Basil [AD 329-379] was the Bishop of Ceasarea, a Doctor of the Church, and faithful defender of Nicene orthodoxy.

He cared greatly for the poor and helpless as is evidenced by the following excerpt from one of his letters in which he upholds the right to life for the unborn by censuring murderous women.

The woman who purposely destroys her unborn child is guilty of murder.

With us there is no nice enquiry as to its being formed or unformed.

In this case it is not only the being about to be born who is vindicated, but the woman in her attack upon herself; because in most cases women who make such attempts die.

The destruction of the embryo is an additional crime, a second murder, at all events if we regard it as done with intent.

The punishment, however, of these women should not be for life, but for the term of ten years.  And let their treatment depend not on mere lapse of time, but on the character of their repentance.

From his letter to Amphilochius concerning the canons (Letter CLXXXVIII), heading II