HINDUS IN AMERICA SPEAK OUT ON ABORTION ISSUES
and/or www.mantra.com/jai
Hinduism Today
http://www.hinduismtoday.com
September, 1985
The battle over the issue of abortion reached the stage of vigilante
bombings of abortion clinics in America recently. Pro-life and Pro-
choice combatants have sworn to fight to the bitter end. It is a
struggle fired by conscience, and this often rules out compromise on
the moral, social and legal repercussions of this admittedly hard
choice of life or death. The American public remains polarized on the
issue, most opposing abortion on principle, but less than half
willing to tell another American how to live. This makes for
legislative deadlock and near hysterical efforts to sway the voting
public.
The question arises: do the Hindu experience, views and culture
contribute anything special to the problems? The solutions? In the
last decade large numbers of Hindus in America have reached the stage
common to all immigrant populations when they see their children
enter society as born citizens. The adjustments of their parents to
America's secular society were made by them in infancy. They are at
home in its schools and corporations and discos. Hinduism is also
part of America now, and abortion has become a Hindu experience.
Hindu families today are privately meeting the special agony of
making the hard choice.
A full assessment of abortion must address the spiritual, moral,
social and legal consequences. The legal aspects are recent history.
Only in the 1800's were laws against abortion passed, this being in
response to better medicine in Europe which could offer safe abortion
to masses of women. It was outlawed, judged to be against Christian
principles. Communist Russia was the first nation to totally legalize
abortion in 1920. The tendency around the world since then has been
to liberalize abortion laws, often removing them entirely. America's
turn came in the Supreme Court decision of 1973 which struck down all
restrictive abortion laws in the USA. The law now says an abortion
during the first 90 days of pregnancy is totally the choice of the
woman involved. No state law can have any say during this first
trimester.
The social issues are birth control and quality of life for both the
child and society. Why burden society with an unwanted life? Moral
issues deal with a human being's inalienable right to live. When that
life begins remains the question. Hindu doctors and nurses face this
personal trauma when asked to perform abortions. Despite their
training and clinical detachment, one Hindu physician notes, staff
members grow increasingly uneasy with repeated exposure to the cruel
reality of a dying fetus. One strategy among veterans is: 'Don't
Look.' A bolder one is: 'Don't Take Part.' Every U.S. hospital allows
its staff to refuse abortion duty out of conscience.
The chief opponents of abortion around the world are conservative
Protestants and Roman Catholics, both of whom believe that the soul
is created with the embryo and if it is killed without being born and
receiving Christian sacraments it is doomed to wander all eternity
with no hope of salvation. The most forgiving stance they can take,
therefore, is to utterly oppose it but refrain from stopping others
by force or law.
Hinduism brings a profound reverence for life to the subject, and the
Hindu tenets of karm and reincarnation. Viewing the soul as dwelling
in one physical body after another through a timeless series of
births, Hindus do not live in fear of death or Judgement Day. What
Hindus do fear is the fruit of bad conduct Karm is the inexorable
principle of cause and effect -- what you set in motion will return to
you in equal force. Ever hoping for a better share of human happiness
and spirituality in future lives, Hindus guard their conduct in full
knowledge that they create their own destiny by actions and decisions
made now.
Several Hindu institutions have shared their positions on abortion
recently. The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University does not take
a formal unchanging political or religious stance on the issue of
abortion. They advise that each case requires unique consideration.
The final decision will be based on a long series of choices made by
the woman on her lifestyle, morals and values. Usually, the choices
that created the unwanted pregnancy in the first place have been
irrational or emotional ones, not the mature commitment motherhood
needs. The Brahma Kumaris counsel those facing an abortion decision,
both man and woman, to understand that by abortion they do not escape
responsibility for their actions. When both the parents have fully
understood the seriousness of the choice, the University would
support the right to make their own decision.
The Brahma Kumaris view the body as a physical vehicle for the
immortal soul, and therefore the issue is not "pro-life" or "anti-
life" but a choice between the amount of suffering caused to the
souls of the parents and child in either course, abortion or
motherhood. They view existing legislation in America as fair and
reasonable, with the proviso that abortion after the 4th month should
be avoided except in medical emergencies, since in their view the
soul enters the fetus in the 4th to 5th month.
ISKCON calls the 1.3 million abortions done in America last year "a
kind of doublethink," whereby people deny the status of humanity to
the fetus. "According to Vedic literature an eternal individual soul
inhabits the body of every living creature...The soul enters the womb
at the time of conception, and this makes the fetus a living,
individual person." All forms of contraceptives, says ISKCON, and the
act of abortion, "interfere with nature's arrangement to provide a
soul with a new body and are therefore bound to result in unfavorable
karmic reaction...If you don't want to suffer the reactions...then
don't have sex unless you want to have a child."
Swami Bhashyananda, President of the Vivekananda Vedanta Society of
Chicago, says that "under no circumstances the jiva should be
destroyed. That is uniformly stated, from the point of conception
onward. When such questions are asked, we advise them not to perform
abortions...One has to try one's level best to save mother and child
both. And beyond these efforts, whatever happens is God's will. But
we do not have any opinion on this matter in this country, nor do we
get involved in it in India. If people seek our advice, we give our
advice."
Mr. Arvind Shukla, a Gujarati Hindu, says "Abortion is absolutely not
allowed. It is called garbha batta, womb-killing. It is papam, a sin.
All Hindu shastras say so. It doesn't mean that people don't do it.
Of course, people do it...I feel the mother should take her chances.
The shastras are very clear that you are killing something, whether
that is good or bad, whatever it is, you are killing it."
Swami Prakashananda Ma of the Integral Yoga Institute says they
always advise against abortion, although they do not involve
themselves in any political action to change the laws. She said they
view the fetus as a life form from the moment of conception. "Of
course, we follow the very basic teaching of Ahimsa which just
doesn't allow killing in any way."
Mrs. Mythilli Penumurthy, a Tamil wife and mother living in Northern
California, offered her personal view. "I'm against it. I think that
it is an Atma and I have no right to destroy it. Birth and death are
beyond our control, and it's just God's will. I don't think any human
being has the right to destroy another to suit their lifestyle or
convenience."
Another Tamil wife and mother, Mrs. Rathi Anandasekharan, said, "I
know that certain people do get it done as a secret. They won't talk
publicly...because they know it is wrong. They do it with a guilty
conscience. I have never met anybody who feels it is okay...Once the
baby is conceived it is like killing...Even for unmarried mothers who
have no financial resources, it is still out of the question. She is
already an adult who knows the consequences. There is no excuse...The
laws should be changed. They give freedom for the younger generation
to act without responsibility."
This subject will continue to be covered in future issues of Hinduism
Today. All Hindu organizations, and individuals, are invited to give
their comments and views.
YOGIRAJ SWAMI BUA is a devout, elder sadhak living in New York City,
where he runs his Indo-American Yog-Vedant Society, teaching a small
circle of students. His comments on Hindu marriage:
It is my belief that the Hindu concept of marriage is different from
Western views. According to Hindus, if a man is married once in his
lifetime, he is considered married the rest of his life. The death of
his wife, or divorce, or living separately from his wife would not
alter his marital status. Such a man is no longer considered a
brahmachari or a celibate or unmarried. For Hindus, there is no such
thing as "a man was married but is not married now."
A man need not be a brahmachari or unmarried or celibate to take to
sannyas. But when he does take to sannyas he must renounce worldly
pleasures, observe celibacy, lead the life of a renunciate and have
no contact with kith and kin. If his wife is alive he need not
divorce her, just sever all contact and connections.
More at:
http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=338
Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti
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hari....@indero.com
Gender selection, enough said.
Me, ...again!
On Fri, 14 May 2010 hari....@indero.com wrote:
>
> Gender selection, enough said.
>
Are you talking about female infanticide in India? (do the google search
yourself).