Abortion: No Sin Without Religion

Ancient times were allegedly more brutal and bloodthirsty but we are a society that bases most of its film, media and art on murder, violence and crime. Are we not merely watching the equivalent of the gladiatorial games on a large screen? I don’t believe a lower tolerance for gore is the reason for abortion’s controversial status.

Populations in the past have needed to control their growth, cities and villages were small, sustainable resources were not as accessible and birth control was non-existent. In short, too many babies could have the drastic effect of essentially wiping out the population due to famine for example. Today’s people are not in the same position. Starvation rates are low, resources are plentiful and we now have the technology and finance to support disabled and unplanned children. This cannot be the reason abortion is now taboo.

I find it interesting that the ancient Egyptians never practiced abortion or infanticide; it was considered an act against the Gods. As time has passed the changes of religion have impacted the world in dramatic ways and so I believe it was the rise of Christianity in 400AD that turned abortion into a moral question. With Christianity, children began to be baptised shortly after birth making them a part of the Christian community, giving them a place in life and in the world. It was taught that even an unborn child had a soul and thus it was a sin to abort them. With the spread of Christianity the idea of killing a child born or unborn became terrible and taboo. It appears to me that the attitude of ‘anti-abortion’ protesting is based on theology rather than the idea of ‘pro-life’ as that would surely take into consideration potential bad upbringing, the oversize of the population, the condition of the earth and atmosphere; the overuse of fossil fuels and destruction of the Ozone layer. It seems the world barely sustains the population it already has and isn’t in dire need of higher numbers. The answer to this question from what I can deduce therefore is religion.  

66% of people in the UK agree that women should have the right to abort. Religion in the UK is on the decline and is slowly loosening its grip on today’s society. “Less than half of the British people believe in a God, yet about 72% told the 2001 census that they were Christian, and 66% of the population have no actual connection to any religion or church.” Is there a direct correlation between religion and views on abortion? I believe so.