Religious Opinions and Views on Abortion
In examining religious opinions on abortion, one must find common ground on which to form a foundation of comparison. With most of the religions to date, that common ground lies on the argument of whether or not a fetus is an actual person. Some religions protest by saying a fetus isn't a conscious being -- therefore there is no loss in doing away with it. But for those religions that do believe there is a life -- or any spiritual being -- in a fetus, it is clearly a crime to have an abortion.
Through research an overall conclusion can be provided that most earlier religions, that is those before 1400 A.D., relied on the opinion of the doctor to determine whether abortion was right or not. If abortion would harm the mother, or the child, or both, then the abortion was acceptable. In Christianity, this was only true in some denominations, such as Baptists and Methodists. In these cases, a woman was not disgraced after having an abortion unless she went against the advice of a professional. However as Christianity has developed, this opinion has remained constantly opposite in Catholicism. Catholic theorists in particular have expressed intense, concrete views on the subject. These views clearly have more to do with a change in attitude regarding the moral status of a fetus than a change in attitude regarding sex. It is important not to confuse the two.
The question "Why was abortion condemned in Catholicism?" was answered by Catholic theorist James McCarthy: "Many people believe that the Roman Catholic Church's opposition to abortion stems from its conviction that a new human person exists from the first moment of conception and that this newly formed person has as muc...
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...istianity approve, so they aren't credible either. So it seems that religion will always provide exceptions for its theories that aren't supposed to have any. Is abortion right? Think for yourself. Turning to religion leads only to confusion.
Bibliography:
Works Cited
Dombrowski, Daniel A. A Brief, Liberal, Catholic Defense of Abortion.
Illinois: Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, 2000.
Miller, Gary. Notes from and interpretations of The Jewish Talmud. (Acquired through personal interview).
The Holy Bible: NIV version. Michigan: Grand Rapids. Zondervan Publishing House,
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Ward, F. Is the Fetus a Person? The Bible's View. 15 Jan. 2001. Religion and Choice
February 2001 .
Abernethy, Virginia. "Abortion". World Book Encyclopedia. Vers. 94.1.
New York: World Book, Inc. 1994.
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Thompson believes that the fact of whether of not a fetus is a person is completely irrelevant towards the issue of abortion. This is mainly because she has found the point of becoming a person cannot be proved with complete confidence. Judith does not seem to understand why people think that just because a fetus may actually be a person that it ...
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