Hi, Gilberto, At 06:09 PM 12/25/2004, you wrote: >>Hmm, the above sounds kind of like a policy. But the basic question I had was >>whether abortion would be equivalent to murder.<<
"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, p.345) "Murder" is a legal term. Often the differences between the various degrees of murder and manslaughter are little more than the determinations of the courts (sometimes a result of plea bargaining). Obviously, abortions involve the taking of human life. However, whether they would be classified under "murder" is the prerogative of the Universal House of Justice. >>And is that really how the rule is stated? So you can get an abortion if your >>doctor says its okay? Or do they have to be medically necessary?<< "As you are aware, the Baha'i Writings prohibit the practice of abortion solely for the purpose of terminating unwanted pregnancies; however, circumstances may occur in which an abortion would be justifiable. The Texts of the Faith do not specify what these circumstances are, and the House of Justice does not wish to legislate on this matter presently. Therefore, a Baha'i couple faced with making this decision should be guided by this principle, the best medical advice possible, and their individual consciences." --From a letter dated May 21, 1992, written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual http://bahai-library.com/uhj/reproduction.html With regards, Mark A. Foster * 15 Sites: http://markfoster.net "Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburger" -- Abbie Hoffman __________________________________________________ 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
