Religious or not, keep minds open on abortion

I was disappointed but not surprised to read in the Daily Herald that the Republicans are disagreeing with Gov. Rauner over the abortion bill he signed. Most people opposed to abortion do so for religious reasons, but I think they would be surprised to learn the Bible does not actually speak out against abortion. It doesn't even contain that word or describe that process.

So then it becomes more of a matter of deciding when a person is considered alive, or in religious terms, has a soul. I feel the Bible is pretty clear about this. It's not at conception. It's not when there is a heartbeat, or when the fetus can feel pain. It's when a person has breath.

Consider Genesis when God formed Adam from dust, then gave him breath and made him human. Consider when Jesus hung on the cross, gives up his spirit and "breathed his last." It's even clearer in Ezekiel 37, when Ezekiel raises an army from the dead - he calls the bones to rise up, assemble themselves, even puts flesh on the bones, but they are not alive until a wind comes and they are given breath.

The Hebrew word for breath and spirit are the same. That's why we say "God bless you" when we sneeze - centuries ago it was thought a sneeze could expel your soul. I'm not saying abortion is good or desirable, but legally and religiously, it is not murder. People need to approach this with an open mind, not blindly following some dogma handed down.

Rob Neff

Lake Zurich