Religious Faith and Abortion Liberty

Huffington Post (Jul. 18, 2016): Voices of Faith Speak for Abortion Rights, by Marie Alford-Harkey: 

Religious people who support abortion rights have largely been ignored in the debate over abortion.  There is a widely held misconception that people with religious convictions are anti-abortion.  This is a false dichotomy.  It is not true, as Dr. Willie Parker has noted, that "people with a faith identity and abortion care are mutually exclusive.  

For people of faith, making moral decisions is a sacred responsibility.  According to this belief system, it is up to the individual, not the polity, to make decisions about his or her own body, "which we believe are gifts from God."  It is thus unsurprising to find individuals of various belief systems advocating for dismantling barriers to abortion care.  This kind of oppression is not consistent with religious faith; it contradicts it. 

In support of allowing women on their own to make the personal decision to seek abortion care is the compassion that lies in ensuring that they have access to safe medical care.  Indeed, healthcare for women that includes abortion care is a moral imperative.  At the very least, ensuring safe access to abortion "avoids imposing one religious view on everyone."