The Human Drama of Abortion: A Global Search for Consensus

8. Religious Values

72 8 Religious Values Most people in the world affiliate themselves with one religion or another , and their religious affiliation influences their thinking and actions. In fact, all people are influenced by the predominant religious values of the society in which they live, because these values are part of their culture . In some Muslim countries, the laws of Islam have been adopted as secular laws. In the past century or so, abortion has become a target for some religions, and some religious leaders have become key figures in the public debate on the subject. Consequently, an analysis of the values of (at least) the principal religions of the world as they relate to abortion is essential to any discussion of the issue. We dedicate here a significant amount of the discussion to the Christian faiths, some of which (particularly the Catholic Church) have participated vocally in national and international debates on abortion policies. We, the authors of this book, have personally witnessed the important political role that the Catholic Church has played in abortion legislation in the Americas. Islamic perspectives have also figured prominently in the international abortion debate, mostly in the United Nations. We have omitted innumerable other traditions, particularly indigenous systems of belief, not only because of their diversity and comparatively smaller number of followers but also because they have played a negligible role in national or international policy discussions. The task of describing the views of a particular faith on abortion or any other specific issue is a difficult one, because in no religion other than the Catholic Church is there a central authority that can act as the official voice of the faith. Moreover, throughout history, religious views on specific issues, including abortion, have changed, and the views of leaders within a particular faith have rarely been unanimous at any given point in time. At best, we can describe the views of the main schools of Religious Values 73 thought within a religion or the predominant views at a certain time in history. Even within the Catholic religion, the Pope’s views—unless they are declared to be dogmas (a very rare occurrence that does not apply to abortion)—are open to question and change. The sacred texts of the various religions are not specific enough to provide answers to most contemporary moral questions. Thus, the interpretation and application of all religious traditions to specific moral problems such as abortion have changed throughout history according to varying circumstances and the evolution of knowledge. The Historical Context of Christian Perspectives (Gudorf, 2003) In order to understand Christian values and to put them in their proper perspective, it is necessary to look back into history. Contraception , abortion, and infanticide preceded Christianity. It may be a surprise to many that, in Europe as in the rest of the world, infanticide was used as a solution for unwanted pregnancy far more often than abortion. Infanticide was practiced throughout the Roman Empire, but Romans considered it to be barbarian and replaced it with abandonment as the preferred method. Infanticide (frequently disguised as stillbirth) or abandonment were used because contraceptive methods were ineffective and abortion carried very high health risks, including extremely high mortality, for women. (An additional perceived advantage at the time was that infanticide or abandonment allowed for sex selection.) The extremely high mortality rate associated with abortion made it the last recourse of “the most desperate women,” including “unmarried women, prostitutes, and adulteresses, all of whom faced the loss of their social place” by carrying their pregnancies to term. The association of abortion with such Compiling a brief review of religious values and abortion is a difficult challenge. We have the disadvantage and perhaps advantage of not being theologians. Therefore, as we have done throughout this book, we have relied on our life experiences. Both of us have seen the importance of religious values in abortion decisions and policies in our professional practices and in international activities, and José Barzelatto is one of the contributing authors of a book reviewing contraception and abortion in world religions (Barzelatto, J. and Dawson, E., 2003). To support our views, we have referred extensively to selected chapters of this book written by prominent theologians of various religions and to other important texts on the subject. When our main arguments are taken from one of these works, we have referenced the citation following the corresponding subhead. 74 The Human Drama of Abortion...