Women, Abortion and Religion

There exists a certain sense of fallacy in the Roman Catholic position on abortion as the ideologies value the “right” course of action, in terms of religious standards rather than human life itself. This is rather ironic as the very point in question is the life of a fetus. This religious perspective establishes certain secured factors under which abortion may be permissible through “indirect” means when the mother’s life is in danger. However, Daniel Callahan strikes at a fascinating situation where if the mother and the child were both in danger and the mother’s life could be saved by the “direct” death of the fetus, this would be considered immoral. This example is particularly effective in establishing the fact that rules of morality take greater precedence over human life. In this situation, two people die of “natural” deaths, yet the person, who decided not to do a craniotomy, in order to save the life of the mother, is morally not at fault. It is difficult to comprehend why rules are respected more than people, and how “god” would want a human being in this situation to die, considering the fact that the fetus had no chance of living anyway. Roman Catholic tradition strongly emphasizes the saving of a human life above all else, how then does the mothers’ life not count?

Most situations may not pose such an extreme circumstance; however this religious tradition devalues the quality of life of both, the mother as well as the fetus. If an undesired fetus were to be brought in this world, the “living” fetus may be treated horribly by the family which was forced to keep it. For instance, this could cause constant resentment in the family, in which, if the fetus does grow to become older, he or she may be belittled and blamed for coming into the world unwanted. In another situation, where a fetus’s disability may be extremely painful and fairly weakening, the quality of life is once again compromised when the fetus is born and raised.

In a world where women and men are unequal already, banning abortion would only increase these disparities. In this context, a woman’s right to her own body and sexuality give her the same freedoms as a man. A man who engages in sexual activity in an isolated case does not face the responsibility of “killing” a fetus. However, the woman, who out of her own sexual freedom, has also engaged in this activity, has to make a series of life altering decisions about her potential future and her course of action. If it takes two individuals to procreate, why then does the woman face the brunt of it? It is also important to point out that because females primarily face pregnancy along with the social implications of this action, should she not have the right to decide?

Abortion in the Jewish religious context posed more practical constructs towards treating the fetus as a human life. The fetus is not considered a human until a portion of it has been exposed to the world. This construct is far more realistic as once a baby has been living in the womb for nine months, it would seem significant to give the fetus importance. The Jewish perspective also treats the fetus as a part of the woman’s body, and to some extent allowing her to take initiative. This is not to say that abortion is advocated, however because the fetus is not considered a human life separate from the mothers, the mothers actions and lifestyle are given more emphasis.

Keeping in mind both the Roman Catholic perspective as well as the Jewish perspective, there is a lack of female autonomy. The argument remains not in the fact that whether or not fetuses should be “killed,” it remains that the mother should have the freedom to make the choice one way or the other. The Jewish context at least considered the fetus part of the mother, where as the Roman Catholic context seems to give precedence not necessarily to the life of the mother or the child, but more to its own moral constructs. Women still have a long way to go in attaining equality with men, and the prohibition of abortion would only make this wait longer. Furthermore, most women who are ready to become mothers do choose “life,” yet women who are not ready should not be coerced into having a child due to religious principles. Religious principles should be followed on an individual basis, where a mother can choose to keep her child due to her own religious convictions.