really about bodily autonomy?

That's exactly what Democrat James Talarico, a Texas state representative and progressive Christian, wants you to believe. Armed with the confidence of a seminarian with just enough theology to be dangerous, Talarico recently appeared on "The Joe Rogan Experience," where he claimed there is "no historical, theological, biblical basis" requiring Christians to oppose abortion.

Talarico wants to paint Mary as a modern feminist icon. But scripture tells a different story, one far more radical.

What's worse, Talarico argued that the Bible supports the "right" of a mother to kill her unborn child.

His argument goes like this: Because Genesis 2:7 says that Adam became a "living being" after God breathed life into him, that means life doesn't begin until birth. Therefore, an unborn child can be killed before he takes his first breath because the unborn aren't fully human.

This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Bible. It's theological acrobatics dressed up as biblical scholarship — and it's a lie.

Adam wasn't conceived in a womb, according to Genesis. He was handcrafted by God from the dust of creation, then filled with God's life-giving spirit. The moment of breath is not about biology, as Talarico suggests, but theology. It declares that God alone is the giver of life. And to use this verse as a permission slip for abortion is not just a category error, it's a hermeneutical train wreck of the worst kind.

The implications of his logic are chilling.

Biblically, it means that King David's mother would have been morally justified to exercise "choice" and abort the future king — even while God weaved him together in his mother's womb (Psalm 139) — and that it would have been justified for Elizabeth and Mary to slaughter their unborn children, John the Baptist and Jesus, just as Herodian soldiers slaughtered the holy innocents who supposedly threatened King Herod's reign (Matthew 2:16-18).

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In fact, Talarico's logic does more than attack the unborn — it undermines the Incarnation.

His argument denies the hypostatic union, the historic Christian doctrine that Jesus is both fully God and fully human. If Jesus wasn't fully human until He took His first breath, then He was not the Incarnate Son during Mary's pregnancy. But Jesus didn't become the Son of God only when he took his first breath at birth. No, he was fully God and fully human from the moment of conception. To suggest otherwise is not a minor theological error. It's heresy.

In an effort to score progressive political points, Talarico doesn't just fumble elementary theology or misinterpret a Bible verse. He actually guts the gospel and rips out the beating heart of Christian orthodoxy.

But it gets worse.

Not content with butchering Genesis 2:7, Talarico also reinterprets the Annunciation — the moment when the angel Gabriel tells Mary she will bear the Son of God (Luke 1:26-38) — as proof that the Bible is pro-abortion.

"Before God comes over Mary and we have the Incarnation, God asks for Mary's consent, which is remarkable," Talarico told Joe Rogan. "The angel comes down and asks Mary if this is something that she wants to do, and she says, 'If it is God's will, let it be done.'"

In Talarico's telling, the Annunciation is not about God taking on human flesh to dwell with us but a story that teaches that "creation has to be done with consent." Therefore, his argument goes, abortion is compatible with Christianity because creation itself depends on a woman exercising bodily autonomy.

This pro-Planned Parenthood parable, of course, is pure fiction.

The Christian consensus has been clear-eyed about this issue for two millennia: Abortion is a grave sin. Full stop.

Neither God nor Gabriel asks Mary for her "consent." Instead, Gabriel tells Mary what she will do. "You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus" (Luke 1:31). And Mary's response? She doesn't assert her bodily autonomy, but she accepts God's will with obedience, even though she does not understand God's plan (Luke 1:34).

Talarico wants to paint Mary as a modern feminist icon. But scripture tells a different story, one far more radical: She is a confused teenage girl who trusts God with her body, future, and reputation.

It's the ultimate act of surrender. And, more importantly, it's a complete rebuke of pro-abortion ideology, which elevates a woman to giver and taker of life.

The truth is, Christianity has never endorsed abortion. The earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament — from the Didache to the church fathers and Councils — explicitly condemn abortion and equate it with murder. The Christian consensus has been clear-eyed about this issue for two millennia: Abortion is a grave sin. Full stop.

Only under the pressure of secularism, an ideology that erases God, have some Christians equivocated and, in the case of Talarico, tried to revise history. But this revision attempt is not biblical scholarship.

This is why Talarico's attempt to force the concept of "consent" into the Bible is as bewildering as it is absurd. He's not doing exegesis. He's bending his knee to the spirit of the age, using the Bible as a prop to recast the word of God into the image of progressive politics.

It's dangerous, not only because of its destructive theology, but because Talarico is not a fringe activist. He's a rising star in the Democratic Party. Rogan, in fact, urged Talarico to run for president, and Politico even believes Talarico could "turn Texas blue." That means his gobbledygook theology isn't just rhetorical — it could have real consequences.

And the cost will be measured in dead unborn babies.

Christians must not be deceived by Talarico's affable tone, seminary vocabulary, or theological sleight of hand. The Bible is not pro-abortion, and Christian theology does not treat abortion as a third-tier issue we can "agree to disagree" about. Christianity is unabashedly pro-life. From Genesis to Revelation, God reveals a radical vision of human life: It is sacred because it is human made in His image.

Mary didn't say, "My body, my choice." She said, "I am the Lord's servant. May it happen to me as you have said." That's not feminist consent. It's a rebuke of it.