title: Women's reproductive health: monotheistic religious perspectives.
abstract: It is important to those who practice reproduction techniques to learn about the different religious attitudes related to reproductive health problems. Religion exerts an influence on civil authorities in the field of reproduction such as prevention or procreation and in issues such as abortion and infertility therapy. The Jewish attitude towards reproduction can be learned from the fact that the first commandment of God to Adam was be fruitful and multiply. Judaism allows the practice of all techniques of assisted reproduction when the oocyte and sperm originate from the wife and husband, respectively. All Rabbinical rulings permit the use of contraception for medical indications. Economic difficulties and inconveniences of raising children are not indications for birth control practice. According to Judaism abortion on demand is forbidden but it may be performed if the mother's life is in danger. The attitude toward reproductive practice is different among the different divisions of Christianity. The practice of assisted reproduction is not accepted by the Vatican, however, it may be practiced by Protestant, Anglican and other Denomination's. According to the Roman Catholic doctrine the primary purpose of marriage is procreation. The contraceptive act destroys the potential of producing new life by sexual intercourse and violates the purpose of marriage and, therefore, is a sin against nature. The Christian tradition views the embryo as a human being since conception and, therefore, abortion is strictly forbidden. According to Islam, the procedure of IVF and ET is acceptable, however, it can be preformed only if it involves the husband and the wife. It allows contraception practice only under some circumstances and only in some special cases abortion can be preformed. Religion, being concerned with affairs that are regarded as extraordinary and as having unique importance in life, is an intrinsic aspect of the culture of all societies, religious groups, however, still exert influence on the civil authorities in issues of reproduction such as contraception, procreation, abortion, and infertility therapy. They have been active in pressing their bioethical positions on the public arena in pluralistic societies. Developments in science and technology in reproduction raise new religious questions that do not always have clear answers. The role of theology in bioethics is foremost to clarify for the different religious communities the perceived attitudes toward these developments. Therefore, it is important to those who practice reproduction techniques to learn about the different religious attitudes related to reproductive health problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Schenker
mesh_terms: D000028:Abortion, Induced; D002835:Christianity / Q000523:psychology; D003267:Contraception; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam / Q000523:psychology; D007599:Judaism / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D012071:Religion and Sex; D012099:Reproductive Techniques; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D014933:Women's Rights