Sacred Choices

Many have argued that the world's religions constitute the greatest obstacle to contraception and abortion, since most religions hold human life to be sacred. In Sacred Choices: The Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World Religions, ethics professor Daniel Maguire counters that ""although many people believe that contraception is forbidden by their religion... the world's religions are open to family planning, including contraception and also abortion as a backup when necessary."" He argues that many religions have selectively presented only the anti-contraception, anti-abortion threads of their tradition. However, he commits the same error by offering a highly selective reading of the same traditions in order to prove the opposite point.