Abortion & The Religious Opposition - Research Paper Example

Abortion & the Religious Opposition “Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion. Forty percent of pregnancies among white women, 69% among blacks and 54% among Hispanics are unintended in America” (Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States). Abortion rates are growing across the word day by day because of changing meaning and attitudes of people with respect to life. Unwanted or unintended pregnancies are growing because of the crazy life styles of people which ultimately end up in abortion. Earlier, people were afraid of performing abortions. Belief in religion was so strong earlier which prevented people from performing abortion. Most of the religions, especially the Christian religion, oppose abortion because of the serious ethical issues involved in it. According to Christian belief, only the creator (The God) has the sole right over creations and doing something against the will of God is unethical. Christians or the church argue that even after tremendous advancements in science and technology, the mysteries around life and death are not unveiled yet. In other words, Christians do believe that the secrets behind human life are uncatchable to human abilities and only the God has the authority on human life. In short, church always believes that denying the opportunity of a child to live in this world cannot be justified. On the other hand, critics of above argument argue that everything in this universe is meant for the wellbeing of the human and human has the right to do everything needed to make his/her life comfortable. Thus churches and current liberal or advanced societies have different perceptions about topics such as abortion. This paper analyses the various arguments in favor and against abortion through religious perspectives. “The Catholic Church has always condemned abortion as a grave evil. Christian writers from the first-century author of the Didache to Pope John Paul II have maintained that the Bible forbids abortion, just as it forbids murder” (Abortion). Abortion is an act of murdering. It is just like a person being killed by another person. Some people believe that God forgives every sin and in order to get salvation, a confession before the end of life is enough. But in many cases, people may not get an opportunity to confess their sins because of the unexpected arrival of death. Under such circumstances, it is better to stay away from committing mistakes rather than expecting forgiveness from God later. Killing of fetus in order to rescue the life of mother could be the justified up to certain extent. Didache and Pope John Paul II justified abortion based on the above belief and argument. Old Testament is more critical on causing damages to a fetus. The following words from Exodus 21:22-24 clearly suggests that the life of a fetus is as important as the life of a human. If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely, but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot (Ex. 21:22–24) (Abortion) The life of a fetus is as important as the life of a human according to Moses. Destruction of a fetus is nothing smaller than killing of another person. Moses declared that a criminal who causes damage to a fetus should be punished severely which is evident from the above words from Holy Bible. However, Jesus Christ has liberalized many of the laws of Moses. Jesus gave more importance to Forgiveness and Love. Jesus came to this world in search of sinners rather than saints. So he did everything possible to save the lives of sinners. In fact he sacrificed his life for saving the lives of sinners. He taught the sinners that if they confess their sins and accept Jesus as their savior, they will get salvation. In other words, it is possible to argue that Jesus may forgive the sins with respect to abortion also. At the same time, it should be noted that staying away from sin is better than committing sins and asking for forgiveness. “Human life is sacred and inviolable. It only makes sense, then, for the Church to reject all that violates this sacred gift, beginning with the direct destruction of innocent human life which is abortion” (Alvare). The secrets behind life and death are still unknown to science and technology. Nobody knows from where we come and where we go after death. Even science has not much doubt about the existence of a soul or energy form which drives our body. Science also knows that energy can neither be created, nor be destroyed, but it can be transformed from one form to another form. In other words, science has no clue at all about from where the spirit or soul (Energy) comes in the body of a fetus and where it goes after the death. Religions have no such worries. In fact, religions are the only entity which speaks about the life after death. Both science and religion are unique in its opinion that life is the most precious thing in this world. However, science always stresses the importance of present life whereas religions stress the importance of future life. The above differences in perceptions about the nature of life force both religion and science to take different stands on subjects like abortion. Most of the abortions taking place in this world because of the unwanted pregnancies. Crazy lifestyles and sexual habits result in unwanted pregnancies. Many of the people in this world are giving more importance to the enjoyment aspect of sexual life. However, the enjoyment aspect was attached to sexual activities only to nourish the reproduction procedures or as a supplementary thing to the reproduction process. However, the current generation has reversed the meaning of sexual activities. Many of the current generation perform sexual activities mainly for enjoyment purposes and pregnancy is perceived as a curse. Because of the above changing perceptions about pregnancy and sexual life, people have no hesitation in destroying a fetus when pregnancy occurs unintentionally. Such people believe in ethical principles of utilitarianism rather than that of the religion. Utilitarianism believes that an action is right when it produces happiness to the greatest number of people. Utilitarian principles always focus more on the rights of the existing people rather than the rights of the coming generation or fetus. If pregnancy causes any kind of problems to a person, utilitarianism sees no harm in removing or destroying the causes of those problems. However religions cannot support such arguments. The life of a fetus is as important as the life of a person according to Christian beliefs. It is true that believers cannot point to the specific command from the Bible that states, "Thou shalt not commit abortion." The Word of God doesn't state the anti-abortion stance in so many words. Rather, the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not kill", is widely held as the axis on which all anti-abortion arguments rotate (Religious Views On Abortion) It is difficult for Bible to specifically mention each and every topic in this world; however general references are plenty in number in Bible against the social evils like abortion. Children are the blessings of God according to the beliefs of Christians. It should be noted that there are plenty of couples in this world who struggles to have one child from their own blood. In other words, conception is not controlled by human elements alone. A woman cannot conceive without the knowledge of God. God has certain plans about every creation and it is unethical to work against the plans of God. Working against the wisdom of God may bring temporary gains; but in the long run, it may affect the human life negatively. The assignments in this world are temporary; the permanent assignment will be given to each human only after his death, based on the acts performed by the human during his earthly life. In short, abortion is an act which is performed against the will of God and hence it is unacceptable to religions. Not only Christians, religions like Hindus and Islam also are against abortion. Hinduism teaches that abortion, like any other act of violence, thwarts a soul in its progress toward God. Islam prohibits abortion except when the mother's life is in danger. Muslims consider a fertilized ovum that is attached to the womb a living being that has the potential of reaching its full formation. A developed fetus is considered a human life and is subject to the laws of inheritance to the extent that if the mother is sentenced to capital punishment, her life should be preserved because she is carrying another human life (Lorianne) However, the views of Jews with respect to human life are slightly different from the Christian views. “Jewish tradition allows for abortion for the sake of the mother because there is no soul in the first 40 days, and even in the latter stages of pregnancy, the fetus has a lower moral status than the mother” (Cline). At the same time, “As a general rule, abortion in Judaism is permitted only if there is a direct threat to the life of the mother by carrying the fetus to term or through the act of childbirth” (Eisenberg). Even atheists, who do not have belief in life after death, argue against abortion citing reasons with respect to human rights. “Atheists can be passionately against injustice, violence, murder, the death penalty and war. They can therefore, just as logically, oppose abortion” (Religious views on abortion). In short, all the religions and atheists are against abortion even though they have different reasons to oppose it. To conclude, abortion is a social evil which is condemned by all religions which have different beliefs. Apart from religions, liberal thinkers or atheists are also against abortion even though they have different reasons for their objection. Christianity or churches are strong critics of abortion because of its beliefs that only the God has the authority to terminate or modify the life of his creations. Church believes that the life in this world is temporary and a permanent life is waiting for the human after his death. In order to achieve that permanent life, it is the duty of the human to stay away from unethical behaviors or acts such as abortion. Works Cited 1. Alvare, Helen. Abortion: What the Church Teaches”. 2011. Web. 17 April 2011. 2. “Abortion”. Web. 17 April 2011. 3. Cline, Austine. “Abortion & Religion: Diverse Religious Traditions on the Morality of Abortion” 2011. Web. 17 April 2011. 4. Eisenberg, Daniel MD. “Abortion in Jewish Law”. 2011. Web. 17 April 2011. 5. “Facts on Induced Abortion in the United States”. 2008. Web. 17 April 2011. 6. Lorianne. “World religions on Abortion”. 2005. Web. 17 April 2011. 7. “Religious Views On Abortion”. Web. 17 April 2011. 8. Society For the protection of Unborn Children. “Religious views on abortion”. 2011. Web. 17 April 2011. Read More