The Other Editorial A Metaphysical Perspective on Abortion By Judith Wise-Rhoads Every woman thinks about having a baby even if it's to decide not to do so. At some point in a woman's life she faces the decision To Have or Have Not, unless a physical problem has already made the decision. For most women it's a matter of when shall I have a child? Most of us know or have heard about someone who was pregnant and decided to abort. There are all kinds of reasons, good and bad, for such a decision. Ours is not to judge what another person feels is necessary for her at this point in her life. Funny how a lot of people talk about don't judge others and turn around and condemn a woman's action when they don't even know her or her situation. Most women have to agonize over this decision; the physical act of tearing out a part of yourself is traumatic on many levels. And the guilt; some women never get over the guilt. Where does this guilt come from? Religions, male-dominated religions, where women and children are property. Even a child's right to live was often up to the father. If the child was deformed or merely a girl, the father could sell it or leave it to die. (But the man would not face mercifully killing the child himself; rather he'd leave it to die of exposure if it wasn't first eaten by wolves.) A woman's choice to abort in the past was not murder but the worse crime of stealing from a man. Now they call it murder. But metaphysically, abortion is a different matter. There is really no such thing as murder; you cannot kill a spirit! Thus, aborting a fetus is not the murder that so many claim. The spirit will be born in another time and place, perhaps to the same person, perhaps not. Indeed, the spirit knew ahead of time it would be aborted. Perhaps it only needed a short time in the physical to complete some of its own karma. We can't judge. We shouldn't judge. One of the attributes of God/Goddess/All-That-Is is Justice, which I feel we all get over our many lives. (Personally, the attribute I'm most hoping to experience is Mercy.) With a belief in reincarnation, Pagans take a longer, larger view of these things. It should be obvious that this is not permission to kill people. It is grievous karma to take away someone's experience and opportunity to evolve, very grievous. So it does not behoove you to kill anyone except in self-defense. How do you distinguish between the two? The fetus is not a viable, individuated human being yet. It is in the process of becoming, but not yet usable by the spirit. By individuated, I mean separated from the mother, able to live on its own. With today's medical techniques this can be from 5-6 months along. I believe it would be less traumatic to the mother to birth the baby after 4 months. Abortion is usually done before 3 months. But aborting at any stage can injure the mother, so this is never to be taken lightly. Though I don't think a woman can take this lightly. The process is as trying mentally and emotionally as it is physically. Of course, there are many medical reasons that can develop that may make it advisable to abort later than would be usual. Each case must be considered on its own between the patient and the doctor. Most would probably agree that when the soul enters, it is officially a human being. Here again, this does not necessarily correspond with conception. A soul enters at different times according to what it needs to do. A few enter at conception; most enter at any time between 3-4 months to birth; a few even wait for a few weeks after birth to enter the body. What to do? How to decide? How to handle the decision? I applaud the way the Japanese handle the emotions of a woman who feels the need to put off having a baby for whatever reasons. The woman writes a letter to the spirit of the fetus she aborts, telling it why it was not the right time or circumstance for the spirit to come into being. She then leaves the letter in a temple. This helps her to handle her feelings. A woman considering such a step can talk it over in meditation with the spirit of the baby. Ask for whatever forgiveness or understanding you need. The spirit of the baby is in no pain or distress over this. You are not committing murder; remember, you cannot kill a spirit! You are taking away the vehicle the spirit would use to experience physical life. This is a very different thing. True, the spirit has to wait longer to be born, but you would not stop its evolution. And for spirit there is no time or space. Whether a day or a hundred years went by on earth would not make a difference. What is important to a spirit is the astrological pattern it needs at birth for the characteristics it plans to have in a physical life. We all make these plans before we come. We may make contingency plans: plan A isn't taking shape the way I want, I'll go to plan B. Once here, we can change our minds. One could, for instance, choose to marry a different person, or not marry at all. This is OK. It's your life and your free will. Usually though, we stick to our plans to give us the life lessons we decided we needed. Abortion could be a life lesson you and the baby spirit have decided upon. You will learn a valuable lesson even if you think you made the wrong decision. Don't beat yourself up; learn the lesson so you won't need to repeat it. Don't buy into the guilt. Forgive yourself and go on. | 
