abortion and religion

The intentional destruction by medical means of a human fetus in the womb prior to birth—a highly controversial ethical issue for many religious people since it means the taking of present or potential human life. On one side are those, calling themselves "pro-life," who hold that a fetus is a person and that abortion therefore is murder. This is the view offi cially taken by, among others, Roman Catholics, many conservative Protestants, and Orthodox Jews. However, unlike ROMAN CATHOLICISM, Orthodox JUDAISM permits abortion if the mother's life is at stake. Others, calling themselves "pro-choice," contend that an unborn fetus is not a person and that abortion is not, therefore, murder. Liberal religionists believe that abortion is always a serious moral decision, but that it can be justifi ed for such reasons as saving the life or health of the mother, or the prospect of the child's being born seriously deformed. In the great majority of cases, abortion as a means of birth control, that is, as a means to terminate unwanted pregnancies, usually does not have the approval of religious authorities. Moreover, the issue is one not only of whether abortion is intrinsically right or wrong, but also of who has the right to decide. Is it the mother's right alone to decide if she will have a child? Or do others— the state, the medical profession, the father, the church—have the right to make that decision? It is a complex and wrenching issue that many persons, religious and otherwise, continue to wrestle with.