Abortion debates and controversies within mainline Christianity

¶ … abortion created serious debates and controversies among the mainline Christians?

Pro-life vs. Pro-choice

The Roman Catholic and the Southern American Baptist Convention

Approaching matters from a historical point-of-view makes it possible for this paper to provide insight regarding Christian attitudes in the contemporary society and how they were shaped through time. Abortion represents one of the most contentious matters in present day society because of the tension that it generated in the Christian world. Although the practice is a part of a more general context concerning pro-life advocates fighting pro-choice activists, it also involved Christians because of the historic aspect that the issue represented for the religion. While many Christians have adopted pro-life positions, others have expressed their approval for abortion because of the matter's complexity. The Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention are actively involved in condemning abortion but currently experience great difficulty imposing anti-abortionist laws as a result of people's general determination to employ a secular approach when faced with the matter.

II. Introduction

Abortion has always been a delicate topic among mainline Christians because it is generally categorized as an evil and sinful practice. The early Christian Church has expressed its specific disapproval of abortion on the grounds that it went against religious principles. The practice's moral and legal issues have been debated ever since Antiquity, as there have always been supporters of abortion and people who were against it. One of the principal elements of this debate is focused on the moment of conception and its relationship with the beginning of life. Christians traditionally believe that one's soul is formed at the moment of the respective individual's conception and that abortion is thus equal to murder.

III. History

Abortion has been around for several thousands of years and pagan religions generally accepted and encouraged the practice as a means to avoid bringing unwanted children into the world. Some of the early Christian leaders wanted their religion to be distinguished from other religions and employed a series of legislations with the purpose of promoting the belief that Christianity focused on moral principles. The Didache, one of the oldest Christian documents discussing the issue of abortion relates to how the practice is against God's laws but fails to provide a complex explanation regarding the grounds for this statement. Instead, it brings forward matters like adultery and a debate regarding a fetus' status. Also, many Christians opposed abortions because they associated substances used in the practice to be generated through unholy performances. Positions gradually changed as religious leaders found it difficult to determine whether or not a fetus could be considered to have a soul in the primary stages of a pregnancy. More liberal Christians came to consider that abortion was a sin that required penitence if it was performed in order to cover up others sins such as fornication or adultery.

Throughout the Middle Ages individuals continued to express uncertainty regarding the fetus and the moment when it started to have a soul. People during the Enlightenment period saw abortion as something particularly sinful and considered that the fetus had a soul from the very moment when it was conceived. Historic data shows that individuals did not change their thinking regarding abortion until the nineteenth century as some groups started to accept the practice as a result of associating it with the concept of freedom.

IV. Pro-life vs. Pro-choice

One of the principal factors that made it possible for abortion to become a controversy in the recent two centuries was the rise of feminism. Women started to express their perspective in regard to abortion and to how they were primarily responsible for deciding whether or not the concept should be legalized. Feminist advocates promote the belief that abortion should essentially be an uninfringeable personal choice. Also, they argue that women have to be provided with the right to choose whether they want to terminate a pregnancy or not. In contrast, pro-life activists consider that it is wrong to deny a fetus' right to have a life. They generally consider that it would be irresponsible for one to consider the well-being of the woman and the life that the child is going to have.

Pro-life and pro-choice activists are typically reluctant to consider arguments put across by their adversaries because this would be perceived as a sign that they are uncertain regarding their convictions. This controversy has generated much attention because of the large number of people involved in each group and because of the passion with which they pursue their objectives. It is very difficult to determine the degree to which these people are certain that their position is correct because many pro-life advocates consider that abortion is, indeed, advisable in certain circumstances while many pro-choice activists agree that it is sometimes wrong to support an abortion.

By trying to look into the arguments put across by each-other, pro-life and pro-choice activists are probable to understand that abortion is a complex matter and that one cannot simply vote in regard to whether it should be legalized or not. Abortion cannot simply be criminalized, as people have to be provided with sex education regarding the dangers coming along with having unprotected sex. Change first needs to occur on a social level in order for it to be possible on a legal one. However, with both belligerent camps being unwilling to yield in front of the other, it is very difficult for the authorities to install a system meant to look at matters from an impartial view. Pro-life activists, for example, have put across their explicit objection to having sex education being taught in schools. "They have opposed virtually every social change that is needed to prevent unwanted pregnancies as well" (Faundes & Barzelatto 155). These people are generally determined to promote the image of women as housewives who are mainly responsible for having babies, caring for them, and taking care of their homes in general. Studies fail to prove that sex education stimulates sexual activity or earlier interest in performing intercourse in adolescents. However, research has shown that such programs are very effective in preventing pregnancies in teenagers. This is not surprising, especially considering that inducing feelings related to conscientiousness and mutual respect in teenagers makes it less likely for boys to try to have sex with girls that are hesitant regarding the practice (Faundes & Barzelatto 156).

People in the U.S. were more determined in opposing abortion, and, as a result, many schools in the country came to refrain from practicing sex education. Western Europeans adopted a different standpoint and generally accepted sex education in schools and early in people's lives. Accordingly, "pregnancy rate among adolescents was two to five times lower in western European countries than in the United States" (Faundes & Barzelatto 156). The Roman Catholic Church is an enthusiastic supporter of the pro-life movement in the U.S. And promotes the belief that it is wrong for someone to perform an abortion. Even with that, the Catholic Church presently considers that abortion qualifies as one of the worst sins that someone can perform. A woman who has an abortion and the individuals who assist her in having it are excommunicated.

V. The Roman Catholic and the Southern American Baptist Convention

The Catholic Church considers that the zygote, the embryo, and the fetus are all human in nature and that ending their lives is equivalent to murder. It takes on a different approach in the case of a murderer, however, as it considers murder to be less serious than abortion. This religion employs a more liberal approach concerning the circumstances that make it possible for an abortion to seem moral, as it accepts the practice in a situation when it is performed in order to save the mother from dying. Also, despite the fact that it promotes pro-life principles, the church accepts abortion when it involves a person who is under eighteen or who has no alternative and has to perform the practice.

The church's position in regard to abortion is not a dogma and it can undergo changes in the future. Furthermore, a great deal of Catholic theologians has expressed their interest concentrating moral principles in devising new legislations concerning abortion. The recent decades have seen many changes occur in the church's position on abortion as the concept has come to contradict ethics. Church officials have come to accept that morality is more important than principle when it comes to abortion. It seems irresponsible to force someone to deliver a child as long as the fetus displays malformations that make it impossible for it to live for more than a few days consequent to the moment when it is born. In spite of expressing disproval toward abortion, the Catholic Church rarely penalizes Catholics when they perform the practice. Moreover, it seems that the percentage of Catholic women who have an abortion is relatively similar to the general percentage of women performing abortions. The Catholic Church generally promotes the belief that an action that is both good and bad is not considered a sin if the benefits that it brings outweigh the damage that it does.

A normal pro-life campaign is less complex than Catholic anti-abortion principles because of the religious aspect of the matter. The connection between the Catholic Church and morality has come to be stronger in the recent years in spite of the fact that it does not essentially function based on morality alone. To a certain degree, one might be inclined to consider that the Church is wrong in promoting anti-abortion simply because it wants to follow Christian tradition. Catholic teachings are essentially derived from the Bible and "whatever the "moral" teaching of the Church might be, it is, in the final analysis, a function of how to read the Scripture. Christian morality is not, in short, a "stand-alone" moral position" (O'Brien 92). In promoting anti-abortion messages, Catholic representatives practically go against the general message that the Gospel is trying to convey.

Catholics have recently been more determined than ever to fight against abortion, considering that society has already created many cases that serve as models for people who are uncertain about getting an abortion. The 1873 Supreme Court case of Roe vs. Wade has had a powerful effect on pro-life advocates and on anti-abortion Catholics. It made it possible for people to look at abortion from a different angle as people demanded that abortion could also be caused by less important factors such as individuals being unprepared to become parents. In spite of the fact that abortion came to be seen as something less contentious consequent to this trial, pro-life Catholics have not lost their strength of mind and have started to employ even more effort in making society understand their point-of-view. Dedicated anti-abortion Catholics are generally inclined to consider that individuals who called themselves Catholics and claim to agree to abortion are nothing but hypocrite atheists who are interested in destabilizing the general image of Catholicism (Faundes & Barzelatto 140).

One of the largest Protestant communities in the U.S., the Southern Baptist Convention, has also gotten actively involved in persecuting pro-choice activists. In spite of the fact that Baptists in the U.S. typically tend to be against anything supported by Catholics, they did not do so when it came to abortion. Similar to the Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention considers that life does not start when an individual is born and believes that fetuses have souls. Also, it promotes the belief that abortion should only be accepted in extreme cases such as when a woman has been raped or when medical complications make it likely for the child or for the mother to die (Tatom Ammerman 19).

Conservatives inside the Southern Baptist Conventions are focused on having believers understand that abortion is wrong. With society expressing less concern regarding the practice, they feel that their role is becoming increasingly difficult and that they have to pursue their goals with more determination. By relating to the Scripture, Southern Baptist Convention leaders influence their followers to refrain from ever turning to abortions as the solution to their problems. "What these pastors offer in support of their claim is a list of proof texts whose contexts had little or no direct bearing on the abortion question" (Tatom Ammerman 133). Similar to certain Catholic anti-abortion supporters, these people practically interpret the Bible using subjectivity. This is what makes it difficult for members from within their community to agree to their position regarding abortion. However, when compared to conditions in the Catholic Church, the Southern Baptist Convention is dominated by anti-abortionist thinking and this makes it especially difficult for individuals who are against such principles to effectively organize themselves into groups that manage to put across their own interpretations of the Scripture (Tatom Ammerman 133).

Both Catholics and Baptists have trouble expressing anti-abortion beliefs as a result of feminists within their communities considering that they discriminate women. Through claiming that a woman should have no right to decide whether or not she wants to keep a pregnancy, anti-abortionists virtually say that women are traditionally meant to perform a limited number of activities and that they should not be provided with the opportunity to employ a controlling attitude over their bodies. This is, in fact discriminatory toward women and creates significant controversies among Christians in general. One can almost refer to this debate as being a family debate that has gone on for years without producing any visible results. This makes it difficult for many pro-life Christians to get involved in the controversy and unlikely for it to be resolved in the near future. Conditions have become critical in the recent years as "the Church's position on abortion has damaged politics, moral discourse, and the inner dialogue that should mark the community of Christ" (O'Brien xi).

The "Evangelium Vitae" document is essential in gaining a better understanding of how Catholics perceive abortion. Pope John Paul II wanted the world to understand that life needed to be protected during the most difficult moments, at the time when it begins and at the time when it ends. From his perspective, an unborn child is helpless and needs to be provided with special care all across the pregnancy. He considered that the fact that people have the power to end the life of an unborn child it does not mean that they actually have to do this. Such thinking, according to him, could also influence people to go to war and to perform genocide simply because they consider that other people threaten their well-being. The text relates to the fact that considering a fetus to be nothing more than biological matter would lead to several other immoral acts such as experiments being performed on fetuses or fetuses being used with the purpose of harvesting organs.

Pope John Paul II did not necessarily used "Evangelium Vitae" as a means to interdict abortions regardless of circumstances. He actually referred to occasions when one's moral responsibility for committing the practice would be absolved if the respective person is pressured by serious factors. However, he also insists that abortion is wrong because of the way that he interprets the Scripture. Performing abortion, from his perspective, is the equivalent of killing an innocent human being because he or she represented an impediment. Considering the former Pope's general point-of-view regarding abortion, it is immature for someone to consider that he or she can perform an abortion simply because society approves of the practice. Christians should apparently focus on the word of God when they try to evaluate the moral legality of a particular practice. The Pope is sympathetic regarding pro-choice activists because they are not committing any mistakes in following their ideals, but does not hesitate to relate to abortion as being a direct attack on the family and the same thing as assuming God's role.