Hohenstein,+Emma

Emma Hohenstein World History – D Band 28 October 2009

Abortion is a practice that has been around for decades, approximately since the seventies. In 2007 over one million women had abortions. There are mixed reactions to the free use of abortion. Many people think that it should not be a legal procedure, some think that it should not be a procedure at all and the idea of abortion should be vanquished from the world, and still others feel that a woman has the right to deal with her body the way she feels fit. There are two ‘categories’ of people when it comes to opinions on abortion. Those who call themselves Pro-Life and are against abortion and those who consider themselves Pro-Choice and are for “a woman’s right to choose.” Some religions have long standing histories that they base their opinions on and others have been faced with the conflict without ancient scripture to guide their way. However, almost all religions feel that it is immoral to abort a baby but the degrees to which it is acceptable vary between religions. In this paper the views of Hinduism, Catholicism, Judaism, Quakerism and Wicca are looked at and compared to each other. A main belief of Hinduism is that of Karma and reincarnation. In affect, the things one does in their current life will add up on their quest to God. If one does something bad, something equally bad will happen to them in their next life until the bad they did is repaid. Another point of Hinduism is the idea of ahimsa, nonviolence and peace. Hindu’s believe that in killing an unborn child you are breaking the laws of ahimsa. “Hinduism teaches that abortion, like any other act of violence, thwarts a soul in its progress toward God.” (Murti/Derr) However, even though most of the leaders and teachers of Hindu are against the idea of abortion they do not force people to decide against it. Although, they do remind people of the karmic repercussions. As stated by Dr. Satyanarayana Dasa, one who gets an abortion or performs an abortion for a woman “…cannot escape the punishment for murder given by the laws of karma, and ...in their next lives they will have to suffer the misery of repeatedly being aborted.” All of these ideas culminate on the idea of an abortion simply to get rid of the fetus. When the mother is in fatal condition because of her pregnancy it is accepted by the laws of Karma to terminate the pregnancy although this concept is a big controversy within the religion. Some feel that even then the child should be given a chance to live when others feel that the life of a full grown individual is more important than that of an unborn child. Whether it is fully accepted by Hinduism is not clear but the majority of the religious experts lean to the side of it’s approved morality. Another popular custom in Hinduism is the idea that men are more useful than women. This lead to many fetuses being aborted after the parents discovered the sex of the child. The practice of selective-sex abortions was outlawed in 1996. Catholicism is often seen as the Pro-Life front with picket signs of biblical phrases. They believe that all beings are children of God’s so all souls are equal under God. They also believe that the life and death of a fetus is worth the exact same in the world as the death of a grown human. A child becomes an individual when they are conceived and has a full soul after forty days, according to scripture. Abortion is strictly prohibited under the laws written in the Bible that “ evil is never to be done that good may come of it”. Any sort of abortion to simply get rid of a child are prohibited and “exile is decreed against mothers guilty of [abortion].” (Catholic Encyclopedia). In some cases anyone who performs the abortion will be exiled as well. Procedures that are done for the safety of the mother, the desire is that the baby will be saved. If it is completely necessary, such as the mother will die, surgery is permitted if it is insured that all precautions for the baby will be put out. Some churches wont allow these abortions at all. However, even though they allow abortions for the health and safety of the mother it does not remove the said evil that will come from it. Since both the mothers life and the baby’s life are equal in value to God neither may be neglected to save the other. But, to encompass all of this, no abortion or surgery may be permitted until after the child has had a full chance at conception – six months, not even to save the mother’s life. Judaism takes a fairly different approach at abortion. The practice is frowned upon but permissible as long as the woman has consent of their Rabbi. In fact, if the fetus is endangering the mother’s physical or mental health abortion must be performed. There are some limitations of the acceptability of abortions however. A fetus cannot be aborted in the third trimester, or simply on the basis that it will be born abnormal. However, both of these limitations can be removed if the mother’s health is in danger. For the most part, all things are decided on whether the mother will be mentally or physically stable if she keeps the fetus. If she will not be healthy than it is a must that she have the pregnancy terminated, if she will than it is usually not okay. The Society of Friends, most commonly know as Quakers, are similar to Catholicism in religious beliefs. They believe that everyone has that of God in them and everyone is equal because of that. They also have a concept of peace and non-violence, similar to Hinduism. Concerning abortion, the idea of killing someone goes against the non-violence idea. In addition, Rachel MacNair, editor of Friends United Meeting’s website, believes that “If the possibility of killing someone (one's own child, at that) is a normal part of the pleasure of sex, then how well can we get across to him that he can't kill someone because he wants their expensive shoes?”. Basically, if today’s youth doesn’t learn that killing someone so you can have sex how can one get simpler points across like the immorality of murdering for other things. She also brings to light the way that the availability of abortions makes it easier for men to force women into decisions. “Abortion serves as a weapon in the arsenal of men who wish to dominate women. Such men see it as making women sexually available to them, to be vacuumed out and re-used.” Quaker’s see abortion as, not only a case of non-violence, but also as a degradation of women because, using the statement that all people have that of God in them, women and men are equal. Which means women should not have to go through surgical procedures to have the same freedom as men. The only consistently Pro-Choice religion is Wicca. According to the Wiccan Rede, a set of rules similar to the Bible but shorter, “Live ye must, and let to live.” This translates to two things concerning abortion. One, is that all should have a chance to live which would make Wiccans against abortion. However, the more prominent and commonly followed part of that statement is the ‘let to live’. In other words, all people have the right to live as they want. This means that if a woman decides to get an abortion it is her choice and hers alone. For the most part all religions are against abortion. Hinduism, Wicca, Quakerism and Judaism have a similar outlook as to the freedom of choice. Each thinks, in varying degrees, so that, if one would so choose that an abortion can be done. However, Hinduism, Judaism and Quakerism feel that God will take repercussions to the soul of the people involved. Catholicism and Hinduism both feel very strongly that abortions are very bad and should not be legal because they disrupt one’s path to God and God’s law. With Quakerism, Judaism and Wicca all believe that a woman should have some right to choose. The only strongly opposed to a woman’s decision in abortion is Catholicism and that is because all abortion was strictly forbidden by their governing laws. All, with the exception of some strictly interpreted Catholicism, are accepting to abortion for the health of the mother.

Works Cited B., Heather. //A Wiccan Speaks on Abortion and the Wiccan Rede.// Associated Content, 30 April 2007. Web. 28 October 2009. Knight, Kevin. //Abortion//. Catholic Encyclopedia, 2009. Web. 28 October 2009. MacNair, Rachel. //A Consistent Pro-Life Ethic: The Seamless Garment Network//. Friends United Meeting, April 1999. Web. 28 October 2009. Murti, Vasu and Derr, Krane. //Abortion is Bad Karma, Hindu Perspective.// Feminism & Nonviolence Studies. Web. 28 October 2009. n.a. //Religion & Ethics – Judaism//. BBC, 20 July 2006. Web. 28 October 2009.