Pro-Life or Pro-Choice Christians: Examining Holistic Alignment with Sources of Authority on Abortion
Religion and politics have historically been at odds with respect to each other, and nowhere is this conflict more visible than in the moral discussions surrounding abortion. Christianity, one of the oldest and most established religions in history, has a complicated relationship with abortion. Within that tradition there are two distinct viewpoints to the debate: pro-life Christians, who believe abortion is wrong regardless of the circumstances, and pro-choice Christians, who believe it should be legal if certain requirements are satisfied. This essay will analyze how these two sides of the debate use the same sources of authority from within
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While pro-choice Christians recognize the value of human life, they also believe that women’s autonomy and agency should be respected. In Mark Chapter 12 of New American Standard Bible, Jesus discusses how one should not only love God with all of one’s “heart, […] soul, […] mind, […] and strength,” but one should “love [one’s] neighbor as [oneself]” (Mark Chapter 12). Christians who support abortion rights frequently use the idea of “loving [one’s] neighbor” as evidence for their position because they view abortion as a personal decision that should be made by women while considering her own specific circumstances and her relationship with God. They view this as a personal choice that should not be influenced by outside influences such as government or religious leaders. Along these lines, pro-choice Christians on abortion may interpret the commandment “Thou shall not kill” in a more nuanced way. In the book Abortion and the Christian Tradition: A Pro-Choice Theological Ethic by Margaret D. Kamitsuka, the author suggests that abortion is a complex issue with nuanced moral considerations, and that the Bible does not present a single unified opinion on it. She argues that various Bible passages can be interpreted in different ways, and that the commandment “Thou shall not kill” can be interpreted as …show more content…
Psalm 139:13-16 in the Bible indicates that life begins at conception and highlights the sanctity of human life. In the passage, it states, “For you created my inmost being;/ you knit me together in my mother’s womb./ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;/ your works are wonderful,/ I know that full well./ My frame was not hidden from you/ when I was made in the secret place,/ when I was woven together in the depths of the earth./ Your eyes saw my unformed body;/ all the days ordained for me were written in your book/ before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:13-16). The passage expounds how God is deeply involved with the creation of each human being. God “knit[ting]” together the individual in the “mother’s womb” highlights how God truly cares about how everyone is created. The passage also indicates how God knows each individual intimately, even before they are born. Pro-life Christians interpret the Psalms passage as recognizing individual life to be highly valuable; hence, abortion desecrates God’s purpose for the unborn being’s life. While pro-choice Christians may argue that the passage portrays God’s personal relationship with each individual rather than when life exactly begins for each being,
Within the recent events of the overturning of Roe V Wade the opinions on abortion have been at the forefront of political conversations. Especially among the people who are pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life believes that an unborn fetus is a life and killing it is killing a person, meanwhile pro-choice is the belief that someone who is carrying the fetus has the right to choose whether they keep it or not. The article “3 Compelling Reasons I am Pro-life” by Tim Counts on the website erlc is about the reasoning behind this man’s point of view. The article uses three points religion, science, and “human flourishing and love”.
The social impact that this ruling had was considerable. Whilst the religious right was slowly gaining steam throughout the seventies, Roe invigorated this movement and they became a noticeable force in American politics. Sanford explains how for conservative Christians “truth is something absolute, contained in inerrant texts or teachings…containing such moral axioms as “life begins at conception.”” In essence the decision in Roe was counter to fundamental belief in the personhood of a foetus, thus the Supreme Court endorsed what was considered to be murder. Roe v Wade gave the religious right a reason to wage war against the court’s socially progressive agenda and the broader struggle against the waning influence of religion in public life.
Conservatives and liberals have always disagreed on the topic of abortion due to their personal values and morals. Conservatives believe that abortion is the murder of a human. They argue that as soon as the baby is conceived, it has human rights separate from the mother (Squadrin 5). Because most conservatives are religious and religion forbids abortion, they strongly abide by their morals and values. Not only do they support the rights of the fetus, but they also argue that by abolishing abortion, the mother’s life is also saved since abortion “could easily endanger the mother’s health” (Squadrin 5).
Practicing abortions are very controversial topic. According to the article “America Deserves Better”, it states abortion held center stage in a major national debate throughout the 21 century (Goldkamp 42). Some religions consider it a horrendous act. It is unacceptable in religions, no matter the reason. Society can label women who seek abortions as “sinful, selfish, dirty, irresponsible, heartless, or murderous” according to “The Bad Mother: Stigma, Abortion and Surrogacy” (Abrams 181).
The Lord values His children and never wants them to be harmed in any way. Furthermore, acts like New York’s Reproductive Health Act have opened doors to situations that are unethical for both society and the country. Allowing abortion to occur brings along problems such as mental health struggles for women and the deaths of innocent children. While America currently seems to increasingly advocate for laws such as New York’s Reproductive Health Act, there is one fact that is unchanging: America is constantly evolving, and without the intention to save unjustifiably killed children, its future generations are going to decline, bringing society down with
The “Pro-Life” advisors argue that abortion is murder, and fight for the birth of the baby. On the flip side, “Pro-Choice” advocates fight for a woman’s right to choose what happens to her own body. No matter which side of the argument is “right”, what is for certain is that women’s health and safety outweigh
On one side of the argument people believe that it 's wrong to kill an unborn child because all life is important regardless of if there born or not. Often the people who are “pro life” are also Christian or belong to another
Abortion remains one of the most controversial issues in our society today. Pro-life supporters are those who are against abortion and who believe abortion is in all cases wrong. Pro-choice supporters are those who are in favor of abortion and who believes that whatever a woman does with her body is her choice. Patricia Bauer and Don Marquis are both scholars who wrote in depth articles explaining their views on abortion in an effort to spur their audience into action. Even though the both share same views, they use different and strong rhetorical strategies, mainly logos, ethos, and pathos, to get their message across their audience and to show the effectiveness and seriousness of their arguments.
Don Marquis, on the other side of the abortion debate begins his essay “Why abortion is immoral” through the frustration of little support being given to the thought. This essay was written to show the falsified belief that an anti-abortion stance is nothing other than irrational religious dogma or a conclusion generated by a seriously confused philosophical argument. The argument is set forth throughout that abortion is, except in rare cases, seriously immoral. This essay sets forth the belief that abortion is in the same category as killing an innocent adult human being. Don Marquis argues with rare exceptions such as a life-threatening pregnancy, all cases of abortion are seriously wrong and are not much different than killing an adult
With almost half the nation divided among their views, abortion remains one of the most controversial topics in our society. Since Roe v. Wade, our views in society as well as following court cases have been progressing toward the woman’s right to choose. The precedent set by Roe v. Wade made the Supreme Court acknowledge that it cannot rule specifically when life begins and it also affirms that it is the woman’s right to have an abortion under the 14th Amendment. In the 1st Amendment, the Establishment Clause forbids the government from passing laws “which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another”. Many Christian pro-lifers use their religious beliefs to dispute when life begins.
This, however, does not mean that she agrees that in all situations the choice to have an abortion wouldn’t be self- centered or callous. To begin, she gives examples for why the right to life of
There are two sides to this debate in which individuals identify themselves as either “pro-choice” or “pro-life.” Supporters classify themselves as pro-choice, and argue “that choosing abortion is a right that should not be limited by governmental or
Background There are ongoing debates about abortion and they are very interesting because people come up with different worldviews. For Instance the Christian worldview abortion is forbidden, because it is against the commandments of God. In the postmodern worldview laws which are against or not supporting abortion are not acceptable. People who are against abortion are protecting lives of the unborn babies and the Christian worldview. Those who are for the idea of abortion are protecting women rights to choose and the postmodern worldview.
(Tanner) Pro-choice defenders also say that it is the woman 's right to choose to have the baby or not, forgetting the baby 's rights. The life of a human being begins at the moment of conception, and it is not the fetus´s fault if the mother wasn 't ready to have a baby or if the situation in which baby was conceived wasn 't ideal. For example, if the baby is conceived by rape, the baby should not pay the consequences of other people, he or she has not done anything wrong .”Compassion for the mothers is extremely important, but it is never
In Carol Gilligan 's essay, "Concepts of Self and Morality," a college student answers the question of what morality should be by stating, "The basic idea that I cling to is the sanctity of human life" (171). When a woman decides to have an abortion, she overlooks the sanctity of human life and she forgets her morals. Therefore there should not be a question of choice in the matter of