Abortion - The Eternal Debate
Posted on January 31, 2022 by Catie J Craig, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
To Abort-or not! How often has this question echoed around the world in a seemingly endless discussion? In the annals of history, are there answers?
Abortion – The Eternal Debate
To abort or not – THAT is the question!
The issues of ethics and morality wrapped around this hot topic are endless. Subjective emotional reactions are off the charts on both sides of the equation, mine included!
My heart breaks for both sides. I hurt for those unborn children that, unlike my 5 grandsons born in the past 4 years, will never see the light of day.
As I play catch with my 3 three-year-old grandsons and coo at our 4 month old latest arrival, my insides, at times, clench in almost indescribable pain. There were times, that, when holding them as infants, the guilt I felt for their being so fortunate as to have the right to be born overwhelmed me.
Where are the answers?
I have been locked into Roe and Wade as being the source of our modern cataclysmic divide. It had not occurred to me to look past this landmark case for plausible answers from history that might bring resolution. That is, until now.
Why is abortion such an issue and what are its key, or core, components that rile folks up enough to target each other’s jugular over it? It lays front and center in whether a baby is a baby – or not.
The Stoics from ancient times held that the fetus had a plant-like nature, while the famous Philosopher, Aristotle held that with boys – the fetus became human at 40 weeks (about 9 months) and a girl, at 90.
Today, our views echo variations of these.
A little visit with Google yielded some interesting results that reflected this parallel between history’s and modern-day viewpoints. Though, I must say, if it were not for the fact that this brief article is simply an introduction, I would dig deeper and turn it into a more Scholarly one or maybe a thought-provoking series…
Abortions in recorded history date back to the Ebers Papyrus document, kept in the Leipzig Library in Germany. This was in 1550 B.C.
Fascinating!
In India, these matters were according to “Vedic and Smrti” laws, relegated to the very lowest caste, the “Untouchables.” If anyone from the three Upper Castes sought an abortion, they were given “various “penances,”” and priests who performed the procedure were excommunicated.”
The Roman Empire, after having originally accepted them, in 211 C.E., banned feticide procedures. Those who defied the law were temporarily exiled.
According to ancient legal writings, every sector of the Roman population was subsequently held accountable for an illegal abortion. Freed slaves were banned to work in mines, high-born Patricians were forced to forfeit property and be exiled to live on an island. A most interesting side note is that if either a woman or a man involved was sentenced and died while banished, the provider who did the procedure was sentenced to the death penalty.
Last of all, in ancient Assyria, after 1075, a woman who dared to have an abortion without her husband’s permission would also be put to death. Greece, then, had similar laws.
The herb “Silphium” was commonly used in ancient times as both a contraceptive and an abortive source for inducing an abortion, so much so that it became extinct. In 2005, even with our modern “reliable” contraceptives, 54% of women got pregnant the same month they used preventative measures.
So, where am I taking us, you may wonder…The answer would be, “in a full circle.” As illustrated, our battle isn’t a modern-day phenomenon. It is rooted in history! The answers out of the maelstrom weren’t apparent then, any more than they are today.
It would take a much deeper look into the subject to draw firm conclusions. However, the one point that I would use as a springboard into that in-depth peek would be the same as I stated in my recently published prior article, “Oxymorons and World Peace.”
If points of agreement can be found, then there can be a meeting of the minds. Open-minded pro-life adherents and pro-choice-minded folks need to find a middle ground.
Do we need to abolish all abortions? Do we need to legislate women’s choices as to their own bodies? How many more millions of unborn children need to die needlessly while the arguments rage on?
Think about it!
