Abortion and Wicca..?

Question

I'm Wiccan, and the main rule is "An it harme none, do as ye will".

However, I mostly I'm pro-choice. I believe a woman should have the right to do what she wants with her body, as long as the baby isn't too far developed.

I would never ever get an abortion personally- I just think that women deserve the right to it.

My two beliefs are conflicting each other, and I'm not sure what to make of it.

Please, no bashing me. I have my reasons for my beliefs, personal reasons I do not wish to tell others. I just want help, preferably from other pagans or wiccans, about my conflicting beliefs.

I don't think it would be harming the baby if the baby isn't even technically ALIVE, but I don't know. I still think a woman deserves the right, but how much does this conflict with my religion?

Answer 1

The Rede advises us that anything harmless we can do freely. Abortion certainly does cause harm - at the very least, living tissue is being destroyed, and there are a lot of emotional consequences to it, so you should not do it freely and without thought. However, that's not the same as banning the action. It just needs to be done with thought.

In my view, no option involved with abortion is harmless. Banning abortion controls what a woman can do with her body. Having an abortion destroys tissue that would otherwise likely become a baby. There is a lot of guilt that can come with abortion, but there can also be even more emotional baggage with giving a baby up for adoption, and there are certainly drawbacks to keeping a baby when you don't have the money, don't have support, and/or were planning on going to school.

For me, then, I'm pro-choice with the hope that people will use that choice to choose the least harmful option. Which option is least harmful? That depends largely on the circumstances (which is why I generally hate absolute moral laws to begin with). I think using abortion as birth control is abhorent, but its no less abhorent than making a 14 year old rape victim go through the trauma of pregnancy and childbirth. Choice allows us to adapt to the situation.

Answer 2

I'm personally pro-life, mostly because I hate the idea that the fetus cant speak up for itself and its like taking its life away, although as a wiccan I've found even that view is conflicting because your stopping the mother from having free-will, supporting illegal abortions, and interfering with whatever the god/goddess wanted the child to learn from that life, though I don't see how a soul can learn anything by dying before even being born, but I no there is reason in it and so it comes down to what I really think is right

I wouldn't worry about it so much in terms of "is it right according to the Wiccan rede" but think of it more like "Is it the mothers choice or the fetuses' choice, even if the fetus doesn't have the ability to make that choice I would imagine it would want to live, but the mother should also have the free will to choose"

Answer 3

Many of the pagan traditions hold the belief that the fetus isn't occupied by a soul until around the 6th month of development. Ergo, if an abortion happens before this time, it's merely a removal of cells. Granted these cells have potential, but without a soul it isn't killing a person. That soul can choose another vessal. Therefore, to alleviate your conflict, you may wish to meditate upon what you feel is true about -when- a spirit inhabits a fetus.

Also, as others have pointed out, the Rede is easily misunderstood. It should have an amendment as well...

If you must cause harm, try to take the path of least pain.

(example: If a relationship will likely end, end it sooner, don't drag it out and cause more harm.)

Answer 4

Wicca does now not take any stand on abortion. Wicca teaches private accountability for our movements and pondering matters by way of earlier than creating a selection, however the last selection is left with the man or woman who has to are living with it for the leisure of his or her lifestyles. Abortion is a problematic discipline, and now not a selection that any girl must make flippantly, however each and every girl has a option approximately what is going on along with her frame. Personally, I think that a baby is a baby from perception and I might in no way have an abortion myself, however I become aware of that now not all people stocks this perception, and I do not think in shoving my ideals down others' throats, so I will continually be professional-option, and my option is not to have an abortion except it's medically quintessential. Venus Bless

Answer 5

Well here is my view, I am not wiccan but I understand your beliefs. I am usually pro-choice when it comes to abortion. Abortions is ok when the person is a rape victim or its just not the right time to have a baby (too early in life or financial instability). But I dont believe abortion is ok when a girl goes out and sleeps around all the time and gets pregnant over and over and needs an abortion several times.

Answer 6

I am not a Pagan nor a Wiccan, but a Christian. I too have been torn up about my fence sitting on this exact issue. I too would never get an abortion, but I have always supported the right to choose for other women. Someone on here with alot of wisdom shed some light on this for me just a couple days ago and I will pass it along.
They reminded me of all the "body restrictions" we have in our culture today. Seatbelt laws, helmet laws, prostitution, drugs, etc. All these things are illegal to do with our own bodies, and we have no choice without legal consequences. It got me to thinking; what is it about killing an unborn baby that makes one want to protect this right more than any other body law. Why is this particualr right (killing the fetus) such a sought out right to maintain, over lets say prostitution, which kills no one and obviously should be legal. Anyhow, thought I would share that with you, as we are in the exact same situation. I hope it brings some peace to your mind as it did mine. Gods peace and blessings to you.

Answer 7

I think you have misinterpreted the Rede. It doesn't actually say that you cannot cause harm, in fact, it doesn't even mention how we should approach actions that cause harm. Instead, it says that if an action doesn't cause harm, we are free to do it.

If you still have an issue with it, perhaps it would help if you research fetal development and abortion, along with the pros and cons of having one. Then you could make an informed decision about whether or not you support it and to what degree based on your personal morals and philosophies.

Answer 8

as for Blazin n'Razin's comment, the witches weren't doing the burning.

I've always looked at the rede as more of a warning. Try to do no harm, but reality is that whatever we do we harm someone/thing else. Life exists by taking life from something else (regardless of what you eat). It's important to look at if you can you live with the consiquences? You also need to look at what you consider harm.

I also don't think that all ideas will have to mesh with all the other ideas. I don't condone murder, but there are situations where I'd accept the death penalty being dealt out. conflicint ideas, but I can live with that.

Answer 9

Each person has their own decisions to make, and their own repercussions to deal with.

To me, Wiccans do not try to force their beliefs onto others - and in that regard, Wiccans may be pro-choice with regards to the legalization of abortion.

However, being pro-life for THEMSELVES is completely in line with the Rede.

To me, the two stands are not conflicting. I do not have the right to force my beliefs onto someone else, even though I myself may not make the same choice that someone else would.

Answer 10

The fetus is techniquely alive from the beginning.

What you are thinking of is sentience- the ability to feel pain or pleasure. A plant is alive, but not sentient. A fetus becomes sentient at about the 5th month. After that, you would be harming the fetus for sure. Before then, it would not feel pain, and does not realize it exists.

EDIT: Ignore the troll above me. What a loser. Maybe they should realize it was the witches that were the ones BEING tortured and burned at the stake.