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We Affirm - National
Religious Organizations' Statements on Reproductive Choice
Diverse religious denominations and traditions compassionately
affirm a woman's moral right to make reproductive decisions
according to her own conscience and religious principles.
Major faith organizations representing millions of Americans
have long supported a woman's right to choose. In keeping
with our nation's constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion,
they oppose civil laws that would impose specific religious
views about abortion on all Americans...
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>Christian
Perspective
Dr. John M. Swomley
Roman Catholic and Protestant doctrines differ in, among other
things, the degree to which they are legalistic. The Catholic
Church would have us obey the rules formulated by the Vatican,
but Protestants believe that we are free by grace and justified
by faith. The phrase “the sacredness of life” means one thing
to Catholic bishops—that the life of the fetus is all-important—but
to most people of other Christian denominations it means that
there is a presumptive right to life that is not absolute
but is conditioned by the claims of others. For us the right
to life and the sacredness of life mean that there should
be no absolute or unbreakable rules that take precedence over
the lives of existing human persons.
The pro-life position is really a pro-fetus position, and the pro-choice position is really pro-woman. Those who take the pro-fetus position define the woman in relation to the fetus. They assert the rights of the fetus over the right of the woman to be a moral agent or decision maker with respect to her life, health, and family security.
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>Jewish
Perspectives
by Rabbi Raymond A. Zwerin & Rabbi
Richard J. Shapiro
Whatever their opinions on abortion in any given situation,
a vast majority of Jewish thinkers agree that decision-making
with respect to abortion must be left in the hands of the
woman involved, wo may consult her husband, her physician,
and her rabbi.
These, then, become the guiding principles on abortion in
Jewish tradition: a woman's life, her pain, and her concerns
take precedence over those of the fetus; existing life is
always sacred and takes precedence over a potential life;
and a woman has the personal freedom to apply the principles
of her tradition unfettered by the legal imposition of moral
standards other than her own.
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>The
Tears That Are Not Murder: Judaism and Abortion
by Rabbi Michael Feshbach
They have blood on their hands, when the rhetoric of hate
and anger fans the flame of direct attack, and real murder.
It was late on a Friday night, in the fall of 1998. Synagogue
was hours past, I was already in bed. The first we heard of
anything unusual was the sound of helicopters hovering almost
overhead. Then the phone rang. I knew something was wrong
the minute I answered the phone,
as the voice on the other end was that of a shomer shabbat
Conservative colleague: “One of your
congregants has just been shot,” Bob Eisen told me.
Which is how I found myself, fifteen minutes
later, less than a mile away, near the home of Dr. Barnett
Slepian.
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> Unitarian
Universalism
by Reverend Dr. Rebecca Edmiston-Lange
Rev. Edmiston-Lange is a Unitarian Universalist minister in Houston, Texas.
Unitarian Universalism, as part of the free religious tradition, has historically and consistently stressed the inherent worth and dignity of every person and the right of individual conscience in matters of religious faith and practice. While Unitarian Universalists draw religious wisdom from many and varied sources, we believe that the test of any religious position is an individual's own direct experience of the good, the holy and the true. Because of that starting point, Unitarian Universalism supports a woman's right of choice in reproductive matters, including the right to choose to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
Unitarian Universalists have a deep and abiding reverence for life. But we recognize, also, that life is always lived in relationship. Thus, we maintain that moral decisions can never be made in a vacuum but are, instead, always made in the context of competing claims for attention to the quality of life. Women's choices in reproductive matters are morally complex. Such choices can be very difficult, even the occasion for grieving and a profound sense of loss. Nonetheless, the difficulty of such choices does not mean that they cannot also be a faithful and morally affirmative response to what a woman perceives to be holy and just. Women are, inherently, moral agents, as are all people, and they are capable of subtle and sensitive moral discernment.
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> Hinduism
by Swami Abhipadananda & Swami Jyotirvakyananda
Life is ubiquitous and eternal, neither beginning with birth
nor ending with death. The ultimate goal of your life is liberation
from all limiting and constrictive forces. The life you are
now living and the decisions you are now facing are the arena
in which you develop your human capacities. Living life consciously
by actively choosing the experiences that you will inscribe
on your memory is the basis of wisdom, learning and human
development.
This paper is especially pertinent to young women and men
of the Hindu diaspora who must live bi-culturally—both
in their traditional cultural milieu and in eclectic Western
arenas. As a bi-cultural person, you are often faced with
the need to integrate the social problems you face in the
West, and the mores of your cultural and familial background,
in a way that will be harmonious for you.
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> Pagan
By High Priestess Judy Harrow
Sex is good, and it is also good for us. All consensual sex
is good, even when it is simply a pleasure shared between
friends. As part of an intimate and loving relationship, sex
is even better – from a Pagan perspective, it is sacred.
Through shared acts of love and pleasure, we create and sustain
heart connections that are essential for our inner growth,
and for our emotional and spiritual health.
When sex is heterosexual – and most is – it opens
the possibility of conception. People who don’t feel
ready to raise a child take responsible precautions, of course,
but no contraceptive works perfectly. Unplanned pregnancies
can and do sometimes happen. Even with planned and wanted
pregnancies, circumstances sometimes change dramatically.
When either of these happens, we have very little time to
make decisions that will inevitably affect the rest of our
lives.
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> Muslim
By Khaleel Mohammed
Normative Islam relies on two main sources: the Qur’an
and the Hadith. The Qur’an is defined as the actual
words of God as revealed to Muhammad. The Hadith is known
as the oral tradition and is basically the alleged words,
deeds and tacit approvals of Muhammad as reported by his companions.
These two sources, while seen by most Muslims as complementing
each other, actually present vastly different views on reproductive
choice.
While mentioning that marriage, sex and procreation go hand
in hand, the Qur’an NEVER orders marriage with procreation
as the goal, but rather states that marriage is one of the
ways that God has ordained for humans in order to foster emotional
and physical intimacy (Q30: 21, Q2: 223). The Qur’an
promises such intimacy even in heaven, and the consensus among
Muslims that there will be no children from such relations
underline the fact that procreation is not the only goal of
sexual relations.
>
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Copyright 2005-2007 Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom.
This website is a project of Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom, a program of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC). The contents of this website and linked websites do not necessarily reflect the positions of the RCRC or the member faith groups of the RCRC.
info@syrf.org
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