How Do Views on Abortion Differ Between Religions?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The U.S. is home to many religious communities. How do they differ when it comes to views on abortion?
Data from Pew Research Center (Center bias) shows vastly different beliefs on abortions between religions in the U.S. Eighty-three percent of people who practice Judaism say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, along with 82% of Buddhists and 68% of Hindus. Among Muslims (55%), Orthodox Christians (53%), historically black Protestants (52%) and Catholics (48%), people are more divided. Support for abortion access in all or most cases is much lower among Evangelical Protestants (33%), Mormons (27%) and Jehovah's Witnesses (18%). For some religious people, including many Christians, life begins at conception. For others, such as many Jewish people, it begins at birth.
Many sources across the political spectrum have covered the Roe v Wade Supreme Court leak in the context of religion and faith. News coverage from right-rated outlets often framed the possibility of Roe being overturned as a win for Christians, and painted pro-choice protests at Catholic churches as attempts to suppress religious freedom. Many on the right also highlighted protests at the homes of Supreme Court justices and a Molotov cocktail incident at the office of a pro-life group in Wisconsin as evidence that Christians were under attack for their pro-life stances. Conversely, some reports from the left highlighted religions in which abortion access is widely promoted and supported, and framed abortion opponents as a religious minority.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
Abortion survivors speak out as Catholic Churches targeted by activists: 'Doesn't have to end in abortion'Abortion survivors, who are now mothers themselves, are speaking out this Mother's Day offering encouragement for women nationwide as the fallout over the Supreme Court leak continues.
Amy Miles, Robin Sertell, and Denisha Workizer shared their stories and offered hope for anyone facing an unplanned pregnancy on "Fox & Friends Weekend."
"For anyone facing an unplanned pregnancy situation, I just want to say that there's hope and that there's life sustaining options," Miles told co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. "I was adopted and placed in a loving home where my mom didn't have hope that she would ever...
From the Left
When does life begin? Religions don't agreeIn a bill introduced this past week, a Louisiana lawmaker describes human life as "created in the image of God" and seeks to make abortion a homicide from the moment of fertilization – sparking concerns from reproductive rights advocates that such a law would also jeopardize access to contraception and fertility treatments.
Debates around abortion often center around the issue of when life begins, and adjacent religious and moral questions. It came up during oral arguments last year in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, a major abortion case currently before the Supreme Court.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked...
From the Left
After leak, religious rift over legal abortion on displayAmerica’s faithful are bracing — some with cautionary joy and others with looming dread — for the Supreme Court to potentially overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and end the nationwide right to legal abortion.
A reversal of the 49-year-old ruling has never felt more possible since a draft opinion suggesting justices may do so was leaked this week. While religious believers at the heart of the decades-old fight over abortion are shocked at the breach of high court protocol, they are still as deeply divided and their beliefs on the contentious...
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