[1384] in Central_America
New quotes for Mon Mar 27
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Mon Mar 27 01:30:56 1989
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 89 01:32:30 EST
From: Initializer.SysDaemon <root@CHARON.MIT.EDU>
To: ca-mtg@bloom-beacon.mit.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
celine (Adam Weishaupt):
Human love - it's so pathetic.
Garfield the Cat
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
hyland (Timothy W. Hyland):
This is my 134th plan file since I started keeping track!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
jik (Jonathan I. Kamens):
"Abortion and the Sacredness of Life"
An Open Letter To Those Who Would Ban Abortion
*************************
American Jewish Congress
Dear Friends,
Did you know that abortion can be a religious requirement?
Not just permitted, but *required*?
In some religious traditions, if the fetus endangers the life
of the mother, abortion is not a matter of choice; it is mandatory!
The conflict over abortion is not between "secularists" and
"religionists," between "moral" people who value life and "immoral"
people who do not, but between different moral traditions, different
understandings of the sacredness of life.
According to some religious traditions, the sacredness of life
can be diminished far more by callousness to those already born than
to the unborn, however precious their promise.
These religious traditions believe that the sacredness of life
requires in some circumstances that the woman's well-being takes
precedence over that of the fetus.
Legislation that denies a woman's choice is objectionable not
because it limits some abstract notion of unrestrained freedom, but
because it may inflict irreparable damage to the human dignity of the
woman who is carrying the fetus.
Judaism affirms that nascent life has great value.
But it is not the only value.
In the face of the kind of desperation that drives women to
risk their lives and mutilate their bodies rather than carry the fetus
to term, no one has the right to say that other conflicting values do
not exist.
When faced with such conflicting values, individuals should be
able to turn to their own moral traditions or religious faith for
guidance.
Government has no business preempting that very personal
process, leaving women trapped without a choice.
We do not propose that a particular religious view of abortion
find expression in legislation. That would be violating someone
else's religious freedom. And many people's moral choices regarding
abortion are deeply personal, and not determined by any particular
religious tradition.
In the face of such great moral and religious diversity, the
proper role of government in a free society is to allow different
traditions to advocate their respective views, and to leave the
decision to the woman, answering to God and to her conscience.
*************************
This Open Letter has been drawn from testimony presented by Henry
Siegman, Executive Directory of the American Jewish Congress, before
the Senate Judiciary Committee on November 5, 1981. A copy of the
full text is available upon request.
Contributions to help us publish and distribute this message widely
are welcome.
American Jewish Congress
15 East 84th Street, Room 407
New York, NY 10028
(212) 879-4500
--- End of Central America ---
