An estimated 45,000 people participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure [for breast cancer] in Little Rock, Arkansas. The nation's leading breast-cancer charity is halting its partnerships with Planned Parenthood affiliates in 2012 -- creating a bitter rift, linked to the abortion debate, between two iconic organizations that have assisted millions of women (Brian Chilson/AP, Oct. 16, 2010).In what looks to be a break between two organizations dedicated to women's health, a national breast cancer awareness group said it would stop providing funds to Planned Parenthood centers for breast cancer examinations and other breast health services. In September, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) launched an inquiry to determine whether Planned Parenthood uses public money to fund abortions. Planned Parenthood receives federal money but cannot use it to provide abortions. More
UPDATES
Wisdom Quarterly (EDITORIAL)
It is wise not to take a stand on so controversial an issue. There is no way to win. But we are not wise, and our opinion is fixed: Wisdom Quarterly editors are pro-choice, but we oppose abortion as doing harm. How could we straddle both sides of the fence? We do not.
Let individuals make their own choice, for ultimately they are responsible for their karma (intentional actions). We cannot imagine telling women what to do bodily, and it is clear what restrictions have led to and how they have discriminated against disenfranchised groups.
However, for all that, we do NOT recommend anyone exercise their choice to deprive a living being of life. (The results are likely to be hazardous when the karma ripens). When does life begin? It, from our understanding of Buddhism, begins at conception. What is conception?
The Buddha said three things were necessary for conception to take place: for the mother to be in "season," the father's contribution, and the gandhabba (the being-to-be-born), which is not a soul (even if for all intents and purposes one may use that misleading shorthand) but the continuity of consciousness. Immediately at death one is reborn.
And by "immediately" is meant utterly without intermission. One goes from this body to another (except in the extraordinarily rare instances of rebirth in the four realms of the Formless Sphere).
The many realms of the Fine-Material sphere and the Sensual Sphere all have bodies. Most of these bodies are subtle-form corporeal states, so fine as to be regarded as immortal or (relatively) discarnate, but they are nevertheless bodies.
There are intermediate (relatively temporary) existences between (relatively enduring) births but nevertheless such states are associated with a subtle body and a rebirth. Karma ripens at the death-proximate moment conditioning the subsequent birth. One may spend time as a "spirit" in a subtle body but that is living, that is continuation, that is immediate.
From there, as taught in the Bon-influenced Tibetan Buddhist tradition, one may spend 49 days in the Bardo before going on to be reborn elsewhere in another state. That is a birth. That is continuation of consciousness. That is immediate.
If depriving beings of life is harmful for oneself, for the other, and for both (for society at large), what is the solution. The "solution" is easy, so easy as to be regarded as glib, but it is the only reasonable solution: prevention.
To reiterate: Women have the right to choose what to do with their bodies; life begins at conception; abortion is best avoided.
Abortion is so serious a matter that if a Buddhist monastic were to speak in praise of it or recommend it outright, and a person were to follow through on that suggestion or recommendation, the monastic would be guilty of a defeat-act (parajika) tantamount to killing.
As a result s/he would immediately cease to be a monastic and could not re-ordain for the remainder of this existence. Human life is hard to come by and is no accident. What we choose will impact us, and we are ultimately responsible only for our choices. No one is in any position to condemn another.
And while everyone may understand why one makes the decision one makes, it is a matter of living with ourselves as heirs of our karma, and this is true regardless of our belief system. Prevention cannot be overemphasized. Or as was said to begin with -- it is unwise to voice an opinion on so controversial an issue.
UPDATES
- Nonprofits react: Dr. Susan Love saddened by Komen decision
- Health Insurance, Family, Cancer, Breast Cancer, Social Issues
- In Komen fallout, abortion-breast cancer myth is resurrected
- CEO says politics didn't cause break with Planned Parenthood
- Komen corporation officials say it is not about abortion
Wisdom Quarterly (EDITORIAL)
It is wise not to take a stand on so controversial an issue. There is no way to win. But we are not wise, and our opinion is fixed: Wisdom Quarterly editors are pro-choice, but we oppose abortion as doing harm. How could we straddle both sides of the fence? We do not.Let individuals make their own choice, for ultimately they are responsible for their karma (intentional actions). We cannot imagine telling women what to do bodily, and it is clear what restrictions have led to and how they have discriminated against disenfranchised groups.
However, for all that, we do NOT recommend anyone exercise their choice to deprive a living being of life. (The results are likely to be hazardous when the karma ripens). When does life begin? It, from our understanding of Buddhism, begins at conception. What is conception?
The Buddha said three things were necessary for conception to take place: for the mother to be in "season," the father's contribution, and the gandhabba (the being-to-be-born), which is not a soul (even if for all intents and purposes one may use that misleading shorthand) but the continuity of consciousness. Immediately at death one is reborn.And by "immediately" is meant utterly without intermission. One goes from this body to another (except in the extraordinarily rare instances of rebirth in the four realms of the Formless Sphere).
The many realms of the Fine-Material sphere and the Sensual Sphere all have bodies. Most of these bodies are subtle-form corporeal states, so fine as to be regarded as immortal or (relatively) discarnate, but they are nevertheless bodies.
There are intermediate (relatively temporary) existences between (relatively enduring) births but nevertheless such states are associated with a subtle body and a rebirth. Karma ripens at the death-proximate moment conditioning the subsequent birth. One may spend time as a "spirit" in a subtle body but that is living, that is continuation, that is immediate.
From there, as taught in the Bon-influenced Tibetan Buddhist tradition, one may spend 49 days in the Bardo before going on to be reborn elsewhere in another state. That is a birth. That is continuation of consciousness. That is immediate.
If depriving beings of life is harmful for oneself, for the other, and for both (for society at large), what is the solution. The "solution" is easy, so easy as to be regarded as glib, but it is the only reasonable solution: prevention.
To reiterate: Women have the right to choose what to do with their bodies; life begins at conception; abortion is best avoided.
Abortion is so serious a matter that if a Buddhist monastic were to speak in praise of it or recommend it outright, and a person were to follow through on that suggestion or recommendation, the monastic would be guilty of a defeat-act (parajika) tantamount to killing.
As a result s/he would immediately cease to be a monastic and could not re-ordain for the remainder of this existence. Human life is hard to come by and is no accident. What we choose will impact us, and we are ultimately responsible only for our choices. No one is in any position to condemn another.
And while everyone may understand why one makes the decision one makes, it is a matter of living with ourselves as heirs of our karma, and this is true regardless of our belief system. Prevention cannot be overemphasized. Or as was said to begin with -- it is unwise to voice an opinion on so controversial an issue.
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