Intersectionality of religion and lawmaking in Abortion Rights

Via: https://news.trust.org/item/20210518181318-t2h4j

TW: Abortion, Rape, Sexual Assault

Christianity, catholic, and colonialism are often associated with each other.

Because they were the state religions of the European colonial powers, it consequently impacted the countries they colonized. Europeans believed that they had an obligation to bring their faith to pagans, which was defined as people who practiced ethnic religions other than Christianity/Judaism. This was often carried out in a violent manner through unethical practices and severe laws, and people were forced into cultural genocide.

This is the history that North America is built upon and the reality does not differ today.

Take Republicans for example: 82% identify as Christian, and 21% identify as Catholic. While 63% of Democrats identify as Christian and 21% as Catholic. These two parties have had the most impact on our law and policy development within the past decade.

The Bible is interpreted in many different ways, making it difficult to generalize the religious party as a whole. People seem to have varying opinions of what the Bible tends to mean in different verses.

However, the general consensus on abortion seems to be that it is a sin.

In Exodus 21:22-25 it says “If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”

In Jeremiah 1:5 it says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations”.

These two verses, out of the many regarding preborn human beings, posits that God believes abortion is murder. This is due to the belief that each human was designed differently and purposefully by God, and therefore should be seen, and treated like a human being as soon as conception happens.

Due to the interrelations that religion have with people in power, abortion rights have been a rather controversial topic both across the nation, and consequently, the court system.

While some cite religious beliefs, such as the Bible to state it is immoral, pro-choice individuals advocate that a woman should have the right to have a choice with what goes on in her body.

Roe v. Wade is a landmark ruling in 1973 that ruled the restrictive state regulation of abortion asunconstitutional; particularly contradictory to the Fourteenth Amendment, which states that no state should “deprive any person of any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”.

Since then, many challenges narrowed to scope of Roe v. Wade, and there have been increasing restrictions on abortion. The Guttmacher Institude, a reproductive health research organization, has found there have been 549 restrictions since January 2021, including 165 abortion bans introduced across 47 states.

In March, Arkansas banned all abortions except in medical emergencies-such as rape or incest, and this law is due to take effect in August.

In Oklahoma, Republican Governor Kevin Stitt signed a ban on abortion altogether, which is expected to come into effect in November.

In Tennessee, the state is attempting to ban abortion early as six weeks, as well as banning abortions on a Down Syndrome diagnosis.

Other states have created “trigger laws”, which are laws that would immediately come into effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned.

There are many facets to consider in this current situation.

For example, women and girls experience sexual violence at high rates. 1 out of every 6 American women have been the victim of an attempted or complete rape in her lifetime. Studies suggest that the number of children conceived from rape each year vary between 7,750-12,500.

The majority of sexual assault crimes are not reported to the police. The General Social Survey (GSS) on victimization found that 78% of sexual assaults were not reported to the police. There are many explanations to this, such as fearing revenge of the offender, avoiding publicity regarding a traumatic incident, feeling that they cannot do anything about it, and feeling that it is a personal matter.

It is an absolute violation of privacy for a women to have to disclose and discuss her rape in order for her to get the medical care she needs if she were to want an abortion.

Another example to consider is the expensive healthcare system, and the lack of support when it comes to mothers with special needs children.

Mothers are easily shamed and ostracized for the way they parent, and many mothers may feel the need to choose to abortion if they become pregnant with a child they feel that they cannot provide for.

There are limited resources and funds available for mothers who have children with special needs, and these abortion laws seem to be in place not to value the lives of children with special needs, but to oppress women's rights to access the care they need.

Keeping abortion legal, and as a safe option for women allows for every individual-no matter the religion they believe in-to have access to the healthcare they need whether they want it or not.