How Core Tenet #3 Applies to Abortion

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 Topic: How Core Tenet #3 Applies to Abortion

The Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling on February 16 declaring that embryos created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) should be considered children. This raises ethical as well as practical concerns. Does it mean that a couple attempting to conceive through IVF can claim all their embryos as dependents on their taxes? Does it mean that IVF clinics have to be registered as daycare centers? Can somebody use the carpool lane if they have frozen embryos in the back seat? And do they have to be buckled in? If somebody accidentally drops a petri dish with a clump of cells in it, and the cells die as a result, is that person going to be charged with committing the crime of abortion?

This ruling, like any abortion ban, is a direct violation of any Path adherents’ religious freedom: Core Tenet #3 tells us that our bodies are our own, and that bodily autonomy must be absolute. Other organizations, including the Satanic Temple (which, much like the Path itself, is an atheistic organization) are protesting this law as intrusive and dangerous. Until they are actually born, fetuses and embryos are either part of their parent’s body or, in the case of frozen embryos, clumps of cells that may or may not eventually become babies. But those cells are made up of our own tissue, which means they fall under the umbrella of bodily autonomy.

It is not like embryos are particularly sacred to Nature, or God if you prefer. One in four American pregnancies end in miscarriage, with twenty thousand or so more that are stillborn. That is up to one million per year, and we don’t really even know because any sexually active woman can have a spontaneous miscarriage without even knowing the egg was fertilized. No, the only people who have this embryo fetish in this country are religious conservatives. Their god clearly does not give a shit about the unborn.

Here's a thought experiment that illustrates the absurdity of Alabama’s law. Say you are in an in vitro clinic and there is a fire. There are thousands of embryos in one room, and two toddlers in another. You only have two hands. Who do you save? The toddlers, of course. It isn’t even a choice. You would not leave two toddlers to choke to death to save even a dozen embryos. Because they are not actually children, no matter what that Alabama court has to say on the matter.

Path teachings on this topic encourage us to have the “abortion talk” with your potential partner before engaging in any kind of procreative activity. Make sure they do not have a heartbeat-bill bumper sticker. Ask if they are from Alabama.

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