Abortion: a Theological Claim

Ronise Miller
3 November, 2012
Father Wright
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Abortion: A Theological Claim Abortion is a very controversial topic that has very heavy religious extents. Abortion is the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy. There are two types of abortion: abortion by pill and surgical abortion. Abortion was made legal up to twenty-four weeks of pregnancy the Supreme Court case Roe vs. Wade. After the twenty-four weeks, the fetus is actually considered a human. The reason why abortion is such a heated topic is because there is a question whether or not the fetus or embryo is a person or not. The topic of abortion is connected to very complex ethical, moral, and philosophical issues. Pro-abortion would be claiming that a woman should have a choice to keep the fetus or not, and anti-abortion would be claiming that legal restrictions on abortion should be made. The biggest question, that underlies the whole debate, is “when is a human actually considered a human in different opinions.” Although abortion is usually framed around religious terms and meanings, abortion is never mentioned in the Bible. The reason why theology about abortion from the Bible cannot be concluded upon is because it is unclear and vague. In Exodus 21 there is a distinction between killing a person and the killing of a fetus. “Whoever strikes a person mortally shall be put to death,” is a quote from Exodus telling of the consequence of killing a person. “When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no further harm follows, the one responsible shall be fined,” is a quote from Exodus dealing with the killing of a fetus. In other words the killing of a person merits the death penalty while the killing of a fetus only results in a fine. Neither Exodus nor any other passages in the Bible describe the punishment of women who terminate their own pregnancies. Although in Exodus the life of a fetus seems less important the Bible clearly proposes that human life begins prior to birth. Genesis 25:22 states that "the children struggled together within her,” referring to Rebekah, and Luke 1:41 "the child leaped in her womb," referring to Elizabeth. These statements prove that a fetus is considered a human to a certain extent. This claim cannot be analyzed through scripture because the Bible does not set certain punishments for those women, who want to terminate their pregnancies, treats the death of a fetus as a non-homicide, and does not express the widely accepted practice of abortion. Abortion connecting to tradition in a theological sense can be argued. The tradition of relating killing and murdering to sin also relates abortion with tradition. Generation upon generation is taught not to kill, but abortion specifically is not talked about. The tradition is not passed down because the debate over if the fetus is an actual life. Tradition being used as a source in abortion as a theological claim is therefore not completely right but not completely wrong. I believe that abortion has to looked upon for every situation. First I believe that killing or taking the life of someone is a sin and can cause someone to go to hell if they do not repent. The whole controversy over abortion is when the embryo considered a person. Since doctors have tested and proven that the fetus is not a person until twenty-four weeks I believe that abortion before this time is not actually killing a life. Next I consider the reasons a woman would need an abortion. One reason would be that the woman was not prepared to have the child. The woman has three options: take up the responsibility, adoption, and abortion. If the woman is in a point in her life where she cannot take care of the unborn child, and she is left with the options of abortion and adoption I would want her to pick adoption. There are so many families that what another child but cannot have one of their own, there are so many possibilities on the lives the unborn child could change when he/she was alive. In this situation I feel lie abortion would be the last possibility. The next situation I would consider would be the situation involving rape. If a woman is raped and gets pregnant, this is where I believe abortion may be a better choice. After a traumatic experience like rape, a woman does not want to be reminded every day of that experience. Even if the woman is strong enough to move on from the traumatic event, she could have been raped in a time in her life when she cannot take care of another life. Abortion is probably the best option because giving the child up for adoption will leave that child with curiosity towards who his/her real parents are. If the child wants to know their origins, he/she might be let down when he/she finds out that their father is a rapist and their mother was too traumatized to take care of he/she. I feel like abortion is the best option if a woman is raped. A third situation would be incest when abortion is the best option. If a woman is raped by someone in their family, the woman has the hard decision in whether she should keep the child, put the child up for adoption, or have an abortion. I have the same beliefs on incest that I do with rape. The woman may not be prepared to take care of a life especially considering the circumstances. A traumatic event such as rape and incest may call for abortion over keeping the life or putting the child up for adoption. Abortion is a heated topic that has many ties to religion. Religion is connected to abortion because some faiths stress that killing a fetus is not as important to killing a human. All faiths see killing or murdering someone as a sin that is deserving of punishment. But the question is whether a fetus is an actual person. Anti-abortion supporters believe that the fetus is an actual person beginning from conception. Abortion supporters believe women should be able to choose what happens to their body. I believe in certain situations such as rape, and incest abortion is the best option. The theological claim of abortion ultimately boils down to the ethics and beliefs of a certain person.