The Saint Euphrosynos Cafe

So, all political aspects aside, how should the Orthodox attitude toward abortion be? This is the one topic that I find myself always coming back to and having mixed feelings about. It does not seem as black or white to me as many people may want to view it. Abortion it itself seems very wrong to me, because, I am convinced that the fetus is a person at least to some degree. But on the other hand, I find the thought of forcing a woman to go through with labour to be very cold and heartless. Where is the compassion? And I hate to generalize, but, I think that many people who are against abortion don't understand this. Like 90% of every anti-abortion person I have met was a White upper-middle class or rich Protestant with really no problems whatsoever. They don't seem to have any idea what is going on in less privileged communities like the poor, Blacks or Latinos like me. Of course, it's easy to say "Well then she shouldn't have had sex!" but, that is assuming that the girl was in normal circumstances. Not everyone is lucky enough to have two parents who've clearly taught them right from wrong, not everyone has the confidence to say no to sex because maybe they grew up without a positive male role model in their life (like my mom). It's easy to say that you could have just said no and recognized the consequences of sex when your parent isn't at the pipe smoking rocks. This especially touches me personally because my mother grew up in an unstable Hispanic home without a father and her mom being an abusive alcoholic that pistol whipped her. She had me at fifteen. I don't think it's fair for the privileged to force the under privileged like my mom to bear a child. On the other hand, I don't think it's fair to kill an innocent person via abortion. So what is the right thing to do?

I think the answer you get here will be pretty monolithic: abortion is murder. St Basil the Great says so in so many words:

“She who purposely destroys the fetus shall suffer the punishment of murder.” - Canon 2

But maybe what you're talking about is how strictly those who commit this sin should be treated. That, as always, is a pastoral matter, but the strict reading is that abortion is the same as murder, and not a lesser sin, and should receive the same canonical penalties as murder.

I'd be careful about generalizing about those who oppose abortion. They're not all rich Protestants; some, strange to say, are even poor and Orthodox!

If you don't understand WHY the Church teaches that abortion is murder, there are various sources you can consult. One is an article by V Moss, available in his free book here:

http://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/d ... L_1_1_.pdf

Scroll down to p. 136. I haven't read it yet myself, but it may give you some food for thought.

I understand how it is to have all sorts of questions and to want quick answers, but, if you can, I recommend taking your time over this. Meanwhile, try to take a pragmatic approach to your interest in these questions. For example, why exactly must you know about the Church's teaching on abortion? Did someone else ask you? Do you know someone close, a friend or family member, who is thinking of obtaining an abortion and you need to persuade them against it? Those are good reasons to want answers, but if you're just curious, it's probably better to leave the question aside for now and focus on questions that directly concern you first.

Just my two cents!

As was noted above, according to the canons of the Orthodox Church, abortion is murder, and it carries a very strict penance. From what I remember (and I might be mistaken), a woman who has an abortion is not supposed to receive Holy Communion for many years, and in some instances, only on her deathbed. Given our times, such strict penances are given only in very extreme cases. Circumstances vary, and of course an abortion performed after rape or incest is not judged as severely as an abortion performed for economic reasons, or even worse, for "convenience", just as a killing someone in self defense is not judged as severely as cold-blooded murder. Nevertheless, in all the above cases, a life has been taken, a human being has died.
From my experience with anti-abortion groups, in the US, here in France, and in Russia, they are not at all mostly white upper middle class and/or rich. They are mostly people of faith, who believe in the sanctity of life.
I know of several cases here in France, and one in Russia, when women were urged to have abortions because of the possibility or even inevitability of serous birth defects, and in several of these cases, when they refused to have abortions, they were denied medical treatment. ALL of those children were born healthy.
I have also, over the years, noted that a large percentage of monastics, especially in Russia, were supposed to have been aborted, and then, usually at the last minute, the mothers changed their minds.

We live in a fallen world. As Christians we are called to become like God (theosis). In that way, we are not supposed to yeild to the falleness of the world. Fundamentally, we must commit to refraining from punishing the innocent. No matter what the circumstances, the only undeniably innocent party is the unborn child. When we commit the sin of abortion we say to God that we refuse to believe that He can work out His plan and His miracles. We blaspheme, by our actions that center on the idea that we are the ones who know how life should proceed. We refuse the help of God. This is a grave sin.

This life is not easy and people are born into and live in some terrible situations, but how is it that we can see an answer to any of this in killing and death. Abortion takes a terrible toll on a woman's body and soul, it is not a reset button on a video game. The fact that we seek a way to justify the taking of a distinct life because it is in a womb is proof of how demented we are.

Consider this: There was a girl about 15 years old, who was supposed to be a dedicated virgin. Yet she shows up pregnant! She realizes that this will ruin her life. She will be at the mercy of whatever man will marry her. Would her family turn their back on her? Would people every stop judging and pointing at her in public. And Yet the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, told the Archangel Gabriel, "Let it be to me according to thy word." And with that, Redemption was brought into the world. What if God could find no woman willing to give birth for Him? Find me a person more compassionate than Her!

God help us! If you read this and do not have tears streaming down your face, then fall down to God and beg Him to soften your hard heart. We have got to snap out of this death culture of the world! We are calling the lie truth!

Amen, Father Mark.