Ainda sobre o aborto

Confesso que já não tenho paciência para a maior parte das abordagens que se fazem acerca da "questão do aborto". Confesso que a maior parte delas me causam alguma repulsa. Confesso ainda que, desta vez - em parte ou essencialmente por há bastante tempo ter deixado de ver noticiários para ocupar o meu tempo com coisas (na minha opinião) mais proveitosas - , nem sequer estou MUITO por dentro do assunto e do que por aqui ou por acolá se diz.

Mas, se bem me lembro, havia um "sector" que utilizava a Bíblia como argumento contra o aborto. (Se eu estiver enganado perdoem-me - como disse, não estou nem quero estar muito por dentro do assunto. A politização excessiva do mesmo, tanto da direita maçadora como da esquerda aborrecida, esgotou-me o potencial de atenção pelo mesmo.) Deixo aqui um excerto de um livro que acho extremamente interessante (como aliás todos os "Oxford Companions", mas isso é outra história), e que tem um artigo que se refere directamente ao assunto em questão. Talvez já todos saibam isto; eu fiquei a sabê-lo depois de ler o artigo.

Abortion – Abortion as such is not discussed in the Bible, so any explanation of why it is not legislated or commented on is purely speculative. One possibility is that the cultural preoccupation with procreation evident in the Hebrew Bible ruled out considerations of terminating pregnancy. Archaeological evidence indicates that in ancient Israel the infant mortality rate was as high as fifty percent. It is also possible that, given the diet and living conditions at the time, female fertility was low. Male control of reproduction and a belief that numerous descendants are a sign of divine blessing are also found in the Bible. These factors support the view that abortion would not have been common.

Alternatively, it can be argued that abortion was practiced without censure. Many women died in childbirth, a strong incentive to avoid carrying childbirth to term. Biblical legislation, as in Leviticus 27.3-7, indicates that the lives of children as well as women were not valued as highly as those of adult men, while no value whatsoever was given to a child under the age of one month. There is no indication that a fetus had any status.

A key text for examining ancient Israelite attitudes is Exodus 21.22-25: “When people who are fighting injure a pregnant woman so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no further harm follows, the one responsible shall be fined what the woman’s husband demands, paying as much as the judges determine. If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” Several observations can be made about this passage. The Hebrew text at v. 22 literally reads “and there is no harm”, implying that contrary to current sensibilities, the miscarriage itself was not considered serious injury. The monetary judgement given to the woman’s husband indicates that the woman’s experience of the miscarriage is not of significance, and that the damage is considered one to property rather than to human life. This latter observation is further supported by the contrast with the penalties for harm to the woman herself.

Metzger, Bruce M. and Michael David Coogan (eds.), “The Oxford Companion to the Bible”, 1993