For instance, the Talmud – the main source of Jewish law – refers to the fetus as part of the mother’s body. Generally, it is not considered to be a person. Jewish tradition has a great deal of debate about when ensoulment occurs: Various rabbinic texts place it at or even before conception, and many place it at birth, but ensoulment is not as key as the legal status of the fetus under Jewish law. In general, many Muslim leaders permit abortion to save the life of the mother, since classical Islamic law sees legal personhood as beginning at birth – though while many Muslims may seek out their religious leaders for guidance about or assistance with abortion, many do not. Some believe abortion is never permitted, and many allow it until ensoulment, which is often placed at 120 days’ gestation, just shy of 18 weeks. Muslims scholars and clerics, too, have a range of positions on abortion. The most liberal Protestant voices advocate for a broad platform of reproductive justice, calling on believers to “ Trust Women.” Who is a ‘person’? The most conservative equate it with murder, and therefore oppose any exemptions. There are myriad Protestant opinions on abortion. Today, the organization still exists as the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. These pro-choice clergy were motivated by a range of concerns, including desperation that they saw among women in their congregations, and theological commitments to social justice. Protestant clergy, along with their Jewish colleagues, were instrumental in helping women to secure abortions before Roe, through a network called the Clergy Consultation Service. Other Christians also say faith shapes their support for reproductive rights. The organization Catholics for Choice describes its work as rooted in Catholicism’s emphasis on “social justice, human dignity, and the primacy of conscience” – people making their own decisions out of deep moral conviction. Some Catholics advocate for abortion access not despite but because of their dedication to Catholic teachings. People opposed to abortion gather at the Washington Monument during the 2017 March for Life rally in Washington, D.C. Wade, while only 14% believe that abortion should never be legal. Catholics say abortion is morally wrong, but 68% still support Roe v. And regardless of whether someone thinks they would ever seek an abortion, they may believe it should be a legal right. Nor can you choose between two human lives, which is why the church opposes aborting a fetus to save the life of the pregnant person.Īs in any faith, not all Catholics feel compelled to follow the church teachings in all cases.
From the moment the sperm meets the egg, in Catholic theology, a human exists, and you cannot kill a human, regardless of how it came to exist. Catholic theologians place ensoulment at the moment of conception, which is why the official position of the Catholic Church is that abortion is never permitted. The catch is that traditions place ensoulment at different moments and give it various degrees of importance. For instance, for several religions, a key issue in abortion rights is “ensoulment,” the moment at which the soul is believed to enter the body – that is, when a fetus becomes human. When it comes to official stances on abortion, religions’ positions are tied to different approaches to some key theological concepts. Christianity and conscienceĪs a scholar of gender and religion, I research how religious traditions shape people’s understandings of contraception and abortion. But even within one faith, there is no one religious position toward reproductive rights – let alone among different faiths. Wade, the 1973 ruling that protects abortion rights nationwide, religious attitudes toward a woman’s right to end a pregnancy are in the spotlight. It’s a clear reminder of the complex relationship between any religious tradition’s teachings and how people actually live out their beliefs. One in four Americans who have had abortions are Catholic, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for reproductive health. Catholics believe abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances, whether or not they believe they would ever seek one.
The vast majority of Catholic women have used contraceptives, despite the church’s ban. Surveys of how American Catholics live their lives, though, tell a different story. (The Conversation) - The Catholic Church’s official line on abortion, and even on any artificial birth control, is well known: Don’t do it.