More from the article...
...A reversal of the 49-year-old ruling has never felt more possible since a draft opinion suggesting justices may do so was leaked this week. While religious believers at the heart of the decades-old fight over abortion are shocked at the breach of high court protocol, they are still as deeply divided and their beliefs on the contentious issue as entrenched as ever.
National polls show that most Americans support abortion access. A Public Religion Research Institute survey from March found that a majority of religious groups believe it should be legal in most cases " with the exception of white evangelical Protestants, 69% of whom said the procedure should be outlawed in most or all cases.
In conservative Christian corners, the draft opinion has sparked hope. Faith groups that have historically taken a strong anti-abortion stance, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have urged followers to pray for Roe's reversal.
No faith is monolithic on the abortion issue. Yet many followers of faiths that don't prohibit abortion are aghast that a view held by a minority of Americans could supersede their individual rights and religious beliefs.
In Judaism, for example, many authorities say abortion is permitted or even required in cases where the woman's life is in danger.
"This ruling would be outlawing abortion in cases when our religion would permit us," said Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, scholar in residence at the National Council of Jewish Women, "and it is basing its concepts of when life begins on someone else's philosophy or theology."
In Islam, similarly, there is room for "all aspects of reproductive choice from family planning to abortion," said Nadiah Mohajir, co-founder of Heart Women and Girls, a Chicago nonprofit that works with Muslim communities on reproductive rights and other gender issues.
"One particular political agenda is infringing on my right and my religious and personal freedom," she said.
According to new data released Wednesday by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 56% of U.S. Muslims say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, a figure that's about on par with the beliefs of U.S. Catholics.
Donna Nicolino, a student at Fire Lotus Temple, a Zen Buddhist center in Brooklyn, said her faith calls on followers to show compassion to others. Restricting or banning abortion fails to consider why women have abortions and would hurt the poor and marginalized the most, she said.
"If we truly value life as a culture," Nicolino said, "we would take steps like guaranteeing maternal health care, health care for children, decent housing for pregnant women." ...
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