Christian attitudes to abortion

#1101 for broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 19 July 2015

The issue of abortion is one of those thorny issues where personal morality, public policy and religious dogma perennially collide. And Christians as well as others remain divided over whether and on what grounds abortion should be permitted.

A National Church Life Survey of Catholic, Anglican and Protestant church attenders in 2011 found that 34.2 per cent of respondents believed abortion should never be permitted, 44.1 per cent thought it should be permitted “under extreme circumstances,” 9.1 per cent indicated abortion should be more widely available, and 5.3 per cent believed it should be available to anyone who wants one.

While constituent churches will articulate their own theological and philosophical views on whether and on what grounds abortion should be available to women in this state, the NSW Council of Churches takes the view that abortion on demand denies the dignity of the human person and results in serious consequences for the health and wellbeing of women and families.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.