Editing Abortion (section)

==Religion==
{{Main|Religion and abortion}}

In the [[Catholic Church and abortion|Catholic Church]], opinion was divided on how serious abortion was in comparison with such acts as contraception and oral or anal sex.<ref name="Noonan" />{{rp|155–167}} The [[Catholic Church]] did not begin vigorously opposing abortion until the 19th century.<ref name="Management of Abortion, Chp 1" /><ref name="Georgian 2022" /> As early as ~100&nbsp;CE, the ''[[Didache]]'' taught that abortion was sinful.<ref>{{cite web|date=9 September 2016|title=Didache|website=Legacy Icons| url=https://legacyicons.com/content/didache.pdf|access-date=16 May 2022|url-status=live|archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108201133/https://legacyicons.com/content/didache.pdf}}</ref> Several historians argue that prior to the 19th century most Catholic authors did not regard termination of pregnancy before [[quickening]] or [[ensoulment]] as an abortion.<ref>Joan Cadden, "Western medicine and natural philosophy", in Vern L. Bullough and James A. Brundage, eds., ''Handbook of Medieval Sexuality'', Garland, 1996, pp. 51–80.</ref><ref>Cyril C. Means Jr., "A historian's view", in Robert E. Hall, ed., ''Abortion in a Changing World'', vol. 1, Columbia University Press, 1970, pp. 16–24.</ref><ref>John M. Riddle, "Contraception and early abortion in the Middle Ages", in Vern L. Bullough and James A. Brundage, eds., ''Handbook of Medieval Sexuality'', Garland, 1996, pp. 261–277, {{ISBN|978-0-8153-1287-1}}.</ref> In 1588, [[Pope Sixtus V]] ({{reign}} 1585–1590) was the first Pope to institute a Church policy labeling all abortion as homicide and condemning abortion regardless of the stage of pregnancy.<ref>{{cite web|author=Pope Sixtus V| year=1588| title=Effraenatam| via=The Embryo Project Encyclopedia|url=https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/effraenatam-1588-pope-sixtus-v| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526144925/https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/effraenatam-1588-pope-sixtus-v|archive-date=26 May 2021|access-date=26 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="Noonan">{{cite book| vauthors = Noonan JT |title=Contraception: A History of Its Treatment by the Catholic Theologians and Canonists |edition=2nd |publisher= Harvard University Press|year=1986}}</ref>{{rp|362–364}}<ref name="riddle2" />{{rp|157–158}} Sixtus V's pronouncement was reversed in 1591 by [[Pope Gregory XIV]].<ref>{{cite web |vauthors=Gershon L |date=13 February 2018 |title=What a 16th-Century Abortion Ban Revealed |url=https://daily.jstor.org/what-a-16th-century-abortion-ban-revealed/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526144922/https://daily.jstor.org/what-a-16th-century-abortion-ban-revealed/ |archive-date=26 May 2021 |access-date=26 May 2021 |website=JSTOR Daily}}</ref> In the recodification of [[1917 Code of Canon Law]], ''Apostolicae Sedis'' was strengthened, in part to remove a possible reading that excluded excommunication of the mother.<ref>{{cite web|title=Apostolicae Sedis Moderationi|website=New Advent |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01645a.htm|access-date=16 May 2022|url-status=live|archive-date=16 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516174009/https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01645a.htm}}</ref> Statements made in the ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'', the codified summary of the Church's teachings, considers abortion from the moment of conception as homicide and called for the end of legal abortion.<ref>{{cite web|date=1992|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church, chapter 2, article 5 |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a5.htm| website=Vatican| access-date=4 December 2019| archive-date=14 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514012545/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a5.htm|url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Judaism and abortion|In Judaism]], the fetus is not considered to have a human soul until it is safely outside of the woman, is viable, and has taken its first breath.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Schenker JG |date=June 2008 |title=The beginning of human life: status of embryo. Perspectives in Halakha (Jewish Religious Law) |journal=Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics |volume=25 |issue=6 |pages=271–276 |doi=10.1007/s10815-008-9221-6 |pmc=2582082 |pmid=18551364}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T7w2oAmohpEC |title=Biomedical Ethics and Jewish Law |vauthors=Rosner F |publisher=KTAV Publishing House |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-88125-701-4 |access-date=27 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230124173418/https://books.google.com/books?id=T7w2oAmohpEC |archive-date=24 January 2023 |url-status=live |via=Google Books}} Reprinted as {{cite web |date=7 June 2015 |title=The Beginning of Life in Judaism |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-beginning-of-life-in-judaism/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607041405/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-beginning-of-life-in-judaism/ |archive-date=7 June 2015 |access-date=27 July 2022 |website=My Jewish Learning |vauthors=Rosner F}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=23 January 2022 |title=When Does Life Begin? A Jewish View |url=http://www.reclaimingjudaism.org/teachings/when-does-life-begin-jewish-view |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220803233439/http://www.reclaimingjudaism.org/teachings/when-does-life-begin-jewish-view |archive-date=3 August 2022 |access-date=30 June 2022 |website=Reclaiming Judaism |vauthors=Milgram G}}</ref> The fetus is considered valuable property of the woman and not a human life while in the womb (Exodus 21:22-23). While [[Judaism]] encourages people to [[be fruitful and multiply]] by having children, abortion is allowed and is deemed necessary when a pregnant woman's life is in danger.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 2019 |title=Judaism and Abortion |url=https://www.ncjw.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Judaism-and-Abortion-FINAL.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.ncjw.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Judaism-and-Abortion-FINAL.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |access-date=27 July 2022 |publisher=National Council of Jewish Women}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=17 June 2022 |title=Religious freedom: The next battleground for US abortion rights? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/17/religious-freedom-the-next-battleground-for-us-abortion-rights |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220801020805/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/17/religious-freedom-the-next-battleground-for-us-abortion-rights |archive-date=1 August 2022 |access-date=27 July 2022 |publisher=Al Jazeera |vauthors=Kestler-D'Amours J}}</ref> Several religions, including Judaism, which disagree that [[human life begins at conception]], support the legality of abortion on [[religious freedom]] grounds.<ref name="Georgian 2022" /> 

In [[Islam and abortion|Islam]], abortion is traditionally permitted until a point in time when Muslims believe the soul enters the fetus,<ref name="Management of Abortion, Chp 1" /> considered by various theologians to be at conception, 40 days after conception, 120 days after conception, or at [[quickening]].<ref name="BBC and Islam / Abortion">{{cite news |date=9 July 2009 |title=Religions – Islam: Abortion |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/islamethics/abortion_1.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009065222/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/islamethics/abortion_1.shtml |archive-date=9 October 2011 |access-date=10 December 2011 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> Abortion is largely heavily restricted or forbidden in areas of high [[Islam]]ic faith such as the [[Middle East and North Africa]].<ref>{{cite web |year=2008 |title=Abortion in the Middle East and North Africa |url=http://www.prb.org/pdf08/MENAabortion.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006171600/http://www.prb.org/pdf08/MENAabortion.pdf |archive-date=6 October 2011 |publisher=Population Research Bureau |vauthors=Dabash R, Farzaneh RF}}</ref>

Denominations that support abortion rights with some limits include the [[United Methodist Church]], [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal Church]], [[Evangelical Lutheran Church in America]] and [[Presbyterian Church USA]].<ref name="Masci 2020">{{cite web | last=Masci | first=David | title=Where major religious groups stand on abortion | website=Pew Research Center | date=2020-05-30 | url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/21/where-major-religious-groups-stand-on-abortion/ | access-date=2023-01-22 | archive-date=22 January 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230122160816/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/21/where-major-religious-groups-stand-on-abortion/ | url-status=live }}</ref> A 2014 Guttmacher survey of abortion patients in the United States found that many reported a religious affiliation: 24% were Catholic while 30% were Protestant.<ref>{{cite report| url=https://www.guttmacher.org/report/characteristics-us-abortion-patients-2014|title=Characteristics of U.S. Abortion Patients in 2014 and Changes Since 2008| vauthors = Jerman J, Jones RK, Onda T |date=10 May 2016| publisher=Guttmacher| access-date=25 February 2021|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224085344/https://www.guttmacher.org/report/characteristics-us-abortion-patients-2014| url-status=live}}</ref> A 1995 survey reported that Catholic women are as likely as the general population to terminate a pregnancy, [[Protestants]] are less likely to do so, and [[evangelical Christians]] are the least likely to do so.<ref name="guttmacher"/><ref name="bankole98"/> A 2019 [[Pew Research Center]] study found that most [[Christian denomination]]s were against overturning ''[[Roe v. Wade]],'' which in the United States legalized abortion, at around 70%, except White Evangelicals at 35%.<ref name="PewReseach2019">{{cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/20/8-key-findings-about-catholics-and-abortion/|title=8 key findings about Catholics and abortion|date=20 October 2020 | publisher=Pew Research Center|access-date=15 May 2022|archive-date=15 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515173202/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/10/20/8-key-findings-about-catholics-and-abortion/|url-status=live}}</ref>