While a student at BYU, I encountered an incredible amount of misconceptions on the political issue of abortion. It seemed that anyone who spoke to me of the issue assumed that Democrats and liberals "believed in" abortion, meaning that those who were pro-choice thought abortions were good things, and not something to be avoided. Over the next few posts, I aim to explore various aspects concerning the political issues of abortion, stem cell research, and as President George W. Bush termed it, "the culture of life." To be clear, this is not an effort on my part to support the pro-choice position as I do not define myself as pro-choice, nor do I define myself as pro-life. I hope to establish a framework for thoughtful people to have rational discussions about these issues.
Since this is an LDS-related blog, I want to start this series of posts with the Church's positions on abortion. Yes, that's right, positions. On moral and ethical grounds, the Church has clearly articulated its expectations of its members. The Church "believes in the sanctity of human life... and opposes elective abortion for personal or social convenience, and counsels its members not to submit to, perform, encourage, pay for, or arrange for such abortions." It only allows for possible exceptions in cases of (1) rape/incest, (2) where the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy, and (3) where the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth. Additionally, these rare exceptions do not justify abortion automatically. It is clear that the Church considers elective abortion to be sinful. I would never personally support or encourage someone to have an elective abortion because of my personal view on the sanctity of life.
However, the Church's position on what the government's role should be in regulating abortion is entirely different. On the Church's official newsroom webpage, it states that "the Church has not favored or opposed legislative proposals or public demonstrations concerning abortion." Clearly, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been politically neutral on what laws related to abortion should be adopted by our legislatures.
So to kick off my series of posts about the political issues of life, it needs to be clear, at least within LDS circles, that there is room within official LDS orthodoxy on what should be the law of the land. The pro-choice position basically articulates the belief that our government has little or no role in regulating abortions in our country. The pro-life position conversely believes that the government should have a heavy hand in regulating abortion, criminalizing it in most cases. I believe there are earnest, moral, and thoughtful people who are in both camps and in between.
8 comments:
Aaron,
I'm not Pro-Choice or Pro-Life, I am Pro-Responsibility. All concious actions have reprecussions and we are responsible for them.
Abortion for sake of convenience, one-night stand, bad relationship, birth control, lack of money etc. etc. is a pernicious evil which shows a lack of responsibility. There are some areas in life where there is no gray area, this is one of them. They are tens of thousands of parents who can't have children who are willing to take someone elses "problem".
My wife has a co-worker, a wonderful woman in a committed marriage. Six months into the pregnancy, it was discovered that the baby's intestines were growing outside of the body, and that he would not survive childbirth. Even worse, the mother was experiencing excessive bleeding which would put her life in peril. Their insurance wouldn't cover anything. They chose to have an abortion in Baltimore. The agony that both father and mother went through was, and still is excruciating. They did the responsible thing.
Abortion should be kept safe and legal for situations such as that. I also favor increased sexual education....and the consequences of pre-marital sex should frankly be discussed, even in the most conservative LDS home.
I agree with this: "Abortion for sake of convenience, one-night stand, bad relationship, birth control, lack of money etc. etc. is a pernicious evil which shows a lack of responsibility."
However, if you are saying that the government should prohibit/criminalize abortion in cases of "convenience," then you hold the pro-life position. I don't think there is anything wrong with that, but that is precisely what many if not most pro-lifers believe. In one of my next posts, I will discuss the ramifications compelling a woman to carry her unwanted pregnancy to term and how that impacts other related policy discussions.
Like I said in my post, the Church is politically neutral on what the government's role should be in regulating abortion and thus there is room within LDS orthodoxy on what position faithful LDS members can take on the regulation/policy question of abortion.
I am also in favor of "increased sexual education". I personally hold the belief that abortion should remain legal and that more education should take place so that people can make informed decisions. I think that making abortion illegal would cause 1) more people to have illegal/unsafe abortions 2) cause more mental anguish to those who fall into the unusual circumstances that the church allows abortion to occur. Having had a child I absolutely appreciate the miracle of life. But I also have to sympathize with those who might find themselves pregnant by accident. It is a very difficult thing to go through, especially if you're not prepared. I understand the idea of being responsible for your actions but why does all the responsibility lie with the woman? I personally would never encourage anyone to have an abortion but I cannot judge those whose shoes I haven't walked in.
By the way, by far the best discourse I've ever read on abortion comes from Elder Dallin H. Oaks (referred to as the "worst person in the world" by MSNBC's answer to Sean Hannity....Keith Olbermann). The talk "Weightier Matters" was given in 1999 at BYU and later republished in either 2001 or 2002 in the the Ensign. It is an impressive and thoughtful examination of choice and accountability....also re-affirming the church's position against "abortion on demand"
James, to be clear, we all agree that the Church counsels members not to have abortions on demand, elective abortions, what ever you want to call them. Everyone who has commented agrees that any abortion is a tragedy and elective abortions are immoral.
However, for official LDS Church positions on POLITICAL issues, including the political issue of abortion (meaning- what is the government's role in regulating abortion) the Church's newsroom website is the primary source as this is the medium the Church uses to articulate its stance on political issues to the public.
I linked that newsroom webpage on this post. It says "the Church has not favored or opposed legislative proposals or public demonstrations concerning abortion," clearly indicating its current POLITICAL (not moral) neutrality on abortion. I haven't seen Elder Oak's 2002 talk, but general authorities are free to share their own opinions on political issues and they occasionally do. They have even disagreed with each other in their views of various non-doctrinal issues.
The purpose of this discussion is to provide a framework for debating the government's role in regulating abortion. Just because one believes a certain behavior or act is immoral, it does not always lead that person to conclude that government regulation or prohibition of that behavior is the answer.
Clearly, you believe that the government should prohibit/criminalize abortion. I can completely respect that position, but there are certain repercussions of that position I aim to explore in my upcoming posts. Nonetheless, there are others who may feel just as strongly as you and I do about the tragedy and immoral nature of elective abortion, but may not agree that the government should play a significant part in criminalizing elective abortion.
Also I wanted to mention (not having read that talk by Elder Oaks) I suspect he was addressing the morality of abortion, not the legal question of abortion regarding the government's role in regulating/criminalizing it.
"Clearly, you believe that the government should prohibit/criminalize abortion."
Please refer to the third paragraph of my first post. I would like to see government funding for public school sex education, support for adoption agencies and counselors who discuss prior to the abortion the ramifications of that choice, and other alternatives.
I apologize for misunderstanding. I thought you were using the Elder Oaks talk to claim that the Church's political position on abortion was the same as its moral position. I agree completely with what you said:
"I would like to see government funding for public school sex education, support for adoption agencies and counselors who discuss prior to the abortion the ramifications of that choice, and other alternatives."
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