The Bible isn’t as clear on the abortion issue as Nina Posey thinks (“Bible is clear on wrongness of abortion,” Monday, June 5).

The very same Bible that candidly discusses sexual relations and having children does not forbid, allow or require abortion. Read the Scripture in the original Hebrew. Read the New Testament in Greek or Aramaic. On abortion, the Bible is silent.

Nina Posey contends that the Bible approaches the subject of abortion in Exodus 21 when two brawling men accidentally strike a pregnant woman. If the woman is injured, the inadvertent assailant gets punished, receiving the very same wound he caused the woman: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. If the woman dies, then it is a life for a life and the man who caused the injury dies. But if the woman miscarries, then the assailant just pays a fine.

So, an injury caused to the woman is one thing. The injury to her fetus is not viewed the same way. This same biblical passage does not say that the fetus is a human being like the injured women or like you or me. If the fetus were considered human, the punishment for injuring the fetus would be the same punishment as that for injuring the pregnant woman.

The Bible is merely extending a full measure of legal protection to a pregnant woman — a fullness of rights and protection that is not extended to the fetus.

But these verses simply discuss the fetus; they are not about abortion. They do not permit, proscribe or prohibit abortion. They consider an accidental miscarriage but do not describe the willful termination of a pregnancy. And what if a woman wants to end her pregnancy? Let’s say the fetus endangers her life or her physical or mental health. If she decides on abortion, the Bible is silent.

People who want to make abortion illegal may attempt to use the Bible to justify their arguments. However, nothing in the Hebrew scriptures and nothing in the New Testament supports their attempts, regardless of the passages they cite or how hard they argue. Scripture does not consider the fetus to be a human being. The Bible does not consider the destruction of a fetus to be the equivalent of murder. If the Bible thought abortion was a sin, it would have named it a sin. Instead, when it comes to abortion, the Bible says not a word.

Also, not everyone in the United States is a Christian, and not all Christians believe the same thing. Why should Nina Posey’s Christian beliefs be imposed on all women? To me, the Christian Taliban that wants to impose their religious beliefs on the rest of us is just as scary as the Iraqi Taliban we are fighting to end. America was founded on freedom of religion. While the Poseys of this world may not agree with my religious beliefs (I certainly don’t agree with hers), she has no right to impose her beliefs on me.

Women are individuals, and each individual woman’s beliefs should be respected. Women who believe abortions are wrong do not have to have one. But women who are pro-choice should be allowed to make the decision that is right for them, without having Nina Posey’s beliefs forced on them.



Ella Johnson

Meridian