ABORTION
The Lord said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it.” (D&C 59: 6)
Discuss.
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This is a sticky issue because we (the church and science) don’t know or haven’t said when life begins. The fact that the church allows abortion in the of rape/incest implies we’re not talking about murder. The phrase “nor do anything like unto it” is vague, and I don’t know what the Lord meant by it. I oppose abortion because I don’t know if it is murder and don’t want to take the risk that it isn’t.
Here is what the entry on Abortion in the True to the Faith manual says:
True to the Faith, Abortion entry
Such inconsistency.
I was ashamed to have done it, I admit, but I thought, I’m commenting, not publishing an article. The rules are different for the comments section, right?
To clarify, the inconsistency I was referring to is the idea that, as they say, “two wrongs make a right.”
Oh, I thought you were referring to the fact that I quoted a church manual instead of the scriptures. Which two wrongs were you referring to?
“…some exceptional circumstances may justify an abortion, such as when pregnancy is the result of incest or rape…”
There DOES seem to be a dichotomy in the “result of incest or rape” mitigation. Logically, if abortion is “killing,” how can incest or rape be an exception? A fetus has no control over its parentage; it can be no less a “life” whether resulting from a loving husband and wife, rape or incest. I don’t believe exceptions exist for predetermined birth defects, the presence of AIDS, or many other contingencies.
I suppose my view is an “absolutist” one, and I truly don’t mean to sound that way. But I tend toward a logical analysis sooner or later, when I turn into so many blind alleys. I’m also walking a tightrope, in that logic can be such a fine line. Go ahead and push me one way or another with your argument (I’ll try not to fall).
I once heard a woman speak about her pregnancy due to rape. She ended up having the child and giving it up. So it is possible. But the psychological factors, for both rape and incest, would be overwhelming. The disgust of knowing you are holding a child in you for either reason, for a whole nine months, would be more than most could handle. For me, that is health of the mother. Now, the idea that you would end a pregnancy because of deformities goes overboard. If it is so deformed, it will probably die at birth. This scenario is dealing with loss of a child. Or, if the child survives, a family now having a severely handicapped child. That happens, not every child is perfect.
But one case is having sex with the possibility always there of getting pregnant. The other is forced. And only some women could go through with the pregnancy. I’ve asked my husband before about his reaction, if I was raped and pregnant. He would not have that child inside of me.
outlawing abortion leads to fewer instances of abortion, but also leads to more risk for the mothers who still choose to have it done. i don’t think it should be illegal, but i still would try to convince every women friend of mine not to have it done. i think the best way to lower the instances of abortion is to offer better alternatives, better maternity leave benefits, easier adoption processes, easy and cheap access to birth control, rather than criminalizing it.
on the doctrinal side, i don’t think abortion is the same as murder of a human, because a fetus has not yet received the breath of life