Roe v. Wade

On the American scene, at least, issues relating to human sexuality may be the most contentious ones at the intersection of church and state. And, on this day in particular - the anniversary of the seminal Supreme Court ruling permitting legal abortions - our attention is centered on abortion.

Many of the arguments against the right of a woman to have an abortion are couched in religious language. There are those who claim that life begins at the moment of conception and often substantiate that claim by appeal to Biblical verses, like the ones describing the call of the prophet Jeremiah, which speak of God knowing and calling a person before birth. There are those who claim that abortion is wrong on the basis of the Biblical prohibition against killing as found in the Ten Commandments. Others use more generalized texts in the Biblical literature describing the need to care for the weak and the powerless to frame their opposition to abortion.

With this dependence on a religious foundation, a recent poll reported at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life is instructive. Among the results is the finding that people with higher levels of religious commitment (those more likely to pray daily, more likely to attend church weekly, more certain of the importance of religion and of the existence of God) were more likely to oppose abortions in all or most cases.

Within the general population of the US, 18% stated that abortion should be legal in all cases, 35% saying legal in most cases, 24% illegal in most cases, and 16% illegal in all cases. This compares with the Jewish responders - 40% legal in all, 44% legal in most, 9% illegal in most, and 5% illegal in all - as the most open to abortion in the country and the Jehovah's Witness responders - 5% legal in all, 11% legal in most, 25% illegal in most, and 52% illegal in all - as the most opposed to abortion.

You might find it interesting to look at the entire poll results and other related articles at: http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=384.

The questions I would ask are these: Is abortion purely a civil legal matter or is it also a religious one?; Which side of the equation - civil or religious - should trump the other?; Should any religious definitions - those by faith - on the beginning of life be part of the debate on the legality of abortions?; With 53% of the general population expressing the view that abortions should be permitted in all or most cases, should dissenters to that view from the more conservative religious groups win the day?

Regardless of which side you take on any of these questions, I would ask one last question: Have you ever talked to a woman trying to find the right answer for herself about having or not having an abortion and then talked to her after the decision was made? I have and that has influenced my position.