Religion With Regards to Government Funding of Abortions in USA
ReligionWith Regards to Government Funding of Abortions in USA
Recentstudies indicate that religion sturdily opposes the act of abortionin the US as well as other parts of the world (Bassett). Notably, theProtestants and Catholics denominations have strongly affected theattitudes and practices involved in abortion (Wormald). Religiousleaders and structures influence abortion policy and regulation.Also, the doctrines of various religions can have an effect onpersonal conduct toward actions related to abortion. For instance,the teachings of Catholic strictly resist activities related to“premarital sex, contraceptive usage as well as abortion”(Wormald). On the other hand, protestant teachings are more moderateon some issues such as contraceptive use, but they are also strict onabortion issues. These conservative religious groups tend to condemnabortion owing to reasons like an exclusive option rather thangrounding on such things like rape or fetus and mother dangers. Inthe precedent decades, the attitudes and views of both Protestant andCatholics have been seen to converge on the issue of abortion.Researchers have pointed out that personal commitment and involvementin a particular religion mediates the religious effect on abortion(Wormald). Thus, the more an individual is committed and frequentlyattends the congregations of religious people the more the personwill actively oppose abortion practice.
Young,middle-aged and older Female and Male Catholic views on G.F ofabortions
Thepictures of male and females of Catholic followers of young,middle-aged and older concerning government funding of abortionssignificantly differs from the church leaders. While the Catholicclergy completely opposes federal funding of abortion in all casesincluding cases of incest and rape, only twenty-one percent ofCatholic respondents of Pew Research of 2008 poll believed thatabortion should not be funded on the basis that it is illegal. A morerecent Pew Research conducted in 2014 showed that “only 17% of theyoung male and female of ages between eighteen and twenty-nine yearsthink that abortion is illegal and should not be funded by thegovernment in all cases” (Wormald). These are the percentage ofyoung male and females who are Catholics out of all religious groupsin the USA. This rate translates to 48% of the Catholic youths whowere who were included in this research. On the other hand, 18% ofall religious youths in the USA represent Catholics viewing thatabortion ought to be legal, and that government should fund it(Wormald). They suggest that those women who need to abort due to anyreason should be financed by the government to do that. These goalsinclude but not limited to “rape, incest, and pregnancy threateningthe life of mother or fetus, unintended pregnancy or even not readyto have a child” (Bassett). The 18% equals to 50 % of totalCatholic young females and males while the remaining percent of donot know what ought to be done regarding the issue.
Theviews of middle-aged and older groups of both male and femalesCatholics regarding why or not the government should fund theabortion services are demonstrated using percentages. 33%, 27%, and22% represent middle-aged (30-49 and 50-64 years) and older (65 ageplus) groups of male and female Catholics out of all religious groupsin the USA who think that government should not use its revenue tofacilitate abortion services (Wormald). Additionally, they believethat abortion is illegal in all or most cases and the governmentshould ban it because it is morally wrong to kill the innocent lifeof the fetus. However, if it has to be done, the individual shouldfund themselves. The cases in which they believe that it should becarried out include life-threatening pregnancies such as ectopiccases and in the case of incest. These percentages (33%, 27%, and22%) equates to 47%, 44% and 52% of those age groups respectively(Wormald). Conversely, those male and females that think thatgovernment should collect taxes from the public to finance abortionservices include 34 %( 30-49), 31% (50-64) and 17% (65 years plus)(Wormald).
Inthe USA Catholic followers represent about the quarter of totalpopulations of America which equates to sixty-eight point fivemillion people (Bassett). As stated earlier, Catholic bishops andrest of the clergy entirely oppose government funding of abortion aswell as different forms of contraceptives. They even prohibitabortions to be conducted in their hospitals even if the women are ina very critical condition. Accordingly, the assumption that “theCatholic Clergy and Bishops stand for Catholic voters is not correct”(Bassett).” The reason is that more than half of the Catholicfollowers do not agree with the bishops’ stance on abortion andfederal funding.
Young,middle-aged and older Female and Male Protestant views on G.F ofabortions
Onthe other hand, about 76% of the total Protestants and more than “89%of those who frequently attend church services believe that abortionis morally wrong and should not be funded by the government in manyor all the cases” (Bassett). The percentages of religious male andfemale of different age groups who view that abortion should beillegal and should not be funded by the government include 18 %(18-29), 33% (30-49), 29% (50-64) and 20% (65 years plus) Protestants(Wormald). These percentages equals to 66%, 63%, 63% and 64%respectively. In contrast, those religious people who feel thatfederal government should subsidize abortion services on the basisthat it is legal in all cases or most of them include 17% (%18-29),34%(30-49),30% (50-64) and 19% (65 years plus) Protestants(Wormald). These percentages equal to 33%, 33%, 34% and31% of allProtestants while the rest do not know whether the government shouldor should not fund abortion services.
Young,middle-aged and older Female and Male Jewish views on G.F ofabortions
Jewishreligion only allows a woman to abort when “her life is underthreats” (Rich). It sees the fetus as a potential human life untilmost of the body parts develop out. Thus, even though this life isvaluable, but it has not developed fully, it cannot be taken toendanger its’ mothers life since it is not as valuable as themother. The percentages of religious groups in different ages whoview that government should fund abortion in all or most of the casesinclude 20 %%( 18-29), 26% (30-49), 27% (50-64) and 27% (65 yearsplus) Jewish people (Rich). However, those that believe thatgovernment should not take fund abortion is less than one present ofall the religious groups in the USA.
Young,middle aged and older Female and Male Eastern Orthodox views on G.Fof abortions
Mostof the orthodox followers believe that government “should not fundany abortion activities in all cases because it is an act of killingwhich is against the law of God” (Purpura). However, recent studiesshow that young people have different views regarding the legalityand federal funding on abortion. Less than 3% of the youths felt thatabortion was right while about 67% thought that it was wrong andabout 33% of them did not know whether it was wrong or not. Most ofthe middle and older aged believe that abortion is illegal and shouldnot be funded by the government.
Young,middle aged and older Female and Male Atheist views on G.F of
Atheistsare a secular group that does not support belief in God. They thinkin an individual choice concerning the legality of abortion (Lee).However, almost all the ages of atheist support the governmentfunding of abortion. There is no significant difference between theage groups on the issue regarding helping the government fundstowards abortion. Additionally, they even “grant the funds toassists in aborting” (Lee). Thus, this group of secular movementbelieves that abortion ought to be legalized, and government funded.Recently they have claimed that “making abortion to become illegalis not a settled ethical value because people ought to be to respectspersonal conscience” (Lee). They criticize the religious stance ofabortion because they claim that it is not an evidenced based viewand due to that abortion should be pro-choice to respects personalviews.
Workscited
Lee,Adam. “Abortion opposition is a religious stance. Atheists musthelp fight for choice | Adam Lee.” TheGuardian,Guardian News and Media, 5 Oct. 2015,www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/05/abortion-opposition-religious-atheists-must-help-fight-for-choice.Accessed 8 Apr. 2017.
Purpura,Joseph F . "Abortion." Abortion| Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese.N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.
Rich,Tracey R. "Judaism 101: Kosher Sex." Judaism101: Kosher Sex.N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.
Wormald,Benjamin. "Religious Landscape Study." PewResearch Center`s Religion & Public Life Project.N.p., 11 May 2015. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.
Bassett,Laura. "The Men Behind The War On Women." TheHuffington Post.TheHuffingtonPost.com, 01 Nov. 2011. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.
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