There has been a lot of debate and mudslinging on News24 on the topic of religion. I would like to put forth a series of articles, starting with abortion, where religion directly effects our rights.
What does the bible say?
I couldn't find a direct verse out the bible for it's stance on abortion. Seems like you need to mix and match a few verses and open it up for interpretation to come to the conclusion that abortion is murder. When you say "abortion is wrong because the bible told me so", I can't take you seriously when you choose to ignore more direct instructions in the bible like working on the sabbath, wearing blended fabrics, killing children who curse their parents (isn't that a crazy contradiction?) and eating shellfish. But that's the Old Testament I can hear you guys say... well so is the references to abortion. I'm going to keep this as short as possible and not rattle off bible verses (you can look them up yourself if you choose) but the reference to abortion works on the following syllogism.
Premise #1: It is wrong to murder a person.
?Premise #2: The unborn is a person.?
Conclusion: Therefore, it is wrong to murder the unborn.
Most of you will agree that the view on abortion is predominately a biblical one and influenced by God and his teachings.
What happens when you have no choice?
When the mothers life is at stake most medical practitioners will abort the baby to save the mother. Many will agree the bible says it's okay to take a life to save a life. I can buy into that logic but many don't agree.
Vision Forum Ministries says “For thousands of years, man has found ways to rationalize murder, but for those who call upon the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, there is but one standard for resolving this and all ethical questions: Holy Scripture. The Bible gives no authority for a parent to ever take the life of an unborn child."
"Scripture does give three valid bases for taking the life of another, none of which can even remotely be construed as a justification for “abortion for the life of the mother.” Man may take another’s life in the case of just warfare; man may take another’s life when acting on behalf of the civil magistrate to execute a person guilty of a capital crime; or man may take another’s life as an act of self-defense, or in defense of others where there is a significant and immediate threat to life best remedied with a lethal response." To conclude, mothers should never kill their babies. There are no exceptions.
The Bible condemns abortion and offers no exceptions to this rule. Abortion is not even biblically permissible in so-called “life of the mother” cases."
Crazy fanatics! I would have thought until I came across many religious organizations and websites singing the same holy tune.
"let’s remember that God is a God of miracles. He can preserve the life of a mother and a child despite all the medical odds being against it."
"...abortion is the willful taking of the life of the unborn, we are not permitted to do it even to save the life of the mother."
I'm sure a lot of the moderates will agree that this is a bit extreme and it's okay to save the life of the mother (at least I hope so) but the fundamentalists make it extremely difficult on medical practitioners and survivors to justify their actions because it is murder for the bible told me so. How many women have died due to this religious intolerance? It's obviously very difficult to find stats but I've stumbled across a few cases on the internet.
What about rape and incest?
Ok let's move onto rape and incest as I'm sure we can all agree (I hope) that to save a life it's okay to have an abortion. How can we force a women to love, fend and protect the product of such a violent conception? Is it fair... No! What happens if she's contracted HIV and the baby has it too? I think we should leave the choice up to them. Rape ruins lives... Don't force it to ruin children's live too.
What about genetic diseases?
Downs syndrome is always a touchy subject. Do they have a chance at life? Yes, I'm sure. Do the parents have a chance to make a choice? Yes even more so. It must be the hardest decision to ever make and the constitution allows us the freedom to make it. Is it fair for people to shout at them murder? No no no! What about the quality of the child's life and the trauma the parents go through?
Let's take it a step further. What about genetic incurable diseases? Siamese twins who have no chance at survival (we just saw it in the news) and other congenital disorders that give the child a zero chance of survival and a happy existence. We can prevent a life of pain and suffering but women (and men) are in certain cases condemned to a life of pain and suffering for the bible told me so.
Where is your moral compass you may ask?
No I do not agree with abortion as a birth control method and I do not condone stupidity (birth control is free) but when done correctly and as early as possible, I cannot push my personal views onto others. Since abortion was legalized in 1973, reproductive health clinics and health care providers across the United States and Canada have become the targets of violence by anti-abortion extremists. Physicians and clinic workers have been murdered; clinics have been bombed, burned down, invaded, and blockaded; and patients have been harassed and intimidated. (I'm sure these extremists all have a bible under their arm). Because I have an aversion to people aborting fetuses, does it give me the right to shout murder and burn down abortion clinics for the bible told me so. No, we need to respect the rights of women and their freedom of choice. If we outright ban abortion who are going to take care of all these unwanted children? Lets focus on education instead.
Conclusion
My question is this... To all the anti-abortion lobbyists... While you are shouting abortion is murder, what are you doing for the children who are already here? Those who are starving, abused and unloved, those in orphanages or hungry on the streets, those with downs syndrome forgotten about in another under-funded home, those with HIV, TB and FAS? Instead of taking the moral high ground; fight for our existing children's rights and not for taking away women's right. Just because the bible told you so, it doesn't make it right!
Onward Christian soldiers, bleat away. I look forward to the comments.
A few references but they are too numerous to name:
http://www.visionforumministries.org/issues/life/why_the_life_of_the_mother_is.aspx
http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/
http://news.change.org/stories/25-year-old-polish-woman-dies-due-to-conscience-clause
http://www.catholic.net/index.php?option=dedestaca&id=177
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