onate a kidney or blood to save a sibling's life. The virtue of the Good Samaritan lay precisely in his doing something he was not obligated to do. No woman should be required to give up her life, her health, or her family's security to save the life of a fetus that is threatening her well-being. At the very least she is entitled to self-defense. On the other hand, many women are willing to sacrifice their health and their future in order to have one or more children. The religious community that respects the freedom of women to make such a choice must respect equally their freedom to choose not to bear a child. Laws cannot eliminate abortions. In Romania under Ceausescu, the Communist secret Police checked monthly on all female workers under the age of 45 and monitored pregnant women; yet Romania outranked virtually all other European nations in rates of abortion and abortion-related female deaths.(5) In Brazil, where abortion is illegal, there are twice as many abortions as in the United States, although Brazil's population is only half that of the United States. In Latin America, illegal abortion is the number-one killer of women between the ages of 15 and 39.(6) By contrast, in countries where abortion is legal, it is a medically safe procedure--11 times safer than childbirth. The Cook County Hospital in Chicago, prior to the Supreme Court's decision legalizing abortion, admitted about 4,000 women each year for medical care following illegal abortions. After the decision, the hospital admitted fewer than five such Cases a month.(7) Rather than pursuing laws banning abortion, which I believe would be as effective as passing laws against earthquakes, we should direct our energies toward reducing the need for the procedure. Supporters and opponents of legal abortion alike would agree that reducing the need for abortion, and thus the number of abortions performed, is a worthy goal. Women do not engage in sexual intercourse or become, pr...
