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Religious Perspectives on Abortion and a Secular Response

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Abstract

This paper concerns the medical, religious, and social discourse around abortion. The primary goal of this paper is to better understand how seven of the world’s major religious traditions (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Confucian, and Hindu) address abortion ‘in the clinic’. We do not aim to critique these commentaries but to draw out some of the themes that resonate through the commentaries and place these within complex social contexts. We consider the intersection of ontology and morality; the construction of women’s selfhood; the integration of religious beliefs and practices in a secular world. We suggest that for many women, religious doctrine may be balanced with secular logic as both are important and inextricably linked determinants of decision making about the termination of pregnancy.

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Notes

  1. On Luther’s teaching on the two kingdoms see Haerle (2004).

  2. For additional background see Goldsand et al. (2001).

  3. In the section on “The Crime against the Fetus,” Jazari > , ‘Abd al-Rah}ma > n al-, Kita > b al-fiqh ‘ala > al-Madha > hib al-’arba’a, Kita > b al-h}udu > d (Beirut: Da > r al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1392 AH), v. p. 372ff.), takes up detailed comparative rulings on the status of the fetus and culpable actions leading to its abortion among four Sunni schools.

  4. This is the H{anafi > definition of jani > n as mentioned by Ibn ‘A <bidi> n, Muh}ammad Ami > n, Ha > shiya Radd al-mukhta > r li kha > timat al-muhaqqiqi > n Muhammad Ami > n al-shahi > r bi Ibn ‘A <bidin ala > al-Durr al-mukhta > r fi > sharh} Tanwi > r al-abs}a > r fi > fiqh madhhab al-Ima > m Abi > H{ani > fa al-Nu’ma > n (Cairo: Shirka Maktaba wa Mat}ba’a Mus}t}afa > al-Ba > bi > al-H{alibi> , 1386/1966), Vol. 6:587. See also: Ibn Nujaym, Zayn al-Di > n, al-Bah}r al-ra > ’iq: Sharh} kanz al-daqa > ’iq (Cairo: al-Mat}ba’a al-‘Ilmi > ya, 1983), Vol. 8:389; Ka > sa > ni > , Abu > Bakr b. Mas’u > d al-, Bada > ‘i’ al-Sana > ‘i’ fi > tarti > b al-shara > ‘i’ (Beirut: Da > r al-Kita > b al-‘Arabi > , 1982), Vol. 7:325.

  5. Al-Mawsu > ’a al-fiqhiyya al-kuwaytiyya, Vol. 16:279.

  6. Ibid.

  7. See the declarations at the UN International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), September 5–13, 1994, Cairo, Egypt.

  8. In recent years a number of articles have appeared in Arabic and Persian that discuss abortion in the context of modern medicine. Unlike articles in Western languages on the subject of abortion in Islamic tradition, these are written by Muslim scholars of Islamic law, whose thorough grounding in juridical sources and methodology make these studies important contribution to our understanding of the issue in jurisprudence. However, there is little attention paid to the ethical issues connected with the rightness or the wrongness of abortion with due analysis of personhood and rights that accrue to a fetus. See, for instance, a number of articles on the subject in Majalla al-shari > ’a wa dira > sa > t al-isla > miyya, published by the Kuwait University in the last 5 years.

  9. Mah}mu > d Shaltu > t, al-Fata > wa > : Dira > sa li-mushkila > t al-muslim al-mu’a > s}ir fi > h}aya > tihi al-yawmi > ya al-‘a > mma (Beirut: Da > r al-Shuru > q), pp. 289–297, in his discussion on family planning has claimed the consensus of all the scholars in the matter of birth control for the purpose of protection of the offspring, especially when the Shari > ‘a has laid down the rule that states: “Harm must be rejected as much as possible.” Also, see an important study on the comprehensive sense of family planning, including population control, by Abdel Rahim Omran, Family Planning in the Legacy of Islam (London: Routledge, 1992). Also of significance are the proceedings of the first international Muslim conference on family planning held in Rabat, Morocco in December 1971. The Arabic version entitled: al-Isla > m wa tanz}i > m al-’usra, in two volumes was published by International Planned Parenthood Federation, Middle East and North African Region, Beirut in 1973. The English version: Islam and Family Planning in two volumes appeared in 1974. In the second volume the consensus of the Sunni and Shi > ‘ite scholars appears to endorse birth control through methods that may not affect permanently the couple’s ability to bear children.

  10. For a fuller discussion of early teachings and the textual sources mentioned below readers are referred to Part 2 of my Buddhism and Bioethics (Palgrave MacMillan, 2001).

  11. Vin i.97.

  12. VA.ii.437f.

  13. For a feminist perspective on abortion in Japan see Hardacre (1997)

  14. The tradition has, from ancient times, distinguished between a miscarriage and an abortion. The former is unintentional while the latter is voluntary and consequently morally suspect. One of the early terms for abortion is bhruna hatya (the killing of a fetus).

  15. The four Vedas are the Rg, Sama, Yajur and Atharva. The first section of each text provides information and rules for the performance of religious rituals; the final section of each text, referred to as the Upanishad, is the most important source of religious and philosophical thinking Hinduism. Secondary religious texts, referred to as smriti, depend on the Vedas for their authority and includes works such as the Mahabharata, Bhagavadgita, and various law books (Dharmashastras) such as the Manusmriti.

  16. For an excellent summary of the material in the smriti texts see Lipner (1989).

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Stephens, M., Jordens, C.F.C., Kerridge, I.H. et al. Religious Perspectives on Abortion and a Secular Response. J Relig Health 49, 513–535 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-009-9273-7

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