The issue of pro-life/pro-choice is one loaded with prejudice and contempt, on both sides, and it seems that it is extremely unpopular to be “pro-life” in the Pagan community. The general opinion seems to be that anyone who is pro-life is automatically “anti-women”, foolish and a conservative to boot.

However, as far as I am concerned, all these accusations are rather a predictable reaction from what can only be described as an “artificially free-thinking community”.

Free-thinking should literally mean free to reason and come up with ideas without fear of reproach. But instead, many within the Pagan community seem to be blinded by their rebellion to anything which appears Judeo-Christian to such an extent that to appease their craving to be “free-thinking”, it is often enough to merely oppose what is deemed to be non-Pagan dogma.

I am a pro-lifer, and while I may appear to agree with the pro-life stance of other religions, I do not have to agree with their train of (religious) reasoning. Religion has in fact very little to do with my reasons for being pro-life.

In any sexual relationship there is a “greater-than-zero risk” of unexpected pregnancy, despite taking all the precautions possible. Therefore all intentionally, sexually active people “acknowledge” that each time they have sex there is the possibility of pregnancy. However, if a couple, prior to having sex, acknowledge that they are ill-prepared to parent a child, and also acknowledge that they are prepared to use any means to end an unwanted pregnancy, then they are in a premeditated way accepting that they will likely use abortion at some time in the future.

Given these parameters, it is clear that abortion is being used as a form of birth control - and to me abortion is not, and never should be, an acceptable birth-control method.

Regarding the whole argument that a foetus is not a person, but merely a collection of a few cells, one should perhaps realise that this “collection of cells” should not be looked at as a static moment in time, for it is in fact a collection of cells that is in a rapid state of metamorphosis, with an enormous potential to become a communicative, intelligent, self-reliant, productive member of society. From conception the “collection of cells” has all the genetic material it will need to guide a future person’s growth and development through life. At only 42 days of existence, the “collection of cells” has begun to develop all its own organs. By the end of the first trimester, nothing new grows or develops in this “collection of cells”, all the organs only mature and refine themselves. The unborn is also not a part of the mother’s body, as it has its own, distinct genetic make-up, independent from its mother’s.

Accusations that pro-lifers have no right to tell a woman what she is allowed to do with her body, are not only sexist but a totally irrational accusation, as the consequences of a mother and her mate’s actions have made them responsible for another human who is dependent on them for his/her existence. An example of this type of irrationality is: If a boyfriend is leaving because a woman is pregnant they will abort and say that is their choice, but if the boyfriend is leaving because the woman wants to abort then he is forcing her to gestate against her will - hypocrisy knows no bounds does it?

In the greatest number of abortion cases, there is no reason why the couple are unable to care for a child. Financial reasons are often cited as the leading incentive for abortion. Other reasons are frequently, “we just weren’t ready”, or “I don’t have the time because of ….” These reasons are a product of cultural conditioning about poverty and a standard of living. When persons say that they can’t afford to have a baby, or they don’t have the time to care for a baby, what they really mean is that they can’t afford to care for a baby and maintain their current comfort level.

Furthermore, it is obvious that most abortions done in this country are not done to save the life of the mother - nor are they done because the child will suffer from some illness or physical/mental deformity. Thanks to science, situations in which the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother are in fact extremely rare. Late-term abortions are never medically necessary. Emergency C-sections are often the medically appropriate response to save both mother and child. Surgeries for ectopic pregnancies are not medically classified as abortions. Since the child has no chance of survival, and the mother can survive if the pregnancy is ended, we must do what we can to save her. To let both die would not be pro-life.

Finally, there are issues related to mental health. While pregnancy can be a stressful experience and sometimes bring on or exacerbate depression, psychological stress should not be “treated” by abortion.

What about rape? Both victims - the woman and her child -deserve our unconditional support, but abortion after rape is in fact misdirected anger. It doesn’t punish the perpetrator of the crime, or prevent further assaults against other women. Neither does this type of abortion erase a memory - and here in most cases giving up the child for adoption is the answer.

What about the fact that the practice of abortion dates back to ancient times and was indeed practiced by ancient pagans?

Pregnancies were terminated through a number of methods, including the administration of abortifacient herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and many other techniques. The first recorded evidence of induced abortion, is from the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus in 1550 BCE. A Chinese record documents the number of royal concubines who had abortions in China between the years 500 and 515 BCE.

Much of what is known about the methods and practice of abortion in Greek and Roman history comes from early classical texts. Abortion, as a gynecological procedure, was primarily the province of women who were either midwives or well-informed laypeople. In his Theaetetus, Plato mentions a midwife’s ability to induce abortion in the early stages of pregnancy. Scribonius Largus, a Roman medical writer, wrote: “Hippocrates, who founded our profession, laid the foundation for our discipline by an oath in which it was proscribed not to give a pregnant woman a kind of medicine that expels the embryo/foetus.”

Botanical preparations reputed to be abortifacient were common in classical literature and folk medicine. A list of plants which cause abortion was provided in De viribus herbarum, an 11th-century herbal written in the form of a poem.

Abortion was thus a indeed a practice utilised by many of our ancestors. However, many ancient pagans also found blood sacrifices and infanticide morally acceptable, does that means that I should too?

While there are many, many Pagan paths, the vast majority hold nature, and the natural order, and life itself to be sacred. We teach personal responsibility, not because we fear hell for disobedience, but because we see that there will be real-world, practical consequences if we do not live carefully, thoughtfully, and respectfully on the Earth and among our fellow human beings. Many of us worship Goddesses, and hold fertility and sexuality to be sacred. We see all things interconnected and hold in reverence the cycles of the seasons, of light and dark, growth and death and rebirth. Many Pagans follow the Wiccan Rede, which tells us to “harm none”.

How, then, can we possibly justify abortion?

Abortion takes a life; this is not a matter of ideology or dogma, but a simple fact. It causes irreparable harm to one who is entirely innocent and helpless, one of the greatest injuries one person can possibly inflict on another. It denies the gift of fertility and treats pregnancy as a disease and a weakness in women, rather than a strength and blessing. Rather that respecting pregnancy as part of the cycle of human existence and the natural continuation of human sexuality, abortion reduces gestation to the level of a sexual hangover, an unwelcome side-effect, “getting caught”.

It treats life as disposable, not inherently sacred and possessed of its own immeasurable value, but inherently useless and worth preserving only if someone wants it.

I believe that every living thing, from the smallest and simplest to the greatest and most complex, has a unique and irreplaceable role in the natural balance of our world that deserves to be both respected and protected.

“Choices are the hinges of destiny.” - Pythagoras

http://www.fjkluth.com/gmed.html#Abor;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_abortion;
http://people.tribe.net/mind-n-magick/blog/66c0477b-7ffd-4432-b9ed-48ced...
http://ehealthforum.com/health/topic75524.html;
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/wicca_witchcraft/38976:
http://www.patheos.com/Library/Pagan/Ethics-Morality-Community/Principle...
http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usor&c=teen&id=3607;