The abortion decision of a religiously conservative woman is not simple. This is a decision she will never be able to take back, so she will want to get it right.
For a woman raised in the uncompromisingly anti-abortion atmosphere of conservative Christianity and Catholicism, the number of churches that support abortion rights might be surprising: The Unitarian-Universalist Association, the Episcopal Church, Reformed Jews, Quakers, the United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism, and the Dalai Lama. There are “Catholics for Free Choice,” and “Evangelicals for Choice.” She might be interested in the pro-abortion book, Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White,” by the Evangelical pastor, Adam Hamilton, written after his mother told him she had had an abortion.
She might also find some anomalies within her own church. If she is a Baptist, for example, she will find contradictory dogma. The Sanctity Credo of the 2010 Southern Baptist Convention ignores the welfare of the mother and her other children in favor of the embryo:
Procreation is a gift from God, a precious trust reserved for marriage. At the moment of conception, a new being enters the universe, a human being, a being created in God’s image. This human being deserves our protection, whatever the circumstances of conception. Sbc.net/position papers
A previous Southern Baptist Convention resolution passed in 1971 and reconfirmed in 1974, supports “legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother.” If the woman feels that her emotional, mental and physical health would be endangered if she had a baby, she could make a good case for an abortion under these guidelines.
For any pregnant woman, time is short. The pressures on her range far beyond her immediate decision; she must decide the place of religion in her life and her view of God and morality, and sort out the social network surrounding her beliefs. That is not a simple thing to do in the few weeks she has to make up her mind.
This information is taken from The History of Abortion published on Kindle Select.