So last night I was watching a Nightline story about Scientology escapees, and while most of their stories were disturbing, one infuriated me. Apparently women in Sea Organization, which is Scientology’s clergy, aren’t allowed to have children. Women who get pregnant either have to leave the church or have an abortion.
Forced abortion??? Are you kidding me???
One woman they interviewed said that when she told a “church” official she was leaving, he responded “Oh is it too late for an abortion?”
I’m so frustrated with this situation because cults like Scientology are so impenetrable that I can’t think of any way to stop this.
On a not wholly unrelated note, Scientology brings up an interesting point in the “contentious objection” debate: if it’s ok for Christian pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control and the morning after pill because of their religious beliefs, does that mean it’s ok for Scientologists not to fill prescriptions for psychiatric medications because of theirs? Just think about that one for me.
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Your post about Scientology is based on misinformation and blind prejudice and rumor.
Members of the sea organization, the branch that manages the church of scientology, cannot have children under a certain age, as they work very long hours.
When a Sea Organization staff member gets pregnant, they, like any other woman in the United States, would have the option of having an abortion or leaving the Sea Organization - but this is a personal choice.
They would not be expelled from Scientology for either choice.
In fact, I had a babysitter who left the Sea Organization when she became pregnant. She had her baby, they are an adorable family.
Another good friend of mine left the Sea Organization when she became pregnant - we worked at the same place, both of us 6 months pregnant, and we became good friends. Her baby used to play with mine.
Abortions are certainly not forced, and I know several Scientologists who are die-hard "right-to-lifers" as well as some who think abortion is a woman's personal choice.
I could see that some Scientologist somewhere might think that any unplanned pregnancy should be aborted. On the other end of the spectrum, I know a Scientologist who participates in pickets of abortion clinics with her right-to-life friends.
Opinions about abortion are not mandated in Scientology, although L. Ron Hubbard did discuss failed abortions in the book "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health."
In past years, abortions were not always successful. My husband has a good friend who was a product of a failed condom and a failed abortion - the baby was born with his mother's IUD wrapped in his fist, too. So I know it definitely happened. (Ask women in Russia - they've been doing back-alley types of abortions for years, and they definitely don't always work.)
As for "forced abortions" - those don't happen in the Church of scientology, and as far as I know, in every state in the US, measures are taken to ensure they don't occur in abortion clinics.
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