Religion's Impact: From Abolition of Slavery to Abortion Debate - Research Paper

Introduction

Throughout history, religion has influenced policies and laws in the world. Christianity greatly influenced the anti-slavery campaign when many came out to quote what the bible says concerning treating all people equally. The influence of Christianity is still felt in our society, for it continues to shape major political decisions.

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Since 1972, the debate on abortion has taken deep roots. The discussion on whether abortion should be legalized or not started after the "Maude's dilemma" show was aired (Lindsey, 2019). Two months after the show, the Supreme Court issued an order allowing women to have an abortion during the first trimester. According to Lindsey (2019), the ruling brought a lot of debate in many television shows. People had different opinions on the verdict. Since the decision, the discussion of abortion has been a top issue in American politics.

According to Christianity, the legalization of abortion would mean violating the constitution. The right to life, as stated in the constitution, will be broken in case abortion would be made legal (Adamczyk and Margret, 2018). The only provision given by the law is that everyone has a right to life, but it does not elaborate when this life starts. Many Christians argue that life begins at conception.

Christian's population has made it hard for the legalization of abortion. Research shows that more than 70% of the United States population are Christians ("Faith on the Hill: The Religious Composition Of The 116Th Congress", 2019). If voting will be made to decide whether abortion should be legalized, it is evident that Christianity will win. Also, any person who comes to campaign in a Christian dominated region should have policies that align with the religious beliefs of the person. For example, Donald Trump had to promise the American people that his government would not allow abortion. Many accepted his policies because they were in line with their religious beliefs.

Many of the lawmakers are Christians, and they cannot go against their conscience. According to the Pew Research Center, more than 471 out of 534 congresses are Christians. The statistics mean that a law brought in the house of Representatives that is against the Christian values is likely to fall (Stensvold, 2015). The research also found that people votes in line with their religious affiliation instead of their political stand. The same thing would happen in the house of Representatives. For example, if an abortion bill is introduced by a republican, it is likely to be opposed by other Republicans who are Christians.

Lastly, Christians are bein involved in numerous campaigns against abortion. Many Christian organizations are joining with non-government organizations to advocate for anti-abortion. Segers, Timothy and Byrnes (2016), comments that the media is the primary channel used by the pro-life organizations. For example, many organizations have put resources on the "String Attached" film. "String Attached" is a documentary that shows the effects of birth control pills and other reproductive drugs poured in the Africa continent. ("Strings Attached Strings Attached," 2019). Christian organizations are using this documentary to show the effect of abortion. In the literature, people give their stories on the suffering they have gone through after using reproductive drugs. Some have explained how they have become sick and others barren.

The debate on the legalization of abortion can be linked with the oppression of women in the 19th century. During this era, women were regarded as inferior and incapable of making their own decision. Men determined the decision on what to eat, what to wear, and the number of children a woman should have. The same reasons fuel the current debate on abortion. People who are for abortion argue that the era when men used to decide what women should do with their bodies is passed (Adamczyk and Margret, 2018). However, this view is greatly affected by the Christian conservatives who believe that God instructed women to obey their husbands.

The feminine mystique brought a new motion on abortion. Freidan wrote a book that explained what married women go through in silence. In the book, she argues that there is a misguided idea of what happiness means. The 1940s women were made to believe that a good life meant having a house, a husband, and children (Lindsey, 2019. To Freidan, the whole idea brought not happiness to women. She argues that women were not allowed to do what they were created for. As a result of this publication, the government joined women in revising the rights of women (Burkett, 2019). The debate on abortion seems to be taking the same route. Many argue that it is against the law to force women to keep a pregnancy. The anti-abortion bill fails to consider the health effect of the unwanted pregnancy on women.

The publication of Freidan's book led to the distribution of other writings supporting women's liberation. The idea of the books was to make all realize that women are also human beings, and they deserve to have equal rights as men (Burkett, 2019). The idea that men deserved more privileges just because they were men was highly discouraged. Other people quoted the scripture to shows that God intended men and women to have the same rights and privileges. The idea is brought by the fact that the bible teaches that God does not show favor to anybody. If God intended men to have more rights, then it would mean that he is not a just God.

Christianity viewed most women's liberation movements as immoral. According to Woodnam and Beth (1992), Conservative Christians argued that the protests planned by liberation movements encouraged women to disgrace themselves in public. Many Christian conservatives believed that women were supposed to be timid and quiet. Also, women were not allowed to talk in public. Women's liberation movement promoted women to be talkative, an idea highly discouraged by conservatives. For this reason, many Christian women were left to choose either their Christianity or join the liberation movement. As a result, many decided to stick to their Christianity.

Christianity is discouraging women from speaking their minds. Research shows that there are a lot of married Christian women who are having an illegal abortion. The statistics are evidence that many people are secretly supporting the abortion bill (Castuera,2019). Despite these statistics, very few women are coming out to support the abortion bill. The reason may be because women are afraid of what their Christian friends will say about their decision. Christianity teaches that there is no difference between abortion and murder. People who commit a crime will all be punished equally (Francombe, 2017). What Christianity is not teaching is that even those who abort secretly will also receive punishment.

The pro-life debate has received much of its support from the churches. After the 1972 legalization of abortion during the first tri-semester, there arose various church organizations to campaign against the decision. According to Stensvold (2015), the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops mobilized people to form the national right to life committee, which campaigned for a total prohibition of abortion. However, other denominations requested the law to revise the conditions under which abortion may be done. Southern Baptist Convention proposed that people should be allowed to abort in case of rape, deformity of the child and adverse health effect on the parent.

The National Association of Evangelicals ( NAE) have also come out to promote the pro-life, but have included some reservations. Just like the Southern Baptist convention, NAE has argued that the doctors should weigh the effects of the pregnancy on both the mother and the child an decide what is best. According to Castuera (2019), The Episcopal Church acknowledges the right of a woman to terminate a pregnancy but warns women from using it as a means of birth control.

A consistent life ethic is another group that supports pro-life debate. The group argues that abortion is a method of ending human life. The group went to the extent of comparing abortion to nuclear weapons that destroy a human being, and in 1979, the group formed the pro-lifers for survival (Burkett, 2019). The organization went on to define the sacredness of life, and they created the Seamless Garment Network, an organization that was against poverty, abortion, capital punishment, and militarism.

Political parties and non-governmental organizations also support the pro-life debate. Republican party, Americans united for life, feminists for life national, and right to life community are among the political organizations supporting the pro-life discussion. Life action, population research institute, and women exploited by abortion are the major non-governmental organizations supporting pro-life debate (Burkett, 2019). President Trump has also been at the forefront of the campaign for pro-life support.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Christianity has been at the forefront to influence the debate on abortion and other historical debates like the oppression of women in the 19th century. The number of Christians in government offices makes it easy for the pro-life discussion to thrive. Christian values are the primary reason for their influence on this moral issue. Christianity teaches that life begins and conception. According to the law, everyone has the right to life, including the fetus. Though many women are still aborting, very few are coming out openly to support the pro-choice debate due to their religious affiliation. Christianity had a mixed reaction with the women's liberation movements. Many times, it viewed its activities as non-biblical.

Work Cited

Adamczyk, Amy, and Margret Valdimarsdottir. "Understanding Americans' abortion attitudes: The role of the local religious context." Social science research 71 (2018): 129-144.

Burkett, Elinor. "Women'S Rights Movement | Overview, History, & Facts." Encyclopedia Britannica, 2019, https://www.britannica.com/event/womens-movement.

Castuera, Ignacio. "A Social History of Christian Thought on Abortion: Ambiguity vs. Certainty in Moral Debate." American Journal of Economics and Sociology 76.1 (2017): 121-227.

Francome, Colin. Abortion in the USA and the UK. Routledge, 2017.

"Faith On The Hill: The Religious Composition Of The 116Th Congress". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, 2019, https://www.pewforum.org/2019/01/03/faith-on-the-hill-116/.

Lindsey, Treva. "A Concise History Of The US Abortion Debate." The Conversation, 2019, https://theconversation.com/a-concise-history-of-the-us-abortion-debate-118157

Segers, Mary C., and Timothy A. Byrnes. Abortion politics in American states. Routledge, 2016

Stensvold, Anne. A history of pregnancy in Christianity: From original sin to contemporary abortion debates. Routledge, 2015.

"Strings Attached Strings Attached." Stringsattachedfilm.Com, 2019, https://stringsattachedfilm.com/about.html

Woodman, Eric, and Beth L. Davison. "Reexamination of religious influences on abortion attitudes." Review of religious research 33.3 (1992)