In today’s society you can’t escape hearing updates about our new president Donald Trump and his policies and actions. Recently, President Donald Trump signed an executive action on Monday reinstating the so-called Mexico City Policy. This policy bars international non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortions from receiving US government funding. When this news reached the media people, especially women, all over were outraged and were right to be. When the media presents the signing by saying “Surrounded by a crowd of men, Trump signed the policy, initially put in place by the Reagan administration, but was rescinded by the Obama administration in 2009,” it generally pisses women off. Not only are men deciding what women can and can’t do with their bodies, the actual policy wasn’t clearly outlined so it was a terrifying change for women everywhere. I mean when I heard this news I almost cried I was so scared however I wasn’t aware it was abortions in foreign countries, not that I am for or against that.
I believe that women everywhere were afraid of bills like this being passed and this is why the Women’s March was a great step forward and represents general issues in a variety of directions. One constant theme was the protection of the Women’s March itself. The march was also a way of helping our country cope with this huge change in our country because as humans we fear change so uncertainty tends to breed fear. My intervention in this blog isn’t about the Women’s March nor is it about Trump and his abortion bill although it is related. In this blog post I will focus on the role of American religious organizations overarching influence regarding abortion laws.
The debate over abortion has been around since I can remember and varies from pro life to pro choice but my question is why should it matter? The way the argument has been going makes it sound like abortion is no longer a matter of biology but rather is a religious influence. This always rubs me the wrong way not only as a women who is pro choice and not very religious (not that being religious is a bad thing) but also from just a citizen stand point. I don’t understand why this issue has come to our governments attention. Yes most religions have taken strong positions on abortion and believe that the issue encompasses profound issues of life and death, right and wrong, human relationships and the nature of society, and that makes it a major religious concern, however is it my understanding there has always supposed to have been separation of church and state for a reason so why has it meshed together as one again?
The abortion debate asks whether it can be morally right to terminate a pregnancy before normal childbirth.
According to BBC “Some people think that abortion is always wrong. Some think that abortion is right when the mother’s life is at risk. Others think that there is a range of circumstances in which abortion is morally acceptable.” This debate should be a matter of ethics and morals not religion however I am aware that there is a very thin line between them. This line should be clearly drawn but everyones religions say what is right and wrong and not al of them say the same thing.
I believe that we should stop viewing abortion as an ethical/ religious debate and view it merely as a biological choice. Why must we make a decision over one persons beliefs? Everyone believes in something different so if you believe abortion is murder, don’t have an abortion but let those who either need one or want one have one. Views on abortion vary but we should all have the right to do what we believe and we shouldn’t force our views or opinions on other people. Don’t you agree?
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/23/politics/trump-mexico-city-policy/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/abortion/
I thought this was an informative blog about abortion and the Mexico City Policy. Although I had heard that the president had signed an executive order regarding abortion, I was unaware of the fact that it only banned international non-governmental organizations that performed abortions from receiving governmental funds. I understand that this is a setback for women, but the media made it sound as if he had immediately banned abortions altogether. I also saw the picture of the president signing the bill surrounded by men. Sometimes I’m not sure if the president is simply unaware of how much his actions infuriate minorities or takes actions simply to make people angry on purpose. An article on Fortune.com (see http://fortune.com/2017/01/27/trump-media-trap/) states that everyone is taking the president’s bait in regard to his media strategy. They play on the fact that many people do not trust the mainstream media, and that seemingly liberal outcries bring conservatives closer together.
In regards to religious influences on how people view abortion, sometimes I think people use the face of religion to justify their own agendas. For example, they cite the commandment “thou shalt not kill” as to why abortion should be illegal. However, there are other commandments stating “thou shalt not commit adultery” and “thou shalt not bear false witness against they neighbor”. You would therefore think that people would be against divorce and consider lying as grave an offense as killing. Who is anyone to say which commandment or line in the bible is more important than any other? However, people pick and choose what they want to read and ignore other parts.
I have found that some Christian denominations are more receptive to abortion than others (see http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/christian-denominations-abortion-liberal/2015/11/05/id/643614/). I think this is good for both the church as a whole and the congregation, just as some churches are beginning to accept LGBTQ couples. However, in regards to separating church and state, I don’t think that will ever be completely possible. It is of general consensus that all of our presidents, with the exception of President Kennedy who was catholic, have all been protestant. Until we have a president of a different religion, we will unable to make progress in that area as a nation.