Some thoughts on religion and abortion

 I can, in good conscience, vote for politicians in the Democratic party, even though, in general, they support policies that allow access to elective abortion, which is contrary to the teachings of my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 


I saw a facebook post from a friend saying the opposite, and my first thought was to respond, “Where?” Show me where church doctrine indicates that abortion should be banned. It doesn’t! Even though the church teaches that elective abortion is wrong, it doesn’t advocate for policy on the matter, and church members who intend to vote Republican shouldn’t hide behind the church we share to justify their support for Donald Trump and the policy agenda of the Republican party. 


But I don’t want to fight anybody. In fact, I don’t want to focus on the issue of abortion at all, and I’m annoyed at how much emphasis both parties currently place on it. Even though I generally agree that abortion should be legally available, I kind of cringe whenever it becomes a Democratic party talking point, because I know that there are some people–many of whom are in my social sphere–who will never be convinced to vote Democrat as long as that’s a central plank of the party platform. Abortion is an issue that follows my own personal definition of a true controversy: an issue where on both sides, adherents cannot imagine a reasonable person being on the other side.


For what it’s worth, I think that, if any group is, latter-day saints are uniquely situated to understand both sides of the abortion issue. Our doctrine emphasizes both the sanctity of life and the importance of agency in God’s eternal plan. We believe in a pre-existence of all people as spirit children of a heavenly father, and that mortal life is a probationary period of growth and testing that all God’s children are entitled to. We also believe that the great plan of salvation cannot be thwarted, and that everybody will have a fair opportunity to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, in mortality or beyond it. It’s these truths that lead me to believe that a just and merciful God would not allow a woman’s choice to have an abortion prevent the spirit designated (at what point, we do not know) for the mortal body developing inside her the chance to experience mortality. It’s my personal belief that God, in his infinite wisdom and love, would provide an alternative body or other alternative means by which his spirit child could participate, fully, in the plan of salvation. That doesn’t mean that I think God is 100% okay with abortion. God prohibits plenty of things that don’t thwart his plans. But it means from my theological standpoint, abortion isn’t murder. I think of elective abortion as a violation of the law of chastity–the law that governs the use of the power of procreation. 


I actually think the logical conclusions of the argument that elective abortion is murder are pretty gross. Abortion is only murder if a fetus is a person. If a fetus, or even a zygote is a person, then a miscarriage is a fatality, and a refrigerator full of embryos is of significantly more value than a 2 year old kid. None of that makes sense to me as defensible. 


But I understand why many (most?) latter-day saints don’t see it that way. Church leaders and public relations agents have been very clear that elective abortion is fundamentally opposed to God’s plan. The church's official position–as articulated in a church newsroom article–even suggests that advocating for pro-life policy is appropriate. “As states work to enact laws related to abortion,” the article reads, “Church members may appropriately choose to participate in efforts to protect life and to preserve religious liberty.” So I don't blame people for toeing the line. I simply think church leaders are wrong about the abortion issue. Nothing in our scriptural canon leads me to believe that God considers abortion to be murder, or “anything like unto it.” But I understand what a hot take it is to say that church leaders can be wrong about something that they are so unified in. 

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