---
title: "Leviticus 19:15"
description: "The command 'do no injustice in judgment' is absolute; impartiality is required regardless of who benefits. Justice may not be bent — not for the powerful, not even for a sympathetic strategy. A deliberately unequal abortion law does 'injustice in judgment.'"
type: "scripture"
book: "Leviticus"
chapter: 19
verses: "15"
translation: "NASB"
refutes: "Pro-life incrementalism"
affirms_abolition: true
themes:
  - "no injustice"
  - "impartiality"
  - "equal protection"
  - "judging fairly"
source_url: "https://www.abhortion.org/scripture/leviticus-19-15.html"
---

# Leviticus 19:15

Book of Leviticus · Chapter 19

## The text

> “You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.”
> — Leviticus 19:15, NASB

**The claim this verse counters:** "Getting partial protection passed is a moral win even if the law is unequal."

## The argument

The command 'do no injustice in judgment' is absolute; impartiality is required regardless of who benefits. Justice may not be bent — not for the powerful, not even for a sympathetic strategy. A deliberately unequal abortion law does 'injustice in judgment.'

## Context & notes

Supplement (not quoted directly in the transcripts but the load-bearing text behind the 'no partiality' theme, and matches the user's stated example). Pairs with Deuteronomy 16:19 and Proverbs 17:15.

## Themes

- no injustice
- impartiality
- equal protection
- judging fairly

## Discussion questions

1. 'You shall do no injustice in judgment.' Is writing an intentional exception into a homicide law compatible with that command?
2. The verse rules out partiality even toward the sympathetic. How does that apply to laws that spare the mother from any accountability by design?

## Related

**Related scriptures:**

- [Deuteronomy 16:19](deuteronomy-16-19.md)
- [Deuteronomy 16:20](deuteronomy-16-20.md)
- [Proverbs 17:15](proverbs-17-15.md)

**Related arguments:**

- [God commands 'justice, and only justice' — not partial or deferred justice](../arguments/arg-justice-only.md)
- [“Equal protection does not require prosecuting mothers; targeting abortionists (and…”](../arguments/arg-equal-protection-14th.md)
- [“A bill that protects some children now is better than a bill that protects none and…”](../arguments/def-some-justice-better.md)

## Attribution

Verse text is quoted from the NASB. Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org