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Christianity and Abortion
What does the Bible say about abortion?
To put it succinctly, God does not condone abortion. There are many scriptures that can be referenced, but let's simplify the argument. In several places in the Bible, we read that God knew us before we were conceived. We also read that God sees ALL life as worthy of sanctification - He loved the people of the world so much that He sent His only Son to die for our sins. There are references to pagan rituals of killing newborn and unborn children. There are laws regarding the punishment for killing an unborn child. There are curses associated with the killing of children and unborn children. All of these combine to say that God values the lives of unborn children, that they are people at the time of conception, and therefore it is a sin to abort a child.So what about a woman's right to choose?
Keep in mind as you read these arguments, that according to the Centers for Disease Control, the federal government agency tasked with tracking pregnancies and abortions, "The 2000 total [preganancies] included 4.06 million live births, 1.31 million induced abortions, and 1.03 million fetal losses." Let's look at the reasons for abortion, according to| Planned Parenthood argument | My opionion |
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| 1. Laws against abortion kill women. | |
| To prohibit abortions does not stop them. When women feel it is absolutely necessary, they will choose to have abortions, even in secret, without medical care, in dangerous circumstances. In the two decades before abortion was legal in the U.S., it's been estimated that nearly a million women per year sought out illegal abortions. Thousands died. Tens of thousands were mutilated. All were forced to behave as if they were criminals. | I find this to be a rediculous argument. Let me explain. If we substitute driving drunk for abortion, we can make this argument: To prohibit driving drunk does not stop drunk drivers. When people feel it is necessary, they will choose to drive drunk, even in secret, without a designated driver, in dangerous circumstances. In the past two decades, it's been estimated that nearly 10 million people per year illegally drove while intoxicated. Thousands died. Tens of thousands were mutilated. All were forced to behave as if they were criminals.According to this logic, we should legalize drunk driving, drive by shooting, and many other crimes.Please note that below I discuss how un-legalizing abortion does not solve the situation Planned Parenthood states "In 1965, abortion was so unsafe that 17 percent of all deaths due to pregnancy and childbirth were the result of illegal abortion (Gold, 1990). Today, abortion is 11 times safer than childbirth (Gold, 1990). Legal abortion has been associated with decreases in both maternal and infant mortality. According to one estimate, 1,500 pregnancy-related deaths were prevented in 1985 (AGI, 1990)." In other words, this argument is valid for about 1,500 of the 1.31 million abortions. What about the other 1,300,500 (1 million, 300 thousand, 500) abortions? |
| 2. Legal abortions protect women's health. | |
| Legal abortion not only protects women's lives, it also protects their health. For tens of thousands of women with heart disease, kidney disease, severe hypertension, sickle-cell anemia and severe diabetes, and other illnesses that can be life-threatening, the availability of legal abortion has helped avert serious medical complications that could have resulted from childbirth. Before legal abortion, such women's choices were limited to dangerous illegal abortion or dangerous childbirth. | We have a major, unrecognized, problem in this country if more than 25% of all pregnancies (1.3 million of 4.06 million) involve women with heart disease, kidney disease, etc. Oh, wait, Planned Parenthood says tens of thousands of women... over what span of time? 32 years? even if the tens of thousands are in just one years, that still leaves about a million that were not threatening to the mother. |
| 3. A woman is more than a fetus. | |
| Some people argue these days that a fetus is a "person" that is "indistinguishable from the rest of us" and that it deserves rights equal to women's. On this question there is a tremendous spectrum of religious, philosophical, scientific, and medical opinion. It's been argued for centuries. Fortunately, our society has recognized that each woman must be able to make this decision, based on her own conscience. To impose a law defining a fetus as a "person," granting it rights equal to or superior to a woman's — a thinking, feeling, conscious human being — is arrogant and absurd. It only serves to diminish women. | All arguments as to the rights of the child aside, and accepting that a woman should have the right to make decisions about reproduction, why doesn't the choice made at the time of conception count? For centuries this was the only option, and women made the choice at the time of conception. This argument has made abortion a form of contraception, and it is the most dangerous form of contraception. I believe we need to educate women on their choices BEFORE they conceive a child. I discuss this in more detail below |
| 4. Being a mother is just one option for women. | Many hard battles have been fought to win political and economic equality for women. These gains will not be worth much if reproductive choice is denied. To be able to choose a safe, legal abortion makes many other options possible. Otherwise an accident or a rape can end a woman's economic and personal freedom. | What does the option of being a mother have to do with abortion? If a women does not want to be a mother, why is abortion an option? I believe that if a women has chosen to not be a mother, she's probably made that choice before she got pregnant, and if not then she hasn't given it enough thought (see below). And also, choosing abortion removes options, rather than makes others possible. |
| 5. Outlawing abortion is discriminatory. | |
| Anti-abortion laws discriminate against low-income women, who are driven to dangerous self-induced or back-alley abortions. That is all they can afford. But the rich can travel wherever necessary to obtain a safe abortion. | This is absolutely ludicrous. First, the cost of contraception is far less than the cost of an abortion - (in the case of abortions paid by the state, they're still more expensive - see below). |
| 6. Compulsory pregnancy laws are incompatible with a free society. | |
| If there is any matter that is personal and private, then pregnancy is it. There can be no more extreme invasion of privacy than requiring a woman to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. If government is permitted to compel a woman to bear a child, where will government stop? The concept is morally repugnant. It violates traditional American ideas of individual rights and freedoms. | Where does it say that if you can't have an abortion, you must get pregnant? These are not mutually exlusive options. It surprises me that the organization named Planned Parenthood is ignorant of the concept of contraceptives, or at least they appear to be when using this argument. |
| 7. Outlaw abortion, and more children will bear children. | Forty percent of 14-year-old girls will become pregnant before they turn 20. This could happen to your daughter or someone else close to you. Here are the critical questions: Should the penalty for lack of knowledge or even for a moment's carelessness be enforced pregnancy and childrearing? Or dangerous illegal abortion? Should we consign a teenager to a life sentence of joblessness, hopelessness, and dependency? | This is the heart of the matter. Why are 14 year old girls getting pregnant? Isn't it because they are practicing unsafe sex? Abstinence aside, pregnancy aside, age aside, maturity aside, morality aside, isn't it extremely dangerous in todays society, with all the sexually transmitted diseases, for anyone to have unsafe sex? Why isn't Planned Parenthood, and the rest of society, including us - yes, you and me - focusing on preventing unsafe sex? Condoms have been around for thousands of years. |
| 8. "Every child a wanted child." | If women are forced to carry unwanted pregnancies to term, the result is unwanted children. Everyone knows they are among society's most tragic cases, often uncared-for, unloved, brutalized, and abandoned. When they grow up, these children are often seriously disadvantaged, and sometimes inclined toward brutal behavior to others. This is not good for children, for families, or for the country. Children need love and families who want and will care for them. | Another rediculous, closed minded argument. First off, if women are practicing safe sex, or abstinence, there will be significantly fewer unwanted pregancies. According to Planned Parenthood's own numbers, using an Mirena IUD has a 99.9% effectiveness at prevent pregnancy, when combined with a male condom (98% effective) that results in a 99.998% effectiveness in preventing pregnancy. I don't know about you, but I find it hard to believe that 1.31 million of 4.06 million pregnancies were accidents when it's possible to be 99.998% effective against getting pregnant. Why do I suggest the combination of methods? The condom should be used to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, and the IUD, or pill, or patch, should be used by the woman if she really doesn't want to get pregnant. Secondly, there are very long waiting lists for newborn adoptions. |
| 9. Choice is good for families. | Even when precautions are taken, accidents can and do happen. For some families, this is not a problem. But for others, such an event can be catastrophic. An unintended pregnancy can increase tensions, disrupt stability, and push people below the line of economic survival. Family planning is the answer. All options must be open. | Sure, accidents do happen. But, how many abortions are due to accidents, versus no precautions were taken? See the above argument regarding the percentage of 'unwanted pregnancies'. |
- 1.31 million abortions per year is 109,167 per month.
- In Iraq, according to CNN, there have been 1,590 coalition troop deaths, 1,429 Americans, 76 Britons, seven Bulgarians, one Dane, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Hungarian, 20 Italians, one Kazakh, one Latvian, 16 Poles, one Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and 17 Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of January 31, 2005. (story).
- I've been unable to find definitive numbers on the civilian death toll, numbers range from 70,000 to 100,0000.
- Combining death tolls in Iraq, across almost two years, the total is still less than the number of abortions in the US alone in just one month.
| Additional arguments | |
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| The right to make childbearing decisions has also enabled women to pursue educational and employment opportunities that were often unthinkable a generation ago. The Supreme Court noted in 1992 that "the ability of women to participate equally in the economic and social life of the Nation has been facilitated by their ability to control their reproductive lives" (Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 1992). Justice Harry Blackmun, the author of Roe, called the decision "a step that had to be taken as we go down the road toward the full emancipation of women" (Greenhouse, 1994). | I don't see the relationship between a womans right to chose educational and employment opportunities and using abortion as the means of contraception. As I stated above, combining IUD's or other methods with a condom reduces the chances of pregnancy to .0002%. |
| "In this land that cherishes individual rights and liberties a woman has the constitutional right to make her own reproductive decisions, and I support that right wholeheartedly." — Senator Edward M. Kennedy, rebutting some Democrats who have said that their party needs to reduce its emphasis on reproductive rights in future elections, The New York Times. (January 13, 2005) | Again, I also support the right of a woman to make reproductive decisions, I just believe it should be done prior to conceiving a child. |
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Christianity and Abortion
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