If Congress enacts legislation that bans all abortions, including cases of rape and incest, however infrequent they may occur compared to abortion on demand, or if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, making all abortion illegal, that, to my way of thinking, is forcing a particular religious belief on everyone. My religion permits abortion in such cases, and when a mother’s life is in jeopardy, (Orthodox) Judaism requires abortion. And Judaism is not the only religion that thinks this way. However, which religion can honestly validate the Holocaust or slavery accompanied by lynchings?
Meltzerboy let’s look at this with a realistic scenario. It seems that the arguments supporting abortion focus on the most rare of incidents such as rape or a SERIOUS risk to the health of the mother to engender sympathy for her vis a vis the unborn baby. Or they use highly unlikely if not impossible scenarios as you indicated above.
Starting with the theory that Congress enacts legislation banning all abortions is setting up a strawman. Even restrictions on abortion such as the limitations on partial birth abortion were extremely difficult to get through. As I recall Bill Clinton VETOED this legislation. Now if you were to ask Americans whether a doctor should be able to pull a live baby halfway down the birth canal, stab her to death with a sharp instrument then hack her apart to get her out of the mother’s body, I suspect 99.9% of Americans would say YES ban this hideous practice. But it was difficult to even give STATES the right to make this decision, much less banning this practice completely. Recently a Fetal Pain bill was proposed and it was defeated. A BAN on all abortions from a federal basis is NOT going to happen.
If, and sadly I think unlikely, Roe and her Evil Sisters (Doe, Casey et al) are overturned, the question will go back to the states and many states will allow abortions. Reversal of Roe will NOT make abortion illegal. Before Roe my state allowed abortions. Why do you think that 50 states would suddenly ban abortion? So rest assured this “right” will survive many challenges albeit some limitations would apply.
Back to the religious question, I still maintain that while there are many people of faith who are proponents of protecting life at all stages, it is not ‘pushing a religious practice.’ What religion’s completely unique stance would be determinative? There are many variations of an anti-abortion position even within those religions most associated with the pro-life movement. Further one need not be religious to be pro life. I wasn’t when my position changed. I was raised atheist, liberal, secular and pro abortion. It was my belief that this is a human rights question rather than a religion question that changed my position…years before I became a Catholic.
Further look at other examples, slavery for one, the Southern Baptist faith originated with a Biblical foundation supporting slavery. So was freeing the slaves forcing the Baptists to abandon their religion for another’s practices? How about the modern civil rights movement? Was MLK (a pastor) forcing HIS religion on white people who felt that blacks did not deserve the same rights? No. In both cases it was a matter of HUMAN rights being attacked and thus the movement against them. I grant that there was a religious basis but in a more general sense, not a specific “you are trying to make me a Catholic” basis.
Again, it’s ONLY might makes right. There is no other reason that anyone can support this wholesale slaughter of the unborn.
Lisa
