A Matter of Faith

For 50 years, Roe v. Wade was the law of the land and it assured women in the United States the right to choose whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term. But that precedent was overturned in June with Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, when a conservative, male majority Supreme Court abolished the constitutional right to an abortion and punted by conferring the decision on states instead.

Now, the states are mired in a complex web of convoluted, confusing and ever-changing regulations as state leaders rush to pass laws related to various timelines during which an abortion can be obtained — if it can be obtained at all. This past Tuesday, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina upped the ante by introducing legislation that would institute a federal ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

For many politicians, outlawing abortion altogether is the thinly veiled, ultimate goal and their logic in taking this extreme stance is often paired with a professed dedication to their religion. Many Christians (though certainly not all) say that life begins at conception, but that view is a matter of faith, not fact. Though many in positions of power today would seek to have every U.S. citizen adhere to their particular moral world view when it comes to regulating body, mind and spirit, the fact is, we are still a democracy founded on a principle that values the separation of church and state.

And though many may profess otherwise, this is not a Christian nation. Rather, it is one that protects and values the rights of those who practice any faith, or none at all. Recently, several Florida clergy members — Jews, Unitarians, Buddhists and yes, even Christians among them — filed suits claiming that the state’s law prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks with no exception for rape or incest, violates their religious freedom.

They make a compelling argument. After all, not every religion believes that life begins with conception. So how can a government that professes to respect all religious traditions impose the faith-based belief of a single one upon the rest of the citizenry?

It’s a good question, and a tough issue. The decision to terminate a pregnancy is rarely made lightly and it comes with any number of complicated mitigating factors. It is certainly not something that courts or politicians should dictate under the guise of religion. Rather, the choice to end a pregnancy or not should lie solely with a woman, her partner, her health care practitioner and, if she so chooses, her faith leader, regardless of what that faith may be.

The Express News Group recently ran a story about the overturning of Roe v. Wade with reaction from several East End clergy members. Among them was the Reverend Kimberly Quinn Johnson of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork, who put it this way: “This is not a decision that allows people with many different perspectives to move from their own personal and religious perspective. It takes one and expects all of us to be bound by it.”

And when you get right down to it, that is the antithesis of a free and fair society that prides itself on the principle of religious freedom.