Question About Lds View On Abortion

[Amelia]

Do Mormons consider abortion to be murder?

The last I heard the answer was no. If I recall correctly. (It was many years ago.)

Yes, it's a profoundly bad thing when done electively, but not murder per se.

Because murder prematurely terminates the spiritual quest of someone. Their spirit moves on. And they're done.

But when a fetus is aborted, whichever spirit is or would be occupying that body will still have another chance to have a body. So life hasn't been permanently taken from that spirit. So it's not murder.

Is this roughly correct by current church teaching?

Thank you.

[Nevo]

Is this roughly correct by current church teaching?

The Church's official statement on abortion can be found here.

It is not a teaching of the Church that "whichever spirit is or would be occupying [the body of an aborted fetus] will still have another chance to have a body." In fact, this view would seem to be contradicted by Elder Russell M. Nelson's statement that "a woman’s choice for her own body does not include the right to deprive her baby of life—and a lifetime of choices that her child would make" ("Abortion: An Assault on the Defenseless"). The Church does not view abortion as murder, but it is "like unto it" in seriousness. However, it can be forgiven.

[Amelia]

Thanks for the response and for the article from Nelson.

But if a baby is miscarried or dies in the womb a day before it would have been born, what happens to the spirit which would have occupied that body?

Such a spirit isn't counted among one's family members, is it?

It will still have to come back for another body? Or not? ... or is this not known ?

Edited October 30, 2011 by Amelia

[Nevo]

But if a baby is miscarried or dies in the womb a day before it would have been born, what happens to the spirit which would have occupied that body?

Such a spirit isn't counted among one's family members, is it?

It will still have to come back for another body? Or not? ... or is this not known ?

I don't think this has been revealed, so we can only speculate. The fullest statement I've seen from a quasi-official source is the Encyclopedia of Mormonism's entry for "Stillborn Children":

Medically, a stillborn child is a dead fetus developed to a point at which it normally would have been viable. Religiously, one major question is whether a stillborn child ever was "a living soul" (Moses 3:7) that can be resurrected and be part of its parents' eternal family. Because "there is no information given by revelation" (DS 2:280), the Church has made no official statement on the matter. President Brigham Young once stated as his opinion that "when the mother feels life come to her infant it is the spirit entering the body" (JD 17:143). Others have speculated that the spirit might not enter the fetus until just before birth, and still others have suggested that three elements constitute a living soul—body, spirit, and "breath of life" (Moses 3:7).

Because Church policy permits temple sealings to be performed for children who die after birth, but not for those who die before birth, some have concluded that stillborn children will not be resurrected. However, the current General Handbook of Instructions (1989) states that the policy of not sealing stillborn children to their parents implies "no loss of eternal blessings or family unity" (6–. Latter-day Saints trust God's loving kindness to accord to each of his spirit children the eternal state which is proper, through judgment which is both just and merciful.

— Jeanne B. Inouye, "Stillborn Children," Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 3:1419.

Edited October 30, 2011 by Nevo

[Amelia]

Interesting.

Thanks again.

[thesometimesaint]

Abortion is allowable in rare cases.

[altersteve]

Just as killing a person is not always considered murder, neither is abortion. Most of the time, though, it is.

[rpn]

I don't think it is fair to say that "abortion is allowable in some circumstances". More accurate is that the church takes no disciplinary action against someone who has or encourages an abortion in three limited circumstances. rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is in danger.

[thesometimesaint]

rpn:

I never said that we encourage abortion. To be more accurate we also allow for abortion in the case where the baby will be still born or have no chance at life.

[frankenstein]

I don't think it is fair to say that "abortion is allowable in some circumstances". More accurate is that the church takes no disciplinary action against someone who has or encourages an abortion in three limited circumstances. rape, incest, and when the life of the mother is in danger.

Actually that is a pretty inaccurate statement, it does not take into account the true position of the Church.

Here are the accurate statements, statements made by the Church:

Gospel Principles Chapter 39:

There is seldom any justifiable reason for abortion. Church leaders have said that some exceptional circumstances may justify an abortion, such as when pregnancy is the result of incest or rape, when the life or health of the mother is judged by competent medical authority to be in serious jeopardy, or when the fetus is known by competent medical authority to have severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth. But even these circumstances do not automatically justify an abortion. Those who face such circumstances should consider abortion only after consulting with their local Church leaders and receiving a confirmation through earnest prayer.

from the CHI Abortion:

The only possible exceptions are when:

• 1.
  Pregnancy resulted from forcible rape or incest.
  
• 2.
  A competent physician determines that the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy.
  
• 3.
  A competent physician determines that the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth.
  

Abortion is considered a sin, except it is not a sin in the above circumstances when other conditions are met. Based on your reasoning, Nephi is a murderer - and by murderer I mean murderer in the sinful way - just as you seemingly insinuate that a person who has an abortion - due to an exception to abortion being a sin - is still a sinner against whom the Church will not take disciplinary action.

Abortion is a terrible thing to have to consider even in the exception, so why deny the mercy of God and make a person, who has followed the Church guidelines and decided on abortion i.e. an exception to abortion being a sin, feel like a sinner?

[cinepro]

Because murder prematurely terminates the spiritual quest of someone. Their spirit moves on. And they're done.

But when a fetus is aborted, whichever spirit is or would be occupying that body will still have another chance to have a body. So life hasn't been permanently taken from that spirit. So it's not murder.

Two options would be that the spirit comes back in another body, or its mortal journey has been "fulfilled".

If it comes back in another body, then if the original parents were LDS, then the odds of the second family being LDS may be greatly reduced, which may reduce the likelihood of the child finding and accepting the gospel in this life.

If the gestation counts as its earthly life and it has "died before the age of accountability", then the provisions of D&C 137 would seem to be in effect and such situations result in an exalted spirit:

10 And I also beheld that all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven.

Not sure what that would mean for the people involved in the decision and procedure though.

But as I've noted before, if an abortion results in an exalted spirit away from Satan's grasp, then Satan would have to really, really hate abortion.

Edited October 31, 2011 by cinepro

[Mansquatch]

But as I've noted before, if an abortion results in an exalted spirit away from Satan's grasp, then Satan would have to really, really hate abortion.

Not necessarily. Leaving psychological and emotional damage, be it desensitization or otherwise, can effect the world in a negative way enough to please Satan. Especially if the child killed could have had a great positive impact on the world.

We could also extend this thinking over and say (erroneously) that Satan hates when people kill good followers of Christ who will be exalted upon dying. And we could view Satan as hating war, contention and killing innocents. While I do think there is something that excites the tempter about having someone die in their sin, I also see him being happy with the destruction of those who could make this world, or even just the life of one other person, better.

[Loran Blood]

Do Mormons consider abortion to be murder?

There is no teaching in the Church identifying it as such, in the normative sense of the term. That it is a serious form of unjustified taking of human life is clear, however. We are not to commit murder, or "anything like unto it."

Yes, it's a profoundly bad thing when done electively, but not murder per se.

I think that's essentially correct.

But when a fetus is aborted, whichever spirit is or would be occupying that body will still have another chance to have a body. So life hasn't been permanently taken from that spirit. So it's not murder.

I think this would depend upon whether or not the spirit has already entered the physical form itself. If so, and the fetus is then killed, the spirit, having already received its body, must move on along another path. To think otherwise would introduce a whiff of reincarnation into gospel doctrine, which is something, from my own personal experience with others I've known, can be a particularly corrupting influence, spiritually and intellectually, once the core idea takes hold.

Edited October 31, 2011 by Loran Blood