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J Relig Health (2010) 49:513535 DOI 10.1007/s10943-009-9273-7
ORIGINAL PAPER
Moira Stephens Christopher F. C. Jordens Ian H. Kerridge Rachel A. Ankeny
Published online: 30 July 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009
Abstract This paper concerns the medical, religious, and social discourse around abortion. The primary goal of this paper is to better understand how seven of the worlds major religious traditions (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Confucian, and Hindu) address abortion in the clinic. We do not aim to critique these commentaries but to draw out some of the themes that resonate through the commentaries and place these within complex social contexts. We consider the intersection of ontology and morality; the construction of womens selfhood; the integration of religious beliefs and practices in a secular world. We suggest that for many women, religious doctrine may be balanced with secular logic as both are important and inextricably linked determinants of decision making about the termination of pregnancy.
Keywords Abortion Pregnancy Moral status Ontology Pregnant woman
Mother Decision making Religion
Introduction
Despite advances in science, technology, and society, religion remains a major inuence on contemporary attitudes to the issues surrounding the beginning and end of life, and particularly those surrounding abortion. In the secular bioethics literature, the nexus between religion and abortion tends to get treated in predictable ways. There is a focus on doctrinal
M. Stephens (&) C. F. C. Jordens I. H. Kerridge
The Centre for Values, Ethics & The Law in Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia e-mail: [email protected]
M. Stephens
Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
I. H. Kerridge
Department of Haematology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia
R. A. Ankeny
School of History and Politics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Religious Perspectives on Abortion and a Secular Response
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views associated with Judaic and Christian traditions, and there is little, if any, comparative discussion about other religious traditions. There is also scant exploration of differences between and within religious traditions, and engagement between secular and religious scholars tends to take the form of polemical exchanges.
This paper aims to shift the discourse by initiating an exchange between a group of secular scholars and religious scholars drawn from diverse traditions....