>>Although Shoghi Effendi said that abortions should not be permitted unless
>>authorized by the woman's physician>>
I suggest that is an incomplete statement of the teachings on the subject. I
have posted some quotes below that put the matter of consulation with the
physician into a context.
>>there is currently no official Baha'i policy on this matter.>>
I'm not sure I can identify what matter you are speaking of here. There is a
clear general policy forbidding abortion; but as the House states below, there
are "certain possible exceptions," and also, it has not legislated definitively
on all aspects of the subject where the Text is silent.
"Abortion merely to prevent the birth of an unwanted child is strictly
forbidden in the Cause. There may, however, be instances in which an abortion
would be justified by medical reasons, and legislation on this matter has been
left to the Universal House of Justice. At the present time, however, the House
of Justice does not intend to legislate on this very delicate issue, and
therefore it is left to the consciences of those concerned who must carefully
weigh the medical advice in the light of the general guidance given in the
teachings."
(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the
National Spiritual Assembly of Ireland, March 16, 1983; Lights of Guidance, 2nd
edition, p. 344)
"Basically the deliberate taking of human life is forbidden in the Cause, but
the Sacred Text envisages certain possible exceptions to this rule and allows
for the Universal House of Justice to legislate upon them. One such possible
exception is the matter of abortion. It is clear that it is absolutely
forbidden for a woman to have an abortion merely because she wants to have one,
but there may be circumstances in which an abortion might be justified.
However, at the present time we do not wish to legislate on whether or in what
circumstances abortion may be permitted, and therefore the whole matter is left
to the consciences of those concerned who must carefully weigh the medical
advice on the case in the light of the general guidance given in the Teachings."
(Letter from the Universal House of Justice, dated February 5, 1975, to a
National Spiritual Assembly; Developing Distinctive Baha'i Communities, Chapter
19)
"Abortion and surgical operations for the purpose of preventing the birth of
unwanted children are forbidden in the Cause unless there are circumstances
which justify such actions on medical grounds, in which case the decision, at
present, is left to the consciences of those concerned who must carefully weigh
the medical advice in the light of the general guidance given in the Teachings.
Beyond this nothing has been found in the Writings concerning specific methods
or procedures to be used in family planning. It should be pointed out, however,
that the Teachings state that the soul appears at conception, and that
therefore it would be improper to use such a method, the effect of which would
be to produce an abortion after conception has taken place."
(From letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an
individual believer, May 23, 1975; Lights of Guidance, p. 344)
"As you have keenly observed, the Universal House of Justice may consider it
untimely to make definitive rulings on certain matters to which no direct
reference can be found in the Sacred Text. Among these are euthanasia and
certain aspects of birth control and abortion, and until such time as rulings
are made, these matters are left to the consciences of those concerned who must
weigh the medical advice on the case in the light of general guidance given in
the Teachings.
(The Universal House of Justice, Lights of Guidance, 2nd edition, p. 289)
"The Universal House of Justice does not feel that the time has come for it to
provide detailed legislation on subjects such as abortion, homosexuality and
other moral issues. The principles pertaining to these issues are available in
the book "Lights of Guidance" and elsewhere. In studying these principles, it
should be noted that in most areas of human behaviour there are acts which are
clearly contrary to the law of God and others which are clearly approved or
permissible; between these there is often a grey area where it is not
immediately apparent what should be done. It has been a human tendency to wish
to eliminate these grey areas so that every aspect of life is clearly
prescribed. A result of this tendency has been the tremendous accretion of
interpretation and subsidiary legislation which has smothered the spirit of
certain of the older religions. In the Bahá'í Faith moderation, which is so
strongly upheld by Bahá'u'lláh, is applied here also. Provision is made for
supplementary legislation by the Universal House of Justice -- legislation
which it can itself abrogate and amend as conditions change. There is also a
clear pattern already established in the Sacred Scriptures, in the
interpretations made by 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, and in the decisions
so far made by the Universal House of Justice, whereby an area of the
application of the laws is intentionally left to the conscience of each
individual believer. This is the age in which mankind must attain maturity, and
one aspect of this is the assumption by individuals of the responsibility for
deciding, with the assistance of consultation, their own course of action in
areas which are left open by the law of God.
It should also be noted that it is neither possible nor desirable for the
Universal House of Justice to set forth a set of rules covering every
situation. Rather is it the task of the individual believer to determine,
according to his own prayerful understanding of the Writings, precisely what
his course of conduct should be in relation to situations which he encounters
in his daily life. If he is to fulfil his true mission in life as a follower of
the Blessed Perfection, he will pattern his life according to the Teachings.
The believer cannot attain this objective merely by living according to a set
of rigid regulations. When his life is oriented towards service to Bahá'u'lláh,
and when every conscious act is performed within this frame of reference, he
will not fail to achieve the true purpose of his life.
Therefore, every believer must continually study the Sacred Writings and
the instructions of the beloved Guardian, striving always to attain a new and
better understanding of their import to him and to his society. He should pray
fervently for divine guidance, wisdom and strength to do what is pleasing to
God, and to serve Him at all times and to the best of his ability.
The House of Justice feels it would not be wise for it to make a
public statement on the moral issues you mention which are now being discussed
widely. In such aspects of morality, the guidance that Bahá'í institutions
offer to mankind does not comprise a series of specific answers to these moral
issues, but rather the illumination of an entirely new way of life through the
renewal of spiritual values. Bahá'ís who are striving to teach the Faith can
take advantage of the growing public disquiet about the accelerating moral
breakdown throughout the world to bring to the attention of thoughtful people
the fact that such problems are symptoms of a profound malaise which can be
healed only through acceptance of the divine message. As Bahá'u'lláh states,
"the people are wandering in the paths of delusion", engaging in practices
which will lead inevitably to unhappiness and disorder. Inspired by the example
of loving compassion set by the Master, let the believers disclose to the
wayward multitudes a new mode of living which brings true liberty and abiding
happiness..."
(On behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual, 5 June 1988)
It would clearly be unacceptable for a Bahá'í doctor to advocate abortion as a
method of birth control and set up a clinic for that purpose,
(The Universal House of Justice, 1992 Dec 10, Issues Related to Study
Compilation)
So it would be important to come to terms with what the House describes as "the
general guidance given in the Teachings." That general guidance appears to me
to be "Abortion merely to prevent the birth of an unwanted child is strictly
forbidden" and "Basically the deliberate taking of human life is forbidden in
the Cause". Maybe there is something I'm missing, as far as what it identifies
as this "general guidance."
I often hear Baha'is state that it is a matter left to conscience and medical
advice, and in light of the above, that seems to me an incomplete statement.
Brent
__________________________________________________
You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:archive@mail-archive.com
To unsubscribe, send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To subscribe, use subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Baha'i Studies is available through the following:
Mail - mailto:bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
Web - http://list.jccc.edu/read/?forum=bahai-st
News - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st
Public - http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist
Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.net
New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/bahai-st@list.jccc.edu
