The medical profession appears to
follow the viability criteria. Medical societies enforce regulations
prohibiting abortions after (typically) 20 or 21 weeks of pregnancy. The
US Supreme Court also seems to have used viability as a significant event;
it allows states to prohibit abortions after viability for a wide range of
reasons. Some believe that the fetus becomes a human being only after it
has been delivered and is breathing on its own.
There is some Biblical justification for this belief. Genesis 2:7 states
that God made Adam's body from the dust of the ground. But it was only
after God "breathed into it the breath of life" that "man
became a living person." They may be reluctant to consider a fetus
that is about to be delivered as human, because that might result in a
"slippery slope" argument that would criminalise abortions at
gradually earlier gestational ages.
No consensus and no compromise
appears possible. To a person who believes that human life begins at
conception, an abortion clinic is the ethical equivalence to a Nazi death
camp; embryo research is the equivalent to the fabrication of lampshades
made from human skin in the same death camps. To a person who believes
that life becomes human life at, say 25 weeks, a first trimester abortion
(i.e. during the three months following conception) is a regrettable
option, but often the most ethical choice for a pregnant woman.
Public opinion surveys give
conflicting results, depending upon the exact questions asked. It would
appear that a significant majority of adults in the US and Canada agree
that a woman should have free access to a safe abortion in at least the
first trimester. Terms must be used with great care. Because various
groups define words differently, misunderstandings are common.
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Some
often used and confused terms related to abortion are:
Abortion
This word has
two basic meanings.
The definition used by the medical
and pro-choice communities is: the end of a pregnancy before viability.
i.e. the termination of the process of gestation after the time when the
zygote attaches itself to the uterine wall (about 14 days after
conception), but before the fetus is possibly capable of surviving on its
own.
(currently 20 to 28 weeks from
conception). There are two types of abortions:
Accidental abortion: a termination of
pregnancy before viability that occurs naturally, without medical
intervention. This is a medical term for a miscarriage.
Therapeutic abortion: a termination
of pregnancy via the intervention of a physician through surgery or the
use of RU-486 or some other medication.
Pro-lifers sometimes define
abortion as an intentional interruption of the development process, at any
time from conception to birth.
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Anti-abortion:
This is a term whose meaning is in flux. Sometimes it is used as a synonym
for "pro-life." Recently, it has been frequently used to refer
to individuals and groups who take violent actions against abortion
providers or clinics.
Anti-choice:
Derogatory term used to refer to pro-life advocates, implying that
their prime motivation is to control women and restrict their freedom. It
is not. Almost all "pro-lifers" appear to be motivated by
religious reasons. See "Pro-life".
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Baby: Normally, this means a very
young child aged from birth to perhaps 1 year. The term is also sometimes
used (particularly by pro-life advocates) to refer to a embryo or fetus.
Blastocyst: A stage of pre-natal
mammalian development which (in humans) extends from the morula stage (a
shapeless mass of cells about 4 days after fertilization), to an bilaminar
(two layer) embryo stage (1 weeks after fertilization).
Child: Normally, this means a person
aged from birth to puberty. Sometimes it is used to refer to an unborn
fetus as well - particularly by pro-life advocates. In legal usage, it
often means a person who has been born but has not attained their 18th
birthday.
Conception: A synonym for
"fertilization"
D&X Abortions A rare procedure in
which the brain is removed from a fetus when it is partly born. Perhaps
3,000 out of the 1.8 million yearly abortions in the US use this
procedure. The size of the skull is reduced; this permits the fetus to be
removed more easily through the woman's cervix. Its use is normally
restricted to very rare instances in which:
1. the fetus is already dead
2. the fetus is alive but must be killed in order to save the life
of the woman
3. the fetus is alive but must be killed in order to avoid very serious
injury and long term or permanent disability to the woman.
Testimony before a Senate committee
indicated that a few doctors in the United States routinely performed
D&X abortions for reasons other than stated above. The alternative to
performing a D&X is a hysterotomy. This is a type of Cesarean Section
which is far more dangerous to the woman; it can cause perforation or
tearing of the uterus, hemorrhaging, and/or complications in future
pregnancies.
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Embryo: A stage
of pre-natal mammalian development which (in humans) extends from 2 to 8
weeks after fertilization. It is termed a "bilaminar" or two
layer embryo during its second week and becomes a trilaminar (3 layer)
embryo during its third week. At 9 weeks it is called a fetus.
Fertilisation:
The process that starts when a sperm contacts an ovum. It ends with the
intermingling of chromosomes from both the sperm and ovum to produce a
full set of chromosomes - 46 in most humans. The result is a zygote, often
popularly referred to as a "fertilised ovum." If it has two X
chromosomes, then the zygote is a female; if it has an X and Y, it is
male. This is generally regarded as the start of pregnancy within the
pro-life movement. Physicians and the pro-choice movement regard the start
of pregnancy when the fertilised ovum attaches itself to the wall of the
uterus.
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Fetus: A stage of
pre-natal mammalian development which (in humans) extends from 9 weeks
after fertilisation to birth.
Hysterotomy: A surgical procedure
which involves cutting through the woman's abdomen and removing the fetus.
It is popularly known as a Cesarean section.
Implantation: Attachment of the
zygote (fertilized ovum) to the wall of the uterus. This is generally
regarded as the start of pregnancy by medical professionals and the
pro-choice movement.
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Infant: A child; variously defined as
aged from birth to 1, 7, and even (in some legal applications) as old as
21 years.
Life: Sperm is a
form of life which is not human life. An individual sperm might have been
alive for many months before it has the possibility to come into the
vicinity of an ovum.
An ovum is a form of life which is
not human life. It ripens and is expelled by an ovary many days before
having the possibility being exposed to sperm.
A new-born baby is a form of human
life.
Pro-life advocates typically
believe that the transition from life to human life happens at
fertilisation. Pro-choice advocates typically believe that the transition
happens much later (e.g. when the fetus is viable -- capable of living on
its own or when it is born).
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Miscarriage:
Interruption of pregnancy prior to the 7th month. Usually used to refer to
an expulsion of the fetus which starts without being induced by medical
intervention. Approximately 25% of all pregnancies end in a miscarriage.
Sometimes, it occurs sufficiently early in pregnancy that the woman is
unaware of the event.
Ovum:
The mature sex cell generated by females in an ovary. They are about
1/100 inches in diameter and are often (although not necessarily) released
from alternate ovaries about once per month. Probably over 99% of ovums
die without being fertilised and given the opportunity to develop into a
fetus.
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Pregnancy:
As used by the medical and pro-choice communities: The stages of pre-natal
mammalian development which extends from the time that the embryo attaches
to the wall of the uterus until birth. Pregnancy thus starts about 2 weeks
after conception. As used by pro-life groups: pregnancy extends from
fertilization to birth.
Pro-abortion: Derogatory term used to
refer to the pro-choice stance, implying that they promote abortion. They
do not. Their motivation is to give women choice in controlling their own
bodies. See "Pro-choice".
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Pro-choice:
A belief that women should be given free access to abortions. People
who consider themselves "pro-choice" take many positions. Some
believe that a woman should have free access to abortions up until fetal
viability; others say that a woman should be able to choose to have an
abortion later in pregnancy.
Pro-life: A belief that life becomes
human life at the instant of conception (or perhaps shortly after) and
that it should be protected under law from that point. According to one
Pro-life group, legislators who have vote in favor of a partial birth
abortion ban are now calling themselves "pro-life": "When
the pro-life movement began in the early 70's, being pro-life meant you
were 100% opposed to any and all abortion. In the early 80's, that
standard was watered down to include those who had rape, incest, and the
life of the mother exceptions. Now in the 90's, things have declined so
rapidly that someone who is only opposed to partial-birth abortions can
sell themselves as pro-life."
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Sperm, Spermatozoa: The mature sex
cell generated by males. They are about 1/500 inch long. Almost all of
their length is formed by a tail. Tens of thousands are generated every
minute by most males, starting at puberty. Over 99.999% of sperm die
without being able to fertilize an ovum.
Stages
of development: An ovum, after fertilization, is called a Zygote.
This becomes, in turn, a morula, blastocyst, embryo and fetus. After
birth, the fetus is a newborn.
Trimester: A period lasting nominally
3 months. A human pregnancy is often divided into three trimesters, from
fertilization to birth. Laws restricting abortions often differ among the
trimesters.
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Viability:
The ability for the developing fetus to live on its own if it were
delivered by cesarean section or by normal delivery. This typically occurs
sometime after the 21st week after conception. Abortions are allowed by
various state and provincial Medical Associations only prior to viability.
Terminations of pregnancies at or after viability are not usually
performed, except for overwhelming medical reasons (threat to the woman's
life or death of the fetus). The US Supreme Court defined viability (Roe
v. Wade, 1973) as "potentially able to live outside the mother's
womb, albeit with artificial aid."
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HISTORICAL
VIEWS ON ABORTION
4th
CENTURY BCE TO 4th CENTURY CE (Abortion = Murder):
In ancient times, the "delayed
ensoulment" belief of Aristotle (384-322 BCE) was widely accepted in
Pagan Greece and Rome. He taught that a fetus originally has a vegetable
soul. This evolves into an animal soul later in gestation. Finally the
fetus is "animated" with a human soul. This "ensoulment"
was believed to occur at 40 days after conception for male fetuses, and 90
days after conception for female fetuses. The difference was of little
consequence, because in those days, the gender of a fetus could not be
determined visually until about 90 days from conception, and no genetic
tests existed to determine gender. Thus contraception and abortion were
not condemned if performed early in gestation. It is only if the abortion
is done later in pregnancy that a human soul is destroyed. By coincidence,
this 90 day limit happens to be approximately equal to the end of the
first trimester, the point at which the US Supreme Court decided that
states could begin to restrict a woman's access to abortion. The 40 and 90
day limits also bear a striking resemblance to the 40 and 80 day periods
when a woman was considered ritually impure after birth in Judaism
(Leviticus 12:2-6).
The Jewish faith was totally
opposed to both infanticide and abortion. Early in the 1st century CE,
Philo of Alexandria (? - circa 47 CE) wrote on both topics, 2 condemning
non-Jews of other cultures and religion in whom the practices were
widespread.
During the early history of the
Christian church, it was surrounded by a mosaic of other competing
religions within the Roman Empire, including Judaism, the Greek state
religion, Mithraism, the Roman state religion, and various Mystery
religions. With the exception of Judaism, most or all of the competing
religions allowed women to have abortions and allowed parents to strangle
or expose (abandon) new-born babies as methods of population control.
There are many writings, letters and petitions of early Christian
philosophers and Church Fathers which equated abortion with infanticide
and condemned both as murder. Uta Ranke-Heinemann quotes:
Barnabas: "You shall not kill
either the fetus by abortion or the new born" (Letter of Barnabas,
1st century CE)
Athenagoras: He stated that
Christians "call women who take medications to induce an abortion
murderers" (Petition to Emperor Marcus Aurelius)
Tertullian: "...we are not
permitted, since murder has been prohibited to us once and for all, even
to destroy ...the fetus in the womb. It makes no difference whether one
destroys a life that has already been born or one that is in the process
of birth."
Minicius Felix (a Christian lawyer): "Some women take medicines to
destroy the germ of future life in their own bodies. They commit
infanticide before they have given birth to the infant"
St. Ambrose: "The poor expose
their children, the rich kill the fruit of their own bodies in the womb,
lest their property be divided up, and they destroy their own children in
the womb with murderous poisons. and before life has been passed on, it is
annihilated."
Some Church writings and synods of
this period also condemned abortion:
The Didache (also known as
"The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles") dates from the first half
of the second century. It refers to "child-murderers, who go the way
of death, who slay God's image in the womb".
The Synod of Elvira, held in Spain during the early 4th century, condemned
abortion. The penalty was permanent excommunication. The Synod of Ancyra,
held in 314 CE, condemned abortion. The penalty was 10 years of penance.
The Apostolic Constitutions, of the 4th century, allowed abortion if it
was done early enough in pregnancy. But it condemned abortion if the fetus
was of human shape. The Canons of St. Basil condemned all abortions. The
penalty was 10 years of penance.
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4th
TO 17th CENTURY CE (Abortion is, then is not, then is, then is not
murder):
St. Augustine (354-430 CE) reversed
centuries of Christian teaching, and returned to the Aristotelian concept
of "delayed ensoulment". He wrote that a human soul cannot live
in an unformed body. Thus, early in pregnancy, an abortion is not murder
because no soul is destroyed (or, more accurately, only a vegetable or
animal soul is terminated). He wrote extensively on sexual matters,
teaching that the original sin of Adam and Eve are passed to each
successive generation through the pleasure generated during sexual
intercourse. This passed into the church's canon law. Only abortion of a
more fully developed "fetus animatus" (animated fetus) was
punished as murder.
St. Jerome wrote in a letter to
Aglasia: "The seed gradually takes shape in the uterus, and it
[abortion] does not count as killing until the individual elements have
acquired their external appearance and their limbs"
Starting in the 7th century CE, a
series of penitentials were written. These listed an array of sins, with
the penance that a person must observe as punishment for the sin. Certain
"sins" which prevented conception had particularly heavy
penalties. These included:
practicing a particularly
ineffective form of birth control, coitus interruptus (withdrawal of the
penis prior to ejaculation)
engaging in oral sex or anal sex
becoming sterile by artificial
means, such as by consuming sterilizing poisons.
Abortion, on the other hand,
required a less serious penance. Theodore, who organized the English
church, assembled a penitential about 700 CE. Oral intercourse required
from 7 years to a lifetime of penance; abortion required only 120 days.
Pope Innocent III (?-1216) wrote a
letter which ruled on a case of a Carthusian monk who had arranged for his
female lover to obtain an abortion. The Pope decided that the monk was not
guilty of homicide if the fetus was not "animated." Early in the
13th century, Pope Innocent III stated that the soul enters the body of
the fetus at the time of "quickening" - when the woman first
feels movement of the fetus. After ensoulement, abortion was equated with
murder; before that time, it was a less serious sin, because it terminated
only potential human life, not human life. St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)
also considered only the abortion of an "animated" fetus as
murder. Pope Sixtus V issued a Papal bull "Effraenatam" in 1588
which threatened those who carried out abortions at any stage of gestation
with excommunication and the death penalty. Pope Gregory XIV revoked the
Papal bull shortly after taking office in 1591. He reinstated the
"quickening" test, which he said happened 116 days into
pregnancy (16� weeks).
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17th
TO 19th CENTURY CE (Abortion becomes murder again):
In the 17th century, the concept of
"simultaneous animation." gained acceptance within the medical
and church communities. 9 This is the belief that an embryo acquires a
soul at conception, not at 40 or 80 days into gestation as the church
taught. In 1658 Hieronymus Florentinius, a Franciscan, asserted that all
embryos or fetuses, regardless of its gestational age, which was in danger
of death must be baptized. However, his opinion did not change the status
of abortion as seen by the church.
Pope Pius IX reversed the stance of
the Roman Catholic church once more. He dropped the distinction between
the "fetus animatus" and "fetus inanimatus" in 1869.
Canon law was revised in 1917 and 1983 and to refer simply to "the
fetus." The tolerant approach to abortion which had prevailed in the
Roman Catholic Church for centuries ended. The church requires
excommunication for abortions at any stage of pregnancy.
Papal decrees in 1884 prohibited
craniotomies, which is an operation that kills the fetus by dismembered
the its skull in order to save the life of the pregnant woman. In 1886, a
second decree extended the prohibition to all operations that directly
killed the fetus, even if done to save her life. The effects of these
decrees were often the death of both the woman and the fetus. These rules
are still in place today, although they are ignored by most physicians in
North America.
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20th
CENTURY CE (Abortion is murder, but only within some Christian
denominations):
In the 20th century, a diversity of
views has developed within Christian churches. Liberal and mainstream
churches either promote a woman's right to choose an abortion, or are
relatively silent on the matter. Conservative churches are generally
unalterably opposed to all abortions, from conception to birth, although
some would permit it in the event of rape, incest or extreme danger to the
woman's life.
The Roman Catholic church believes
that all abortions are a form of murder. In violation of the historical
record, the church also teaches that its current position has remained
unchanged. A number of liberal and mainline Christian churches and
religious organizations have publicly stated that abortions are sometimes
an acceptable option, and should continue to be legal. According to lists
prepared by The Secular Web and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive
Choice, they include:
American Baptist Churches-USA
American Ethical Union
American Friends (Quaker) Service Committee
American Humanist Association
American Jewish Committee
American Jewish Congress
Catholics for Free Choice at http://www.cath4choice.org/
Central Conference of American Rabbis
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Council of Jewish Federations
Episcopal Church
Jewish Women International
Lutheran Women's Caucus
Moravian Church in America-Northern Province
Na'Amat USA
National Council of Jewish Women
North American Federation of Temple Youth
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice at: http://www.rcrc.org/
Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Union of American Hebrew Congregations
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation
United Church of Christ
United Methodist Church
United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism
Women of Reform Judaism
Women's American ORT
Women's Caucus Church of the Brethren
Women's League for Conservative Judaism
YWCA
A list of statements by many of
these organizations may be found on-line at:http://www.rcrc.org/religion/weaffirm/comp.html.
Many hundreds of Fundamentalist and other Evangelical churches oppose
freedom of choice of abortions.
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Inconsistencies in the Current
Pro-Life movement:
There are two inconsistencies in
the "pro-life" stance taken by many conservative Christians:
There appears to be relatively
little mention of IUD's (Intra-uterine devices). The precise mechanism by
which IUDs prevent pregnancy is unknown.
Some researchers believe that the
IUD immobilizes sperm, preventing them from reaching the ovum;
Others believe that it causes the ovum to pass through the fallopian tube
so fast that it is unlikely to be fertilized. Most
believe that the IUD interferes with the implantation of fertilized ovum
in the uterine wall.
If the third property is true, then
IUDs terminate the development of a fertilized ovum after conception, and
cause its expulsion from the body. To a person who believes that life
becomes human life at the instant of conception, there is no ethical
difference between using an IUD, having a first trimester abortion, or
having a partial birth abortion. Yet pro-life groups actively campaign
against PBA's, picket abortion clinics, and attempt to pass restrictive
legislation limiting choice in abortion.. Some have made negative
statements about IUDs. But none have, to our knowledge, picketed IUD
manufacturing facilities, or sponsored anti-IUD legislation. This is
surprising, because in those countries where IUDs are widely used, the
number of fertilized eggs which
IUDs apparently expel from women's
bodies far exceeds the number of surgical abortions. About 43% of American
women will have had a surgical abortion sometime during their lifetime;
about the same percentage of women who use an IUD will expel a fertilized
ovum every 6 months (assuming that they engage in intercourse once per
week).
At no time in the history of the
Church have an embryo or pre-viable fetus been considered full persons to
the extent of being worthy of a formal requiem mass or formal burial
service.
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British
Poll of 1998-MAR:
The Harris Research Centre
conducted a public opinion poll involving 1762 people aged 16 and above
from 1998-MAR-27 to 31. The question asked was: "Should a pregnant
woman be able to decide for herself whether to have an abortion in the
first three months of pregnancy?" Overall results were:
77% yes (ranging from a high of 84%
in the North East of England to a low of 70% in Scotland)
12% no
11% undecided
More women then men supported the
pro-choice stance (81% to 72%)
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New
York Times/ CBS Poll of 1998
This poll was conducted on the 25th
anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court "Roe vs. Wade" decision.
This ruling established abortion on request during the first trimester,
and allowed states to place increasing restrictions on access to abortion
in the second and third trimester.
Results of the poll were:
Opinion - Men
Women
Keep abortion generally available,
as now
31% 32%
Increase restrictions on abortion
45% 44%
Prohibit abortions
23% 21%
This is obviously a topic where
people have strong opinions. The percentage of undecided respondents was
1% for men and 3% for women - an unusually low number for public opinion
polls.
The poll does not appear to be well
structured. Respondents were not given the option of preferring the
liberalization of abortion laws. Also, the "prohibit abortions"
did not differentiate between those who wish to stop all abortions, and
those who wish to criminalize all abortions except cases of rape, incest
or where the woman's life is in danger from a continued pregnancy. A
better series of answers might be:
1.make abortions more freely available
2.keep abortions generally available, as now
3.increase restrictions on abortion
4.prohibit abortions except in cases of rape, incest or a threat to the
woman's life
5.prohibit all abortions.
But even a series of 5 questions
would not really generate an accurate picture of public attitude towards
abortion. A further improvement would be to differentiate between early
and late abortions. Perhaps the above series of 5 questions could be asked
for abortions in each of the trimester.
It is probable that some of the
"increase restrictions" responses were a reaction to the recent
debate over "Partial Birth Abortions." There appears to be a
great deal of public opposition to this procedure. This may have motivated
some clients to switch from the status quo to advocating restrictions.
