ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 12, 1996 TAG: 9603120105
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
IN the nation's ongoing debate over abortion, the impact of religious faith seems to be most often seen and heard in the arguments of those who would limit or prohibit the procedure.
Religious motivation, however, is not limited to those who oppose abortion. And those who work in abortion-rights advocacy - nearly all of whom in Western Virginia are affiliated in some way with Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge - are quick to point that out.
The Catholic Church has "consistently taught that individual conscience is primary. After prayer, reflection and study, conscience is the ultimate arbiter of decision making," says Monica Appleby, who recently became public affairs coordinator for Planned Parenthood in the New River Valley.
Appleby left a Catholic religious order - the Glenmary Sisters - 27 years ago. She later married and is the mother of two children, ages 25 and 22.
Though she gave up being a nun, she remains a Roman Catholic and continues to be an active participant in the life of St. Mary's parish.
Her activism and her job have not been a source of conflict in her congregation, Appleby says, but "I wish there could be more discussion about it."
While acknowledging the official position of the church that abortion is a serious sin, Appleby says individual Catholics often have to make choices between church policy and personal conviction.
"People think Catholics are all of one mind, that we walk in lockstep," she said. "But we're very heterogeneous and diverse. At the time of the Pope's visit last fall, in one survey, 60 percent of the Catholics questioned thought abortion could be permissible in cases of rape or incest or if the mother's life is in danger."
Other studies, Appleby says, show that "Catholics proportionately have more abortions than Protestants."
While she is an advocate for abortion rights, Appleby says she would describe herself as "pro-choice rather than pro-abortion."
Though that position is sometimes criticized by abortion opponents who say the distinction is meaningless, it is one held by many in the abortion-rights camp who disagree with that assessment.
"I don't call myself a pro-abortion person," says the Rev. E.T. Burton, pastor of Sweet Union Baptist Church.
In fact, he says, "I would not be involved in abortion myself. But I would not want to enforce that on anybody else. Other people should have the freedom to follow their own conscience."
Burton says he is "for abortion rights, but I would not say I am pro-abortion."
Burton is about to rotate off the Planned Parenthood board after six years of service. He was on the board when it made the decision to begin offering abortion services at its clinic last year.
"I feel very strongly that whether or not I participate [in such a decision] there are going to be such things and we have to face the reality that with or without my approval there is going to be such a thing as abortion."
Burton's initial involvement with Planned Parenthood came when he invited some of its staffers to conduct a workshop on family planning in his church. Afterwards, Burton was asked to serve on the Planned Parenthood board.
"When they invited me to participate, I did not think of my religious convictions other than I feel that as a Christian ... we are obligated to help our fellow human beings. And I feel that we are our brother's keepers - to use the term the Bible uses.
"I think the minister, in this day and time, needs to be as helpful to his young people in time of crisis as he possibly can be. I feel obligated to do that and [serving on the Planned Parenthood board is] one way of serving our young people."
Though he says he hasn't experienced discord over his position in his church, Burton says he knows the issue is volatile and "I don't think it will ever be settled."
Even denominations that have stated positions on the issue can't claim that the debate is over.
The General Convention of the Episcopal Church is on record with a resolution affirming the right of a woman to choose an abortion in the first trimester of fetal development - under certain circumstances and after consultation with her priest and physician, says the Right Rev. A. Heath Light, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwestern Virginia.
But the position is not part of the doctrine of the church and could be reversed by resolution of any subsequent General Convention, Light says.
In either case, the action of the convention would not be the principal determinant for his views, the bishop says.
``My own position stems primarily from the concept of `When do I believe life begins?' Does it begin at conception? At birth? Or at a point where the fetus might, with whatever necessary medical help is available, survive?''
It is the latter consideration that Light believes is most important in determining when life begins - and after which abortion becomes problematic.
"There is a consideration in terms of a woman's rights. But to argue that alone [creates a problem in determining] where a woman's rights end and the fetus' rights begin. That's especially tough late in pregnancy."
Light, who has made a study of the ethical dimensions of medical care of terminally ill patients, says there are similaries in the considerations of those cases and abortion.
He sees a distinction between "communicative, relational, sensitive life" and "existence" without those abilities to relate to the world.
In the case of abortion, he concedes, there is the additional consideration of whether there is the potential for the fetus to attain an ability to relate to the world around it.
The recognition of the fetus as "potential life" is the base of abortion positions in the three major branches of Judaism in the United States - Orthodox, Conservative and Reform.
Though all three branches have different positions on the procedure, all permit it under certain circumstances.
Orthodox Judaism is the most restrictive, generally allowing abortions only to save the life of the mother. Conservative groups more broadly define "therapeutic reasons" that are not limited to life-threatening situations for a woman to choose abortion. Those include the threat of severe physical or psychological harm to the mother or severe fetal abnormality. Reform Judaism affirms the right of a woman or family to choose an abortion based on its own moral values.
David Nova is the social-action chairman and vice president of Temple Emanuel, a congregation of Reform Jews. And he is, perhaps, the region's best-known spokesman for abortion rights as the public affairs director for Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge.
While Reform Jewish organizations in the U.S. have long been known as supporters of women's right to choose abortions, Nova says that does not close the book on debate or on self-examination about the issue.
For instance, Nova says he had to come to terms with one of the newest and most controversial methods of abortion in light of his own faith. His reading of traditional rabbinic instruction initially seemed to include a prohibition against what is described as "intact dilation and extraction" or "partial-birth" abortion, which Congress has voted to prohibit.
Further study, in consultation with rabbis, led him to conclude that there is no teaching in Judaism that would prohibit the use of the partial-extraction abortion.
"There are profound ethical considerations in advocacy for or against abortion," Nova says. "Most people engaged in the debate have strong ethical principles and most have a consistent and thoughtful approach to the issue."
LENGTH: Long : 146 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART/Staff. 1. E.T. Burton is pastor of Roanoke'sby CNBSweet Union Baptist Church and a Planned Parenthood of the Blue
Ridge board member:
He knows the issue is volatile and "I don't think it will ever be
settled." "...I think the minister ... needs to be as helpful to his
young people in time of crisis as he possibly can be. I feel
obligated to do that and [serving on the board is] one way of
serving our young people." color
2. David Nova, public affairs director for Planned Parenthood of the
Blue Ridge, also is social-action chairman and vice president of
Roanoke's Temple Emanuel: "There are profound ethical considerations
in advocacy for or against abortion.... Most people engaged in the
debate have strong ethical principles and most have a consistent and
thoughtful approach to the issue." color