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Religion debates abortion
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by Beka Smith
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Religious leaders and a University of Wisconsin group discussed religious viewpoints on abortion issues at a meeting Monday evening.
UW's Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom hosted a panel called Religious Views on Reproductive Choice, in which Rabbi Jonathan Biatch and the Rev. Alvaro Nova talked about their religions’ stances on abortion and sex education.
The Jewish leader said he believes abortion should not be a subject of legislation.
"[Abortion] is a moral choice made between a woman and her doctor," Biatch said.
According to the rabbi, most of the Jewish community leans toward allowing abortion in certain cases like rape, though they have differing viewpoints inside the group.
"You have different voices coming out of our religion," Biatch said.
If an unborn child develops a birth defect, he said, some Jewish authorities believe it is unacceptable to have an abortion, while other liberal authorities think it may be permissible.
“There is a justification if the fetus is identified as a pursuer, a fetus that will hurt the mother, then the mother’s life takes precedent,” Biatch said.
One case of abortion Jewish law does not accept is when the mother fails to use contraceptives.
"Whatever God deems necessary, that’s what needs to happen,” Biatch said.
Also at the meeting, Nova represented the views of the Milwaukee Old Catholic Church of America.
“We are very open and liberal in our philosophy today," Nova said. "The human being is diverse, one of the gifts from God. We can’t put everyone in the same light."
Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Church of America believes in choice, Nova said.
According to Nova, the Old Catholic Church of America shares many of the same beliefs regarding abortion with the Jewish community.
Nova said he believes the most important message from the church is sex education.
"We need to break the silence about sex. It’s coming from God, a special gift bringing life," Nova said. “The church puts a lot of wrong things about sex in humanity. We need to teach people the truth. Sex is only for reproduction — that was the position of the church."
Biatch also said sex is a gift from God.
“Sexuality is more than procreation — it expresses love, it expresses drive, it is one of the strongest drives humans have,” Biatch said.
Biatch is also part of the Reform Jewish movement, which instituted a program called Sacred Choices to share the message that sexuality is a sacred choice when people choose to engage in it, and sex should not be abused.
Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom is an organization that has been involved with the Madison campus for a year.
The goal of the group is to advance the spiritual pro-choice movement.
“Your religion does not have to limit you from having pro-choice views,” event organizer and UW senior Michelle Vesole said.
Anonymous (September 25, 2007 @ 2:43am):
Michelle Vesole should be worried; last time I had a quote about being pro-choice and religious, I got about 1,000 pieces of mail attacking me. Good luck kid.
- UW alum
Anonymous (September 25, 2007 @ 8:24am):
OK, why no Catholic Church representative. Considering that they are the original creators of the Right to Life model, it would appear that this is a completely biased forum they are presenting.
Anonymous (September 25, 2007 @ 10:42am):
I am so proud of Tracy and Michele for their efforts to bring the Religous Coalition for Reproductive Choice to campus. Congratulations!
Barbara Kavadias (September 25, 2007 @ 11:00am):
Michelle should not have to worry, we should all stand up with her, the presenters, and the attendees. I am also a UW alum ('83), am proud to be part of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, proud to see that there is a SYRF group at UW, and pleased that there is an affiliate of RCRC in WI. RCRC in WI has a strong history of speaking out for religious freedom and for the rights of all people to make important personal decisions like whether and when to have a child, for themselves. I wish the SYRF folks all the best, may you grow, be strong, and spread the word!
Jonathan Biatch (September 25, 2007 @ 11:54am):
Thank you to Michelle and Tracy for a great forum on the issue of choice and abortion. I have always marveled at the mis-impression that people have that religious people cannot be pro-choice. The anti-choice community has, unfortunately, successfully monopolized the conversation. But if people of faith would look to their own faith community, as well as to the words of others, they would see that many who consider themselves "religious" have strong pro-choice positions. Kudos to you both for this forum.
--Rabbi Jonathan Biatch
Anonymous (September 25, 2007 @ 12:02pm):
As an attendee of this event, I just wanted to say that the purpose of this event was not to debate, but for pro-choice and pro-faith students to discuss.
Anonymous (September 25, 2007 @ 12:03pm):
Uh, lame. Don't you ladies have something better to pad your resume with?
Anonymous (September 25, 2007 @ 2:02pm):
not only would I like to agree with 8:24, why were there no Roman Catholic reps present. To take it one step further, the US is made up of a number of religions (many that are present in Madison) why were they not present? Were they invited and did not show up, or were the other relgions (that do not have a pro-choice view) not even considered to par take in the discussion? None the less, I like that you stand up for whatever you have convictions about.
Anonymous (September 25, 2007 @ 3:49pm):
A third speaker from the Madison religious community had to cancel due to a family emergency.
Anonymous (September 25, 2007 @ 4:31pm):
This event was not meant to be un-biased...it is sponsored by a pro-choice organization and therefore was biased a certain way.
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