Abortion and religion
Regarding “Five Texans tell the stories of how their abortions changed their lives,” (July 10): For many years I have promoted peace, justice and human rights in line with the Catholic Church’s teaching about the sacredness of human life. I am willing to accept that life in the womb is also sacred and there is a strong need to reduce abortions.
However, overturning Roe v. Wade is the wrong way to reduce abortions. This decision disrespects women and primarily impacts low-income women. And abortion is necessary in certain circumstances.
Not every problem in society can be corrected by government action. It did not work when the government tried to outlaw alcohol many years ago because a majority of the people disagreed with this position. The same is true of abortion.
What the U.S. Catholic bishops and others who want to reduce abortions should be doing is advocating for strong economic and educational support for women and families. If this is done, abortions will go down.
It is not lost on me and many others that decisions on abortion are being made primarily by men. There are no women bishops in the Catholic Church. This has to be corrected if the church is to have any credibility in the future.
David Atwood, Houston
The National Council of Jewish Women Greater Houston is struggling as our daughters and granddaughters are poised to have fewer rights than we have experienced. The effects of this extreme political jurisprudence are already rippling across our nation.
First, intimate medical decisions were removed from patients and medical professionals. Misguided politicians and anti-abortion activists using inflamed rhetoric worked for decades to overturn Roe. These politicians and activists are not medical professionals qualified to give advice. We weep for the obstetrician who must watch her patient die from a problematic pregnancy because the government made it illegal to save her life.
Second, our country’s founders, fleeing religious tyranny, created the First Amendment to guarantee the separation of church and state. Jewish tradition not only permits abortion but, in some cases, requires it. Restrictive abortion laws, rooted in a specific Christian understanding of when life begins, shatter our and others’ abilities to follow religious practices.
Third, Judaism teaches that humans are created in the divine image of God. From this core teaching flows the understanding that each human being deserves equal treatment and rights. Justice Ruth Ginsburg stated, “... when the government controls that decision for her, she’s being treated as less than a fully adult human.” It is unimaginable that in the United States, a state can force a girl to carry and deliver the child of her rapist to satisfy a political movement that removes her humanity, dignity and equality. The overturn of Roe took away medical, religious and personal freedoms of women and their families. We are mourning this loss. Jennifer Reichek, executive director, National
Council of Jewish Women Greater Houston