How do pro-choice Protestants justify abortion biblically?

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I think all Christians are pro-life and only life-saving measures to save mother and/or child.
 
EvangelCatholic said:
I think all Christians are pro-life and only life-saving measures to save mother and/or child.
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That is not true, there are probably more than a few pro-choice Christians. I can think of a few among my own cohorts. There are also those Christians who believe euthanasia is alright or that gay marriage is acceptable. . . . etc.
 
SteveVH said:
We have a 911 repeated each and every day just in this country alone. Over 3,500 unborn children are ripped from their mother’s womb each day and disposed of as so much garbage.
Over 50 million unborn babies to date. It is not “quite rare”.
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the question was about in the protestant religion i dont’t know about protestants in the usa
but i have not heard of anybody in the protestant churches here in england that has had an
abortion.
 
dandy1822 said:
the question was about in the protestant religion i dont’t know about protestants in the usa
but i have not heard of anybody in the protestant churches here in england that has had an
abortion.
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I doubt it is an issue that would be discussed in wide circles. Trust me, Protestants as well as Catholics are having abortions in England, just like the rest of the world.
 
JonNC said:
I think most of the time it isn’t a matter of advocating for it, but not advocating against it. Sort of the luke-warm.

Jon
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From the United Church of Christ website:
Reproductive Health and Justice Why the UCC is a leader in this area
God has given us life, and life is sacred and good. God has also given us the responsibility to make decisions which reflect a reverence for life in circumstances when conflicting realities are present. Jesus affirmed women as full partners in the faith, capable of making decisions that affect their lives.
There are many justice issues related to reproductive health, including access to pre- and post- natal care for all women, equal access to the full range of legal reproductive health services including abortion, the right of women to determine when, if and how many children she should have, access to emergency contraception and other family planning services and information, the right not to be sterilized against one’s wishes, and the ability of women to negotiate safe sexual practices and non-coercive sexual experiences.
The United Church of Christ has affirmed and re-affirmed since 1971 that access to safe and legal abortion is consistent with a woman’s right to follow the dictates of her own faith and beliefs in determining when and if she should have children, and it has supported comprehensive sexuality education as one measure to prevent unwanted or unplanned pregnancies, and to create healthy and responsible sexual persons and relationships. (General Synods VIII, IX, XI, XII, XIII, XVI, XVII, and XVIII)
We have also supported that women with limited financial means should be able to receive public funding in order to exercise her legal right to the full range of reproductive health services. What is legally available to women must be accessible to all women.
The United Church of Christ is one of the founding faith groups of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, formed in 1973 as the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights. Over the years, RCRC has continued to bring a strong voice of faith on the moral and religious issues that swirl around public debate over abortion, contraception and pregnancy prevention. Because there are many religious and theological perspectives on when life and personhood begin, the UCC joins others in advocating that public policy must honor this rich religious diversity. Our position is not a pro-abortion position but a pro-faith, pro-family and pro-woman position.
RCRC has resources to train clergy and others in a counseling position in All Options Counseling which is centered on what is best for the individual woman and supports her decision-making. It also has a pro-choice religious leadership network, specific resources for African American and Latina/o church communities, a Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom network active on college and university campuses, many state affiliates, resources for post-abortion counseling, a Theologies of Choice course for seminaries, and a Seminarians for Choice network. For more information, visit www.rcrc.org.
 
In my larval agnostic stage, I was marginally pro-choice but never understood how frequently it happened nor the horor of it. The abprtionisits have done a good job make it seem clinical.

As I became older, I found out the reason I was an only child. It took me a long time to forgive my mother for killing what would have been my sibling in Christ.

Even now, I still act indifferently - there’s a ‘clinic’ a mile away that I pit out of my mind.😦
 
hn160 said:
From the United Church of Christ website:
Reproductive Health and Justice Why the UCC is a leader in this area
God has given us life, and life is sacred and good. God has also given us the responsibility to make decisions which reflect a reverence for life in circumstances when conflicting realities are present. Jesus affirmed women as full partners in the faith, capable of making decisions that affect their lives.
…
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I’m sorry for snipping. The UCC can stop right there. They go off the rails at the bolded. What Christian could possibly agree with this? -We-? decide which gift of God is to be reverenced? God’s gift of life is subordinate to human decision making? Huh? This is nothing but arrogance. As if we have more well developed sensitivities that the Lord our God?

I have a good friend who is a member of the UCC. He cannot articulate a coherent logical argument as to how abortion fits into God’s plan, and he is an intelligent man. When pressed, he ends up with, “we need to respect the choices of women”.

Human life… just another choice.:rolleyes:
 
I’m Evangelical and I believe that our Church is united with Catholic’s on a number of beliefs, one of them being pro life.

God bless.
 
pocohombre said:
Ditto
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They couldn’t, it is against Church teaching. Is the answer the same for liberal Protestants ie against their churches teachings? If it is not against their churches teachings, then there must be a biblical source to justify the churches stand? Otherwise it falls down to man made traditions? I am interested to know how these liberal churches are able to biblically support abortion.

So far, only BeProfOSX has commented on Jewish interpretations of OT. One of which appears more applicable to unintentional miscarriage eg injuring a pregnant woman causing a miscarriage. I checked on Muslim views on abortion last night. Interestingly, they have a cut off date of 4 months after which it is not permissible. Even a child of rape is subject to the 4 months rule, that is, not permissible after 4 mths.

All I am looking for is biblical justification for abortion from a Protestant viewpoint. The Catholic Church does not permit abortion. So please do not ask me why liberal Catholics do that. It is akin to asking why they sin, which is NOT the topic of this post.
 
ericc said:
They couldn’t, it is against Church teaching. Is the answer the same for liberal Protestants ie against their churches teachings? If it is not against their churches teachings, then there must be a biblical source to justify the churches stand? Otherwise it falls down to man made traditions? I am interested to know how these liberal churches are able to biblically support abortion.

So far, only BeProfOSX has commented on Jewish interpretations of OT. One of which appears more applicable to unintentional miscarriage eg injuring a pregnant woman causing a miscarriage. I checked on Muslim views on abortion last night. Interestingly, they have a cut off date of 4 months after which it is not permissible. Even a child of rape is subject to the 4 months rule, that is, not permissible after 4 mths.

All I am looking for is biblical justification for abortion from a Protestant viewpoint. The Catholic Church does not permit abortion. So please do not ask me why liberal Catholics do that. It is akin to asking why they sin, which is NOT the topic of this post.
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OK. Don’t know of any churches that decree,dogmatize,justify,teach abortion. That being said, many say there 30,000 denominations and counting,so I can’t speak for all of them.
 
hn160 said:
From the United Church of Christ website:
Reproductive Health and Justice Why the UCC is a leader in this area
God has given us life, and life is sacred and good. God has also given us the responsibility to make decisions which reflect a reverence for life in circumstances when conflicting realities are present. Jesus affirmed women as full partners in the faith, capable of making decisions that affect their lives.
There are many justice issues related to reproductive health, including access to pre- and post- natal care for all women, equal access to the full range of legal reproductive health services including abortion, the right of women to determine when, if and how many children she should have, access to emergency contraception and other family planning services and information, the right not to be sterilized against one’s wishes, and the ability of women to negotiate safe sexual practices and non-coercive sexual experiences.
The United Church of Christ has affirmed and re-affirmed since 1971 that access to safe and legal abortion is consistent with a woman’s right to follow the dictates of her own faith and beliefs in determining when and if she should have children, and it has supported comprehensive sexuality education as one measure to prevent unwanted or unplanned pregnancies, and to create healthy and responsible sexual persons and relationships. (General Synods VIII, IX, XI, XII, XIII, XVI, XVII, and XVIII)
We have also supported that women with limited financial means should be able to receive public funding in order to exercise her legal right to the full range of reproductive health services. What is legally available to women must be accessible to all women.
The United Church of Christ is one of the founding faith groups of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, formed in 1973 as the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights. Over the years, RCRC has continued to bring a strong voice of faith on the moral and religious issues that swirl around public debate over abortion, contraception and pregnancy prevention. Because there are many religious and theological perspectives on when life and personhood begin, the UCC joins others in advocating that public policy must honor this rich religious diversity. Our position is not a pro-abortion position but a pro-faith, pro-family and pro-woman position.
RCRC has resources to train clergy and others in a counseling position in All Options Counseling which is centered on what is best for the individual woman and supports her decision-making. It also has a pro-choice religious leadership network, specific resources for African American and Latina/o church communities, a Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom network active on college and university campuses, many state affiliates, resources for post-abortion counseling, a Theologies of Choice course for seminaries, and a Seminarians for Choice network. For more information, visit www.rcrc.org.
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Overwhelming sadness is my one reaction to this.

Jon
 
hn160 said:
From the United Church of Christ website:
Reproductive Health and Justice Why the UCC is a leader in this area
God has given us life, and life is sacred and good. God has also given us the responsibility to make decisions which reflect a reverence for life in circumstances when conflicting realities are present. Jesus affirmed women as full partners in the faith, capable of making decisions that affect their lives.
There are many justice issues related to reproductive health, including access to pre- and post- natal care for all women, equal access to the full range of legal reproductive health services including abortion, the right of women to determine when, if and how many children she should have, access to emergency contraception and other family planning services and information, the right not to be sterilized against one’s wishes, and the ability of women to negotiate safe sexual practices and non-coercive sexual experiences.
The United Church of Christ has affirmed and re-affirmed since 1971 that access to safe and legal abortion is consistent with a woman’s right to follow the dictates of her own faith and beliefs in determining when and if she should have children, and it has supported comprehensive sexuality education as one measure to prevent unwanted or unplanned pregnancies, and to create healthy and responsible sexual persons and relationships. (General Synods VIII, IX, XI, XII, XIII, XVI, XVII, and XVIII)
We have also supported that women with limited financial means should be able to receive public funding in order to exercise her legal right to the full range of reproductive health services. What is legally available to women must be accessible to all women.
The United Church of Christ is one of the founding faith groups of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, formed in 1973 as the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights. Over the years, RCRC has continued to bring a strong voice of faith on the moral and religious issues that swirl around public debate over abortion, contraception and pregnancy prevention. Because there are many religious and theological perspectives on when life and personhood begin, the UCC joins others in advocating that public policy must honor this rich religious diversity. Our position is not a pro-abortion position but a pro-faith, pro-family and pro-woman position.
RCRC has resources to train clergy and others in a counseling position in All Options Counseling which is centered on what is best for the individual woman and supports her decision-making. It also has a pro-choice religious leadership network, specific resources for African American and Latina/o church communities, a Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom network active on college and university campuses, many state affiliates, resources for post-abortion counseling, a Theologies of Choice course for seminaries, and a Seminarians for Choice network. For more information, visit www.rcrc.org.
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Not once did this church quote biblical support for its practices. Sounds like any other pro-choice organization rather than a church. I couldn’t figure out how killing a living fetus equates to pro-faith or pro-family. After a one liner statement on life is sacred and good, it focused on legal rights and economics instead. How does it answer to God?

Somehow, it feels that a living human fetus has lesser(no) rights compared to animals. Unwanted puppies/kittens end up in animal shelters and made available for adoption. But unwanted fetuses end up in the garbage bins. Sad.
 
ericc said:
IgnatianPhilo,

I am not asking whether certain individual Catholics support abortion or not. Those that do are not following Church doctrine as it is official Church stand that abortion is against God’s law and they could potentially be excommunicated. I am trying to understand those churches that permit abortion and whether there are biblical grounds to undermine their stand.
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Problem is no one takes that threat seriously. Take in mind Im not saying there is any reason within the church or biblically they reject a pro life position, its just the laity in the worst sense not actually believing what they are supposed to believe to be Catholic.

But anything can be justified biblically, anything can be stretched and reinterpreted into whatever mode you want in order for it to be justified. Abortion really isn’t mentioned in the bible but it was condemned by early Christians and their writings (the didache most prominent) and hence there has been a fairly consistent tradition of being against abortion in all the churches up until the modern times when liberal theologians and politicians have sought to promote abortion at any cost. The most the protestant can reasonably say is “the bible doesn’t mention it, therefore its up for debate.”

The bible says do not murder, but they wouldn’t consider a fetus a human being to begin with. I think the worst example against them is that Jesus was incarnate. If the liberal protestant or whomever wants to say the bible isn’t against abortion, they would have to maintain that Jesus was not conceived, did not experience that conception but rather entered into the body at a later time. So therefore it was theoretically possible and moral to them to abort Jesus before his soul was in there, but they don’t want to define that part.
 
ericc said:
They couldn’t, it is against Church teaching. Is the answer the same for liberal Protestants ie against their churches teachings? If it is not against their churches teachings, then there must be a biblical source to justify the churches stand? Otherwise it falls down to man made traditions? I am interested to know how these liberal churches are able to biblically support abortion.

So far, only BeProfOSX has commented on Jewish interpretations of OT. One of which appears more applicable to unintentional miscarriage eg injuring a pregnant woman causing a miscarriage. I checked on Muslim views on abortion last night. Interestingly, they have a cut off date of 4 months after which it is not permissible. Even a child of rape is subject to the 4 months rule, that is, not permissible after 4 mths.

All I am looking for is biblical justification for abortion from a Protestant viewpoint. The Catholic Church does not permit abortion. So please do not ask me why liberal Catholics do that. It is akin to asking why they sin, which is NOT the topic of this post.
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there isn’t a biblical justificatin for abortion
 
SteveVH said:
I doubt it is an issue that would be discussed in wide circles. Trust me, Protestants as well as Catholics are having abortions in England, just like the rest of the world.
Click to expand...
possibly they would not discuss this issue, i think it would depend on how religious they are
those with strong beliefs would not agree with abortions but those so called christians who
are anything but christians possibly would
 
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