Orthodoxy and the abortion issue

[Jaye Keith Curtis]

I am aware that our Church teaches that abortion is a sin, and forbidden by God, but in a recent discussion, I was asked whether as an Orthodox Christian, I am under obligation in public life to oppose the practice of abortion, and to do my utmost to fight it. My first reaction is yes, but as I have only been Orthodox for a number of years, perhaps any clergy on this forum, or cradle Orthodox would care to weigh in......

[Herman Blaydoe]

I am aware that our Church teaches that abortion is a sin, and forbidden by God, but in a recent discussion, I was asked whether as an Orthodox Christian, I am under obligation in public life to oppose the practice of abortion, and to do my utmost to fight it. My first reaction is yes, but as I have only been Orthodox for a number of years, perhaps any clergy on this forum, or cradle Orthodox would care to weigh in......

There is a wealth of information available online. Being able to discuss the topic in a level-headed and knowledgeable manner can certainly be useful, even if it isn't always fruitful at first. One of my favorite sources is the Amicus Curie Brief to the Supreme Court (http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/abortion.aspx) which is an excellent summation of an Orthodox position.

There is also the Orthodox Christians for Life (http://www.oclife.org/) site that has a great deal of information.

Now as to "obligation". That is a complicated thing. As an Orthodox Christian one should certainly not encourage or participate in abortion. Whether or not one should lay down in front of an abortuary is another matter entirely. We are "obligated" to take up our crosses and follow Christ. Beyond that...

My Metropolitan (health permitting) participates in the annual DC March for Life and encourages his people to do likewise. He makes sure that we know what the Church teaches about abortion as well as other topics in letters to his parishes, in the diocesan newspaper, and through the training and teachings of his priests. How much we get involved and how we participate becomes an individual matter, there are many ministries and we are not all called to the same one. This person prays for the victims of abortion, that one works at a crisis pregnancy center, this other person supports that center as best they can. Still another person advises a friend not to have an abortion and points her towards resources to help her bring the child to term. And yet another person devotes his or her time to something else entirely such as feeding the poor. And one young confused girl simply decides to have her baby.

At any rate, I hope the sources posted above can provide a framework to help you decide what actions are appropriate for an Orthodox Christian in "opposing" the many evils of the day, including abortion.

Herman

[M.C. Steenberg]

Dear Mr Curtis and others,

There are actually quite a number of threads here in the Community that deal with these matters. Rather than start up one anew, can I request that readers use the search feature to explore the various threads, and post any continuations there.

There are two themes that can be traced out, both of which have numerous threads: the first is that of abortion, and what the patristic testimony to this might be; and the second is that of the Christian's response to the world, and the question of standing up to wrongs. I would suggest that it remains helpful to look at these separately, in the various threads, rather than mixing them together too strongly.

INXC, Dcn Matthew