Правило 2 Василия Великого

Anyone who intentionally destroys a fetus conceived in the womb is subject to the penalty of murder. We do not have a subtle distinction between a fruit that is formed or one that is not yet formed. For here punishment is imposed not only for having been born, but also for slandering oneself: since wives, from such attempts, very often die. Coupled with this is the destruction of the fetus, like another murder, from those who deliberately dare to do this. However, it is appropriate not to extend their repentance until their death, but to accept them into fellowship after they have completed ten years: healing should not be measured by time, but by the manner of repentance. (Ap. 65; Trul. 91; Ankir. 21; Vasily Vel. 8, 33, 52). In this rule, Basil the Great repeats the prescription of 21 rights. the Council of Ancyra, which was later confirmed by the Council of Trullo (right 91), and reminds that with regard to this crime in the Christian Church no distinction is made whether the fetus in the womb received a human form or not; with this he sets off the prescription of the Old Testament church, in which discrimination was made, and therefore the crime was judged differently. The book of Exodus says: When people fight and they hit a pregnant woman and she has a miscarriage, but there is no other harm, then take from the guilty the penalty that the husband of that woman imposes on him, and he must pay it through intermediaries; and if there is harm, then give life for soul (Ex. 21:22–23). In the first case, the culprit had to pay a fine; in the second, he was subject to death. In Christianity, a monetary penalty is not required, but a wife who kills a fetus conceived in the womb is condemned on the same basis as a murderer, firstly for killing the fetus, and secondly for exposing herself to mortal danger, since women for the most part die from this themselves 27 . Basil the Great subjects such criminals to a ten-year penance, allowing the term to be reduced if they sincerely and from the heart repent of their sin. In his 8th rule, Basil the Great also punishes those women who give medicine to cause a miscarriage (see interpretation of 21 Ankir. rules). This crime is considered a cause of divorce. If a husband finds out that his wife deliberately killed the fetus in the womb, then he has the right to demand that the marriage with her be dissolved. This was prescribed by the Emperor Justinian, and subsequently repeated in a special novel (XXXI) by the Emperor Leo the Wise, which Balsamon mentions in his interpretation of 91 Trullian Rule 28. This reason for divorce is still valid in the Orthodox Church. Interpretation of Zonara in Af. Sint IV, 304. You might be interested in: