Religious Statement

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Making a decision to terminate your pregnancy is a decision you will undoubtedly consider very thoughtfully and prayerfully.

It’s perfectly natural to have spiritual and religious concerns about having an abortion…wondering if this is something God can support and approve of.  Because some Christian religions don’t approve of abortion (calling it a ‘sin’ and saying you’ll lose God’s love), it’s natural to think that this is the view of all religions.  Not so!  That is just some religions’ belief.   In fact, a large number of Christian religions not only approve of the right to an abortion, but firmly believe that God will fully support you in that decision!  {Please see the list below of all these supportive religions.}

Here are some thoughts you might find spiritually and religiously helpful as you consider your decision.

  • God loves you!  As a part of God’s creation, God wants you to have the best life possible, to be happy and fulfilled.  Your long-term happiness is God’s primary desire!
  • God gives you – everyone! – free will.  That means God purposely gives you the authority and power to make decisions you feel are right and best – for you, for your family, and for your future. 
  • Many understandably feel that if they became pregnant, “God must have wanted it to happen.”  But if you had a car accident, you wouldn’t think God willed it or even approved of it, would you?  We can say the same for a “pregnancy accident.” 
  • Lots of mistakes and unfortunate things happen in life that aren’t what we’d like…or that God would like.  So we fix them.  God gives us both the ability and authority to decide what to do with these unfortunate events.  He wants us to make those wise decisions that will make our lives – and everyone’s around us – better.
  • Although some anti-abortion religious people think the Bible speaks against abortion, it’s interesting that in the Bible’s almost 2000 pages, abortion itself is never even mentioned…not once! (probably because back then abortion was widely practiced and accepted).  In one particular passage, Numbers 5:  11-31, God actually causes a woman to have an abortion.  For that and other Bible passages showing God’s thoughts on abortion, please see our The Bible Approves Abortion page.
  • Just as God has no opinion on how many children you should have, God has no opinion on when you should have them, including whether or not you should have a child now.
  • Although some religious people unfortunately  — and mistakenly — describe abortion as “killing a baby,” a much better description for this would be “stopping a baby.”  You can be comforted by knowing that this is not a baby, but only an embryo/fetus (the size of a grape in early pregnancy), that it has no ‘consciousness,’ and just like in a miscarriage, will never even know that it wasn’t carried to its full nine months pregnancy..
  • It’s interesting that the Southern Baptist Church, one of the strongest opponents of abortions, was once Pro-Choice and approved of Roe v Wade!  It changed positions only when some of its leaders realized abortion could be turned into a political issue…so evangelical Christians would more strongly support conservative Republicans.  See: https://billmoyers.com/2014/07/17/when-southern-baptists-were-pro-choice/

If you belong to an organized religion that officially opposes abortion, know that there are many churches, clergy, and members within your religion that disagree with that position.  Try to seek them out for the support they can offer you.

And remember, this important decision can only be made by you.  This is your body, your future.  If you have carefully and/or prayerfully thought about this decision, and ending your pregnancy feels right, then you should allow yourself to be completely at peace.  So you can go forward knowing – both now and forever after! – that you have done the right thing.  And that you indeed have God’s total love, approval, and blessing.

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There are two avenues for having religious/spiritual questions about abortion answered and finding support:  talking to a pro-choice local clergy member and/or calling a national organization (on an 800 number) where this conversation can take place.

Below is a list of religions that are generally supportive of abortion.  Many women find talking directly to a clergy person or other knowledgeable religious leader can be helpful in feeling spiritually comfortable and confident going forward with their abortion.  If you have other questions or concerns that our “Religious Statement” hasn’t addressed, we suggest you contact a pro-choice church/clergy member in your area and ask for an appointment.  Because different faiths, churches, and clergy can have varying views on abortion, we suggest you ask upfront if that person is pro-choice and supportive of a woman’s choosing to have an abortion, before further discussion or making an appointment.

 

Religions and Religious Organizations Supporting Abortion  

United Church of Christ

Unitarian Universalist

Episcopal Church

Quakers

ELCA Lutherans

Religious Science (Center for Spiritual Living)

Unity Church

Congregational Churches

Disciples of Christ

Mennonite Church USA

Catholics for Choice [at (202) 986-6093] also this brochure:

http://www.catholicsforchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/2015_YouAreNotAlone.pdf

Jewish (Conservative and Reformed)

 

Religions With Mixed Degrees of Support — in which individual churches and clergy are likely to have varying degrees of acceptance of abortion.

Methodist Church

Presbyterian

American Baptist

 

One other helpful resource is Faith Aloud, a national organization of specially-trained pro-choice clergy and religious counselors from diverse faith backgrounds that you can talk to over the phone (via a free 800 phone number) and who can give you confidential, helpful, spiritual and religious support.

Visit their website at:  http://www.faithaloud.org/  or call 1-888-717-5010