Scientology and abortion
Encyclopedia
The intersection of Scientology and abortion has a controversial history which began with Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard
's discussion of abortion in his 1950 book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
. Hubbard wrote in Dianetics that abortion and attempts at abortion could cause trauma to the fetus and to the mother in both spiritual and physical ways. Scientologists came to believe that attempted abortions could cause traumatic experiences felt by the fetus, which would later be remembered as memories referred to in Scientology as "engrams
". In the Scientology technique called Auditing
, Scientologists are frequently queried regarding their sexual feelings and behaviors. These questions about Scientologists' sexual behavior are often posed to members during "security checks", a specific form of auditing sessions where individuals are required to document their divergence from the organization's ethics. One of the questions asked in these security checks is, "Have you ever been involved in an abortion?".
A female former member of Scientology's elite organization called the Sea Org
discussed the views of Scientology with regard to abortion with sociologist
Stephen A. Kent
. She told Kent that while the Sea Org operated at sea during the mid 1970s, women understood that they were not to have children. She stated to Kent that women on the ships were pressured into having abortions. In 1994, former Scientologist and Sea Org member Mary Tabayoyon filed a legal declaration in which she said that while at Scientology's base in Hemet, California
members of the Sea Org were instructed not to have children, and were coerced to have abortions. In 1999, former Scientologist Jesse Prince told The Press-Enterprise that after his wife Monika became pregnant while both were working at the Scientology complex Golden Era Productions
in Gilman Hot Springs, California
, she was ordered to have an abortion in order for the couple to remain in the Sea Org. Scientology representatives at the time asserted that Prince's wife chose of her own volition to have an abortion, and was not forced to do so.
In 2001, former Scientologist Astra Woodcraft told the San Francisco Chronicle
that if a woman gets pregnant while in the Sea Org, she will either be sent to a lower-level organization of Scientology, or be pressured to have an abortion. In April 2008, Woodcraft appeared along with Scientology leader David Miscavige
's niece Jenna Miscavige Hill
on the ABC News
program Nightline, and both asserted that Sea Org members who become pregnant are told to either leave or get an abortion. Claire Headley was an employee at Scientology's facility Golden Era Productions
from 1991 to 2005 and a Scientologist and Sea Org member. In 2009, she filed a lawsuit against Golden Era Productions in which she asserted she was forced to undergo two abortions in order to keep her position with her employer. Scientology representative Tommy Davis
described her lawsuit as "utterly meritless", and said that Scientologists who sign up for the Sea Org know that they are "becoming a part of a highly dedicated, highly disciplined, very regulated lifestyle as part of a religious order". Laura Ann DeCrescenzo filed a lawsuit in 2009 against Scientology, in which she asserted that she was forced to have an abortion at age 17.
In commentary on Scientology and practices in the Sea Org, new religions scholar J. Gordon Melton
told the San Francisco Chronicle
that members of the Sea Org are discouraged from having children. Melton wrote in a contribution in the book New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America that he had yet to see documents confirming whether Scientology had a policy demanding that pregnant members of the Sea Org get an abortion. In an article for the Marburg Journal of Religion
, sociologist
Stephen A. Kent
wrote that "researchers should not be surprised to learn of pressures that Sea Org women felt to either abort pregnancies or give-up children for adoption". Kent commented, "Sea Org obligations override many personal and family obligations and responsibilities, and devotion to the Scientology cause often appears to take priority over the needs of children."
wrote in Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
that abortion and attempts at abortion could cause trauma to the fetus and to the mother in both spiritual and physical ways. The St. Petersburg Times
reported on how Hubbard's views from Dianetics affect Scientology practitioners, "Abortion is therefore rare among Scientologists, recognizing that even the fetus may have already been occupied by a spiritual being. In some instances, abortion might be chosen of health concerns of the mother or other personal factors." Hubbard asserted, "It is a scientific fact that abortion attempts are the most important factor in aberration", and stated "Attempted abortion is very common. ... Twenty or thirty abortion attempts are not uncommon in the aberree." He believed that attempted abortions led to ulcer
s.
Hubbard wrote in Dianetics, "The child on whom the abortion is attempted is condemned to live with murderers whom he reactively knows to be murderers through all this weak and helpless youth!". He asserted:
In a 1950 article in Look magazine, Albert Q. Maisel wrote, "Unlike many religious groups, the proponents of dianetics have nothing against birth control. But the greatest of all crimes and the root of most evils, as they see it, is the attempt - or even just the verbal wish - to cause the abortion of a child already conceived. They object here, not so much on moral grounds, as because such attempts - or such wishes and thoughts - load down the time track with the basic-basic demon engram."
In his 1951 book Science of Survival
, Hubbard wrote that a mother who reached a status of 1.1 ("Covert hostility") on the "tone scale
" listed in the book would "attempt the abortion of her child", and that any woman who attempted an abortion would occupy this level or below. Such a woman, he wrote, "can be expected to be unreliable, inconstant and promiscuous; and the child is looked upon as evidence of this promiscuity."
According to The World's Religions: The Study of Religion, Traditional and New Religion, "early Dianetics enthusiasts believed that attempted abortion of the fetus by its mother caused "traumatic experiences in intra-uterine life". Stephen J. Hunt noted in Alternative Religions that Scientologists believe certain events in one's life may trigger a memory referred to in Scientology as an "engram". Hunt wrote, "The engram may be triggered by association of events and objects. Although the conscious mind will eventually forget an incident, the reactive mind stores every detail. According to Hubbard, some of the most powerful engrams are constructed while still in the womb. The unborn child hears the angry words of parents caught up in marital disputes or perhaps talk of abortion.
, Scientologists are frequently queried regarding their sexual feelings and behaviors. These questions about Scientologists' sexual behavior are often posed to members during "security checks", a specific form of auditing sessions where individuals are required to document their divergence from the organization's ethics. Scientologists on the spiritual pathway known as "The Bridge to Total Freedom
" are given security checks, and those of the level called Operating Thetan
receive these checks once every six months. Scientology officials explained that the security checks are given "to make sure they're using the tech correctly". Among the sexual questions asked in the Scientology security checks include, "Have you ever practiced sex with animals?", "Have you ever practiced sodomy?", "Have you ever slept with a member of a race of another color?", and "Have you ever been involved in an abortion?".
Stephen A. Kent
, a former member of Scientology's elite organization called the Sea Org
discussed the views of Scientology with regard to abortion in the 1970s. During the mid 1970s, the Sea Org operated on vessels at sea. Women understood that it was not permitted to raise children on board the ships. According to woman interviewed by Kent, these women on board the Sea Org ships were pressured to undergo abortions. "On the ship, I know of a lot of people that [sic: who] had abortions, because they didn't want to leave the ship. It wasn't like anybody said 'You have got to get an abortion.' It was more an implied thing. If you don't you're going to leave," said the woman to Kent.
According to Brian Kelly, editor in chief
of From the Housestops journal, Sea Org members were shown unpublished writings by L. Ron Hubbard in order to assure them that having an abortion was not against Scientology practices. "To convince members that its OK to have an abortion, when the organization was supposedly anti-abortion, pregnant Sea Orgers were shown unpublished writings of Hubbard where he taught that babies didn’t receive their own spirit until birth," wrote Kelly.
Mary Tabayoyon joined Scientology in 1967 and became a member of the Sea Org in 1971, later leaving Scientology in 1992. Tabayoyon filed a legal declaration on August 26, 1994 in the case Church of Scientology International vs. Steven Fishman and Uwe Geertz, describing Scientology's practices on having children in the Sea Org. Tabayoyon wrote that a Sea Org order issued September 26, 1986 stated that having children while in the elite division of Scientology was forbidden. She said that while at Scientology's base in Hemet, California
, "members of the Sea Org were forbidden to have any more children if they were to stay on post[,] and the Hubbard technology was applied to coercively persuade us to have abortions so that we could remain on post". According to Tabayoyon this pressure was exerted during a Scientology procedure known as "ethics handling", where individuals were instructed to go along with L. Ron Hubbard's policies as well as those of Scientology. Tabayoyon said "[I] gave up my child due to my greatly misguided obligation and dedication to the Sea Org". She stated she made the decision to give up her child because she was "indoctrinated to believe that I should never put my own personal desires ahead of the accomplishment of the purpose of the Sea Org".
In 1999, former Scientologist Jesse Prince told The Press-Enterprise that after his wife Monika became pregnant while both were working at the Scientology complex Golden Era Productions
in Gilman Hot Springs, California
, she was ordered to have an abortion in order for the couple to remain in the Sea Org. "The order devastated both my wife and me. Our dedication as Sea Org members clashed violently with our intentions as parents and we went through a personal nightmare," said Prince in an affidavit
filed in a legal case in Colorado
. Scientology representatives at the time asserted that Prince's wife chose of her own volition to have an abortion, and was not forced to do so. Prince said that his wife was never the same after her abortion, and decided she wanted to leave Scientology. The couple left Scientology in 1992. Golden Era Productions general manager Ken Hoden told The Press-Enterprise that per Scientology policy, employees are not allowed to work at the Gilman Hot Springs facility if they have children under six years of age because the difficult work schedule would not permit the parents to spend sufficient time with their children. "We don't think it's right for parents to spend time away from their kids. Every person that says they have been coerced are saying it for another reason. Nobody is coerced into doing anything in the Church of Scientology. The purpose of Scientology is to increase a person's self-determinism," said Hoden. The director of public affairs for the Church of Scientology International, Aron Mason, said Prince's statements were motivated by financial reasons, and stated to The Press-Enterprise, "He is only existing because he gets paid to say the party line for people who are anti-Scientologists."
Betty Hardin, a former worker in the finance department at Golden Era Productions, has described routinely driving pregnant women to the Planned Parenthood
center in Riverside, California
to obtain abortions and follow-up treatment. According to Hardin, she eventually got out of being the driver for the "abortion run" because the anti-abortion activists who often picketed the Planned Parenthood center saw her so often that they came to recognize her.
Tera Hathaway filed an affidavit in 2001 which stated, "[The Executive Director] had gone on to say that at this point in my life it is better to do the greatest good for all. That spending my life ‘clearing the planet’ which means basically to get the planet saved from insanity, would be the greatest good, in other words, a far more noble endeavor than leaving staff to raise a child. She went on to tell me that the spirit doesn't enter the baby's body until the baby is born. She made the point that all I would be ‘killing’ is a piece of meat essentially. We discussed this for a couple of days and she showed me definitions in the L. Ron Hubbard Technical Dictionary to persuade me to have an abortion."
In 2001, former Scientologist Astra Woodcraft told the San Francisco Chronicle
that she decided to attempt to get pregnant because she thought this would help her get out of Scientology, due to its practices with regard to abortion. "If you get pregnant, they'll send you to one of their smaller, lower-level organizations. In reality, you're very heavily pressured to get an abortion , but I figured it was my only way to get out," said Woodcraft. A bio page on a website Woodcraft created in 2008 said she "left Scientology for good when the church tried to pressure her to have an abortion". Scientology leaders told the San Francisco Chronicle that the organization does not have a policy on abortion, but instead leaves the decision up to the individual.
In 2003, The Times of India
reported that "Forced abortions, beatings, starvation are considered tools of discipline in this church." In 2005, a former high-ranking member of the Sea Org told the New York Post
, "It is estimated that there have been some 1,500 abortions carried out by women in the Sea Organization since the implementation of a rule in the late '80s that members could not remain in the organization if they decided to have children. And if members who have been in the Sea Organization for, say, 10 years do decide to have kids, they are dismissed with no more than $1,000" as a severance package
. Former Scientologist and Sea Org member Karen Pressley recounted to Andrew Morton
in the 2008 book Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography
that she was often asked by fellow Scientologists for loans so that they could get an abortion and remain in the Sea Org. "I had a real problem because I don't believe in abortion," said Pressley. Morton wrote that "Scientology officials reject as 'simply false' the assertion that Sea Org women are encouraged, as a matter of policy, to have abortions."
In April 2008, Astra Woodcraft appeared on the ABC News
program Nightline along with Jenna Miscavige Hill
, the niece of Scientology leader David Miscavige
. Astra Woodcraft said that when she was about 17 years old, Scientology came up with a policy that Sea Org members could not have children. "If you get pregnant when you're in the Sea Org, you either have to leave or you get an abortion. I know people who have gotten like up to four abortions," said Hill. Astra's father Lawrence Woodcraft told Nightline, "She was very upset when she was about 16 or 17 and told me they suddenly decided to change the rules and Sea Org members were no longer allowed to have children." Two years later, Astra became pregnant, and she said that she was asked about this by a high-ranking member of the Sea Org, "A very high-level Sea Org member one day saw me and asked me what I was doing and I said I was leaving and I said I was pregnant and he said, 'Oh, is it too late for an abortion?' I didn't even know what to say in response."
Former Scientologist and actor Jason Beghe
and former Scientologist and Sea Org member Marc Headley commented on issues of Scientology and abortion in September 2008 at a conference in Hamburg, Germany sponsored by Germany’s Department of Interior Affairs. "It is against the codes of Sea Org to have children. If a female staff member for some reason was married, and got pregnant, then she's basically forced or convinced to have an abortion. If she refuses to have an abortion, then she will be offloaded from the Sea Organization and in most cases, declared; and she will not be able to speak to any of her family or friends that are Scientologists," said Headley.
In 2009, husband and wife Marc and Claire Headley filed lawsuits against Scientology's Golden Era Productions, asserting the organization participated in human trafficking
and violated United States labor law
on the state and federal level. Claire Headley was an employee at Golden Era Productions from 1991 to 2005, and stated in the lawsuit that she worked "long, hard hours for illegal wages, was forced to have (two) abortions to keep her job and was subjected to violations of personal rights and liberties for the purpose of obtaining forced labor." Scientology representative Tommy Davis
described the Headleys' lawsuits as "utterly meritless" in a statement to The Press-Enterprise. Davis said that "As members of the religious order called the Sea Organization, we have dedicated our lives to the service of the Scientology religion." He told The Press-Enterprise, "Here's the thing that's so disingenuous about (the lawsuits). When you join the Sea Organization, you know you are voluntarily signing up and becoming a part of a highly dedicated, highly disciplined, very regulated lifestyle as part of a religious order. It's tough. It's not meant to be easy."
Laura Ann DeCrescenzo filed a lawsuit in 2009 against Scientology, in which she asserted the organization had engaged in "human trafficking, obstructing justice, employment violations, discrimination and violation of privacy". "There are two very different versions of Scientology. There is the Scientology as presented to the outside world and there is a different Scientology in which plaintiff lived and worked for approximately 13 years. In the Scientology world plaintiff experienced, 12-year-old children are taken from their homes, asked to sign employment contracts and put to work. Pregnant women are coerced to have abortions," wrote DeCrescenzo in her complaint. She asserted in the complaint that while in Scientology she was "coerced to have an abortion". The complaint stated, "At age 12, plaintiff signed her first 'Contract of Employment.' She left school, home and family to work for the Church of Scientology International. This required that plaintiff move to another state. She was married to a co-worker at age 16, became pregnant while still a minor and was coerced by CSI to have an abortion at age 17."
In March 2009, investigative journalist
Nathan Baca of KESQ-TV
interviewed former Scientologist Maureen Bolstad. Bolstad said that women who worked at Scientology's headquarters were forced to have abortions, or faced being declared a "Suppressive Person
" by the organization's management. Bolstand told Baca, "If a woman gets pregnant, and does not abort the child, then they are declared a suppressive person. Because, it kind of started out gradually. At first, the thing was, the Church of Scientology International did not want to pay for child care." L. Ron Hubbard stated those declared suppressive persons, "cannot be granted the rights ordinarily accorded rational beings". As part of their protest movement against Scientology, in June 2009 the group Anonymous
released a statement highlighting what it referred to as "abuses in the Sea Org", including "Child labor, coerced abortions, harsh working conditions, human trafficking, cruel punishment, disconnection of families", and asserted a "Cadet Org" for children within the Sea Org "was disbanded as unnecessary when abortions were made mandatory for Sea Org women."
Australia
n politician Nick Xenophon
, an independent
member of the Australian Senate
, gave a speech to the Australian Parliament in November 2009, about statements he had received from former Scientologists. He said that he had been told members of the organization had coerced pregnant female employees to have abortions. "I am deeply concerned about this organisation and the devastating impact it can have on its followers," said Senator Xenophon, and he requested that the Australian Senate begin an investigation into Scientology. According to the letters presented by Senator Xenophon, the organization was involved in "ordering" its members to have abortions. Former Scientologist Aaron Saxton
sent a letter to Senator Xenophon stating he had participated in coercing pregnant women within the organization to have abortions. "Aaron says women who fell pregnant were taken to offices and bullied to have an abortion. If they refused, they faced demotion and hard labour. Aaron says one staff member used a coat hanger and self-aborted her child for fear of punishment," said Senator Xenophon. Carmel Underwood, another former Scientologist, said she had been put under "extreme pressure" to have an abortion, and that she was placed into a "disappearing programme", after refusing. Underwood was the executive director of Scientology's branch in Sydney, Australia.
Former Scientologists Anna and Dean Detheridge of Sydney had been Scientology staffers for 17 years, and according to Senator Xenophon they had been "subjected to physical and mental abuse during their time with the organisation". The Senator said that, "Anna and Dean also provided evidence where information they and others have revealed to the church have been used to blackmail and control. They also provided more information about coerced abortions." Mike Ferriss, the head of Scientology in New Zealand
, denied the claims of forced abortions, saying to 3 News "There are no forced abortions in Scientology and if Aaron Saxton or anyone else coerced someone into having an abortion then they are way outside of the Church's policy and ethical conduct. We respect human life and the rights of mother's and families in such matters. The Church does not intervene." In March 2010, former Scientologist Janette Lang stated that at age 20 she became pregnant by her boyfriend while in the organization, and her boyfriend's Scientology supervisors "coerced them into terminating the pregnancy". "We fought for a week, I was devastated, I felt abused, I was lost and eventually I gave in. It was my baby, my body and my choice, and all of that was taken away from me by Scientology," said Lang. Lang explained why she chose this time to come forward, "I'm speaking out today because the time has come for victims of Scientology to be heard." Scientology spokesperson Virginia Stewart rejected the statements made by Janette Lang, and asserted, "The Church of Scientology considers the family unit and children to be of the utmost importance and does not condone nor force anyone to undertake any medical procedure whatsoever."
, author Jon Atack commented, "A rather peculiar aspect of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health was Hubbard's emphasis on 'attempted abortions.'" Atack pointed out that Hubbard thought attempted abortions caused ulcers, and noted, "He had been suffering from a duodenal ulcer since 1943. Author George Malko wrote in Scientology: The Now Religion
that "Hubbard's extensive discussion of things sexual, his concern with abortions, beatings, coitus under duress, flatulence which causes pressure on the foetus, certain cloacal references, all suggest to me a fascination which borders on the obsessive, as if he possessed a deep-seated hatred of women. All of them are being beaten, most of them prove to be unfaithful, few babies are wanted." Hubbard's interest in abortions was criticized in the 1965 Anderson Report
as "a morbid preoccupation with matters relating to abnormal behaviour of women" and "a prurient and distinctly unhealthy attachment to abortions, rape, perversion, and similar matters."
New religions scholar J. Gordon Melton
told the San Francisco Chronicle that Scientology discourages members of the Sea Org from having children. "They don't look at children as a resource, but as a problem. Children take people off-line, so they discourage members of the Sea Org from having children," said Melton. In the book New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America, Melton contributed a chapter, "A Contemporary Ordered Religious Community: The Sea Organization". In the piece, Melton commented on statements he had seen about Scientology and abortion in "anti-Scientology literature". Melton wrote, "It has been asserted in some anti-Scientology literature that the Church had, at least for a time period, demanded that any female Sea Org members who became pregnant obtain an abortion. I have been unable to find any verification of that allegation." Melton went on to assert, "Given the nature of the church, were this ever to have become a policy of the Sea Org, there would have undoutedly been a paper trail of documents which, if they existed, have never been produced."
In an article in the Marburg Journal of Religion
, Stephen A. Kent discussed Scientology and abortion, writing "Because the attitude among some Sea Org leadership appears to be that children hinder adults from performing their vital assignments, researchers should not be surprised to learn of pressures that Sea Org women felt to either abort pregnancies or give-up children for adoption." He commented, "Taken together, the interviews, legal declarations, media accounts, and internal documents present troubling glimpses into the lives of Scientology's most committed members. Sea Org obligations override many personal and family obligations and responsibilities, and devotion to the Scientology cause often appears to take priority over the needs of children."
In a 1998 speech, attorney and Scientology critic Graham E. Berry commented on Mary Tabayoyan's affidavit about Scientology and abortion, "Mary Tabayoyan has testified as to how she and other Scientologists were ordered to have abortions; and I have argued before a court that that constitutes instructions to commit murder. At the very least, it denies a woman freedom of choice with regard to abortion. And why does Scientology do this? Because children require "Family Time" and "Family Time" interferes with production; the production of things that produce money." In a May 2009 speech before the cult monitoring organization FECRIS
, Berry cited "forced abortions" among what he referred to as "Scientology’s many secular abuses and crimes". In a 2009 article in Catholic Online, associate editor and former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, Randy Sly, pointed out what he saw as a contradiction between Scientology's stated pro-life
stance on abortion, with its reported practices. "Those who were pregnant were counseled to seek abortions, even though Scientology publicly affirmed a pro-life position," wrote Sly.
L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
's discussion of abortion in his 1950 book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health is a book by L. Ron Hubbard which sets out self-improvement techniques he developed, called Dianetics. The book is also one of the canonical texts of Scientology. It is colloquially referred to as Book One...
. Hubbard wrote in Dianetics that abortion and attempts at abortion could cause trauma to the fetus and to the mother in both spiritual and physical ways. Scientologists came to believe that attempted abortions could cause traumatic experiences felt by the fetus, which would later be remembered as memories referred to in Scientology as "engrams
Engram (Dianetics)
In Dianetics and Scientology, an engram is defined as "a mental image picture which is a recording of an experience containing pain, unconsciousness and a real or fancied threat to survival. It is a recording in the reactive mind of something which actually happened to an individual in the past and...
". In the Scientology technique called Auditing
Auditing (Scientology)
Auditing was developed by L. Ron Hubbard, and is described by the Church of Scientology as "spiritual counseling which is the central practice of Dianetics and Scientology".-Description:...
, Scientologists are frequently queried regarding their sexual feelings and behaviors. These questions about Scientologists' sexual behavior are often posed to members during "security checks", a specific form of auditing sessions where individuals are required to document their divergence from the organization's ethics. One of the questions asked in these security checks is, "Have you ever been involved in an abortion?".
A female former member of Scientology's elite organization called the Sea Org
Sea Org
The Sea Organization or Sea Org is an association of Scientologists established in 1968 by L. Ron Hubbard, the science fiction writer and founder of Scientology. Its members are found in the central management organizations of the Church of Scientology as well as in individual churches...
discussed the views of Scientology with regard to abortion with sociologist
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
Stephen A. Kent
Stephen A. Kent
Stephen A. Kent, is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He researches new and alternative religions, and has published research on several such groups including the Children of God , the Church of Scientology, and newer faiths...
. She told Kent that while the Sea Org operated at sea during the mid 1970s, women understood that they were not to have children. She stated to Kent that women on the ships were pressured into having abortions. In 1994, former Scientologist and Sea Org member Mary Tabayoyon filed a legal declaration in which she said that while at Scientology's base in Hemet, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
members of the Sea Org were instructed not to have children, and were coerced to have abortions. In 1999, former Scientologist Jesse Prince told The Press-Enterprise that after his wife Monika became pregnant while both were working at the Scientology complex Golden Era Productions
Golden Era Productions
Golden Era Productions is an organization operated by the Church of Scientology that produces promotional material for the Church's membership, as well as many of the restored lectures, E-meters, training films and other materials related to the works of church founder L...
in Gilman Hot Springs, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, she was ordered to have an abortion in order for the couple to remain in the Sea Org. Scientology representatives at the time asserted that Prince's wife chose of her own volition to have an abortion, and was not forced to do so.
In 2001, former Scientologist Astra Woodcraft told the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
that if a woman gets pregnant while in the Sea Org, she will either be sent to a lower-level organization of Scientology, or be pressured to have an abortion. In April 2008, Woodcraft appeared along with Scientology leader David Miscavige
David Miscavige
David Miscavige is the leader of the Church of Scientology and affiliated organizations. His title is Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center , a corporation that controls the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. Miscavige was an assistant to Hubbard while a...
's niece Jenna Miscavige Hill
Jenna Miscavige Hill
Jenna Miscavige Hill is a former Scientologist who, after leaving the Church of Scientology in 2005, has become one of its most prominent critics. She is the daughter of Ron Miscavige, Jr. and the niece of current church leader David Miscavige....
on the ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
program Nightline, and both asserted that Sea Org members who become pregnant are told to either leave or get an abortion. Claire Headley was an employee at Scientology's facility Golden Era Productions
Golden Era Productions
Golden Era Productions is an organization operated by the Church of Scientology that produces promotional material for the Church's membership, as well as many of the restored lectures, E-meters, training films and other materials related to the works of church founder L...
from 1991 to 2005 and a Scientologist and Sea Org member. In 2009, she filed a lawsuit against Golden Era Productions in which she asserted she was forced to undergo two abortions in order to keep her position with her employer. Scientology representative Tommy Davis
Thomas W. Davis
Thomas W. "Tommy" Davis is the head of the Church of Scientology's Celebrity Centre International in Los Angeles, California.-Celebrity Centre:...
described her lawsuit as "utterly meritless", and said that Scientologists who sign up for the Sea Org know that they are "becoming a part of a highly dedicated, highly disciplined, very regulated lifestyle as part of a religious order". Laura Ann DeCrescenzo filed a lawsuit in 2009 against Scientology, in which she asserted that she was forced to have an abortion at age 17.
In commentary on Scientology and practices in the Sea Org, new religions scholar J. Gordon Melton
J. Gordon Melton
John Gordon Melton is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently a research specialist in religion and New Religious Movements with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara...
told the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
that members of the Sea Org are discouraged from having children. Melton wrote in a contribution in the book New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America that he had yet to see documents confirming whether Scientology had a policy demanding that pregnant members of the Sea Org get an abortion. In an article for the Marburg Journal of Religion
Marburg Journal of Religion
The Marburg Journal of Religion is a peer-reviewed online academic journal that publishes articles on empirical and theoretical studies of religion. It is believed to be the oldest internet journal devoted to the study of religions, the first issue having appeared in April 1996...
, sociologist
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
Stephen A. Kent
Stephen A. Kent
Stephen A. Kent, is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He researches new and alternative religions, and has published research on several such groups including the Children of God , the Church of Scientology, and newer faiths...
wrote that "researchers should not be surprised to learn of pressures that Sea Org women felt to either abort pregnancies or give-up children for adoption". Kent commented, "Sea Org obligations override many personal and family obligations and responsibilities, and devotion to the Scientology cause often appears to take priority over the needs of children."
L. Ron Hubbard's views
Scientology founder L. Ron HubbardL. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard , better known as L. Ron Hubbard , was an American pulp fiction author and religious leader who founded the Church of Scientology...
wrote in Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health is a book by L. Ron Hubbard which sets out self-improvement techniques he developed, called Dianetics. The book is also one of the canonical texts of Scientology. It is colloquially referred to as Book One...
that abortion and attempts at abortion could cause trauma to the fetus and to the mother in both spiritual and physical ways. The St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg Times
The St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
reported on how Hubbard's views from Dianetics affect Scientology practitioners, "Abortion is therefore rare among Scientologists, recognizing that even the fetus may have already been occupied by a spiritual being. In some instances, abortion might be chosen of health concerns of the mother or other personal factors." Hubbard asserted, "It is a scientific fact that abortion attempts are the most important factor in aberration", and stated "Attempted abortion is very common. ... Twenty or thirty abortion attempts are not uncommon in the aberree." He believed that attempted abortions led to ulcer
Peptic ulcer
A peptic ulcer, also known as PUD or peptic ulcer disease, is the most common ulcer of an area of the gastrointestinal tract that is usually acidic and thus extremely painful. It is defined as mucosal erosions equal to or greater than 0.5 cm...
s.
Hubbard wrote in Dianetics, "The child on whom the abortion is attempted is condemned to live with murderers whom he reactively knows to be murderers through all this weak and helpless youth!". He asserted:
In a 1950 article in Look magazine, Albert Q. Maisel wrote, "Unlike many religious groups, the proponents of dianetics have nothing against birth control. But the greatest of all crimes and the root of most evils, as they see it, is the attempt - or even just the verbal wish - to cause the abortion of a child already conceived. They object here, not so much on moral grounds, as because such attempts - or such wishes and thoughts - load down the time track with the basic-basic demon engram."
In his 1951 book Science of Survival
Science of Survival
Science of Survival is a book published in 1951 by L. Ron Hubbard, extending his earlier writings on Dianetics. Its original subtitle was "simplified, faster dianetic techniques", although more recent editions have the subtitle "Prediction of human behavior"...
, Hubbard wrote that a mother who reached a status of 1.1 ("Covert hostility") on the "tone scale
Tone scale
In Scientology, the tone scale or emotional tone scale is a characterization of human behavior. It is based on the idea that some people appear to be more lively and alive than other people. Author L. Ron Hubbard spelled the idea out saying, "just draw a horizontal line on the page...
" listed in the book would "attempt the abortion of her child", and that any woman who attempted an abortion would occupy this level or below. Such a woman, he wrote, "can be expected to be unreliable, inconstant and promiscuous; and the child is looked upon as evidence of this promiscuity."
According to The World's Religions: The Study of Religion, Traditional and New Religion, "early Dianetics enthusiasts believed that attempted abortion of the fetus by its mother caused "traumatic experiences in intra-uterine life". Stephen J. Hunt noted in Alternative Religions that Scientologists believe certain events in one's life may trigger a memory referred to in Scientology as an "engram". Hunt wrote, "The engram may be triggered by association of events and objects. Although the conscious mind will eventually forget an incident, the reactive mind stores every detail. According to Hubbard, some of the most powerful engrams are constructed while still in the womb. The unborn child hears the angry words of parents caught up in marital disputes or perhaps talk of abortion.
Auditing
In the Scientology technique called AuditingAuditing (Scientology)
Auditing was developed by L. Ron Hubbard, and is described by the Church of Scientology as "spiritual counseling which is the central practice of Dianetics and Scientology".-Description:...
, Scientologists are frequently queried regarding their sexual feelings and behaviors. These questions about Scientologists' sexual behavior are often posed to members during "security checks", a specific form of auditing sessions where individuals are required to document their divergence from the organization's ethics. Scientologists on the spiritual pathway known as "The Bridge to Total Freedom
The Bridge to Total Freedom
According to sources, a Scientologist moves up The Bridge to Total Freedom, or simply "The Bridge", to a state of Clear when they have freed themselves from their "reactive mind". Purportedly , this takes place beyond training sessions in Church of Scientology auditing, and is said to be a lifetime...
" are given security checks, and those of the level called Operating Thetan
Operating Thetan
In Scientology, the state of Operating Thetan is a spiritual state above Clear. L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, defined it as "knowing and willing cause over life, thought, matter, energy, space and time ". According to religious scholar J...
receive these checks once every six months. Scientology officials explained that the security checks are given "to make sure they're using the tech correctly". Among the sexual questions asked in the Scientology security checks include, "Have you ever practiced sex with animals?", "Have you ever practiced sodomy?", "Have you ever slept with a member of a race of another color?", and "Have you ever been involved in an abortion?".
Sea Org
In a 1987 interview with sociologistSociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
Stephen A. Kent
Stephen A. Kent
Stephen A. Kent, is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He researches new and alternative religions, and has published research on several such groups including the Children of God , the Church of Scientology, and newer faiths...
, a former member of Scientology's elite organization called the Sea Org
Sea Org
The Sea Organization or Sea Org is an association of Scientologists established in 1968 by L. Ron Hubbard, the science fiction writer and founder of Scientology. Its members are found in the central management organizations of the Church of Scientology as well as in individual churches...
discussed the views of Scientology with regard to abortion in the 1970s. During the mid 1970s, the Sea Org operated on vessels at sea. Women understood that it was not permitted to raise children on board the ships. According to woman interviewed by Kent, these women on board the Sea Org ships were pressured to undergo abortions. "On the ship, I know of a lot of people that [sic: who] had abortions, because they didn't want to leave the ship. It wasn't like anybody said 'You have got to get an abortion.' It was more an implied thing. If you don't you're going to leave," said the woman to Kent.
According to Brian Kelly, editor in chief
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
of From the Housestops journal, Sea Org members were shown unpublished writings by L. Ron Hubbard in order to assure them that having an abortion was not against Scientology practices. "To convince members that its OK to have an abortion, when the organization was supposedly anti-abortion, pregnant Sea Orgers were shown unpublished writings of Hubbard where he taught that babies didn’t receive their own spirit until birth," wrote Kelly.
Mary Tabayoyon joined Scientology in 1967 and became a member of the Sea Org in 1971, later leaving Scientology in 1992. Tabayoyon filed a legal declaration on August 26, 1994 in the case Church of Scientology International vs. Steven Fishman and Uwe Geertz, describing Scientology's practices on having children in the Sea Org. Tabayoyon wrote that a Sea Org order issued September 26, 1986 stated that having children while in the elite division of Scientology was forbidden. She said that while at Scientology's base in Hemet, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, "members of the Sea Org were forbidden to have any more children if they were to stay on post[,] and the Hubbard technology was applied to coercively persuade us to have abortions so that we could remain on post". According to Tabayoyon this pressure was exerted during a Scientology procedure known as "ethics handling", where individuals were instructed to go along with L. Ron Hubbard's policies as well as those of Scientology. Tabayoyon said "[I] gave up my child due to my greatly misguided obligation and dedication to the Sea Org". She stated she made the decision to give up her child because she was "indoctrinated to believe that I should never put my own personal desires ahead of the accomplishment of the purpose of the Sea Org".
In 1999, former Scientologist Jesse Prince told The Press-Enterprise that after his wife Monika became pregnant while both were working at the Scientology complex Golden Era Productions
Golden Era Productions
Golden Era Productions is an organization operated by the Church of Scientology that produces promotional material for the Church's membership, as well as many of the restored lectures, E-meters, training films and other materials related to the works of church founder L...
in Gilman Hot Springs, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, she was ordered to have an abortion in order for the couple to remain in the Sea Org. "The order devastated both my wife and me. Our dedication as Sea Org members clashed violently with our intentions as parents and we went through a personal nightmare," said Prince in an affidavit
Affidavit
An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...
filed in a legal case in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. Scientology representatives at the time asserted that Prince's wife chose of her own volition to have an abortion, and was not forced to do so. Prince said that his wife was never the same after her abortion, and decided she wanted to leave Scientology. The couple left Scientology in 1992. Golden Era Productions general manager Ken Hoden told The Press-Enterprise that per Scientology policy, employees are not allowed to work at the Gilman Hot Springs facility if they have children under six years of age because the difficult work schedule would not permit the parents to spend sufficient time with their children. "We don't think it's right for parents to spend time away from their kids. Every person that says they have been coerced are saying it for another reason. Nobody is coerced into doing anything in the Church of Scientology. The purpose of Scientology is to increase a person's self-determinism," said Hoden. The director of public affairs for the Church of Scientology International, Aron Mason, said Prince's statements were motivated by financial reasons, and stated to The Press-Enterprise, "He is only existing because he gets paid to say the party line for people who are anti-Scientologists."
Betty Hardin, a former worker in the finance department at Golden Era Productions, has described routinely driving pregnant women to the Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...
center in Riverside, California
Riverside, California
Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...
to obtain abortions and follow-up treatment. According to Hardin, she eventually got out of being the driver for the "abortion run" because the anti-abortion activists who often picketed the Planned Parenthood center saw her so often that they came to recognize her.
Tera Hathaway filed an affidavit in 2001 which stated, "[The Executive Director] had gone on to say that at this point in my life it is better to do the greatest good for all. That spending my life ‘clearing the planet’ which means basically to get the planet saved from insanity, would be the greatest good, in other words, a far more noble endeavor than leaving staff to raise a child. She went on to tell me that the spirit doesn't enter the baby's body until the baby is born. She made the point that all I would be ‘killing’ is a piece of meat essentially. We discussed this for a couple of days and she showed me definitions in the L. Ron Hubbard Technical Dictionary to persuade me to have an abortion."
In 2001, former Scientologist Astra Woodcraft told the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
that she decided to attempt to get pregnant because she thought this would help her get out of Scientology, due to its practices with regard to abortion. "If you get pregnant, they'll send you to one of their smaller, lower-level organizations. In reality, you're very heavily pressured to get an abortion , but I figured it was my only way to get out," said Woodcraft. A bio page on a website Woodcraft created in 2008 said she "left Scientology for good when the church tried to pressure her to have an abortion". Scientology leaders told the San Francisco Chronicle that the organization does not have a policy on abortion, but instead leaves the decision up to the individual.
In 2003, The Times of India
The Times of India
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
reported that "Forced abortions, beatings, starvation are considered tools of discipline in this church." In 2005, a former high-ranking member of the Sea Org told the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, "It is estimated that there have been some 1,500 abortions carried out by women in the Sea Organization since the implementation of a rule in the late '80s that members could not remain in the organization if they decided to have children. And if members who have been in the Sea Organization for, say, 10 years do decide to have kids, they are dismissed with no more than $1,000" as a severance package
Severance package
A severance package is pay and benefits an employee receives when they leave employment at a company. In addition to the employee's remaining regular pay, it may include some of the following:* An additional payment based on months of service...
. Former Scientologist and Sea Org member Karen Pressley recounted to Andrew Morton
Andrew Morton (writer)
Andrew David Morton is a former British Fleet Street journalist, a notable writer and biographer.Before moving into a career in journalism, he attended grammar school, then studied history at the University of Sussex....
in the 2008 book Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography
Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography
Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography is a biography of actor Tom Cruise, written by Andrew Morton. The book was published in the United States in hardcover format on January 15, 2008 by St. Martin's Press, with a first printing of 400,000 copies, and an audio format on five CDs by Macmillan Audio...
that she was often asked by fellow Scientologists for loans so that they could get an abortion and remain in the Sea Org. "I had a real problem because I don't believe in abortion," said Pressley. Morton wrote that "Scientology officials reject as 'simply false' the assertion that Sea Org women are encouraged, as a matter of policy, to have abortions."
In April 2008, Astra Woodcraft appeared on the ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
program Nightline along with Jenna Miscavige Hill
Jenna Miscavige Hill
Jenna Miscavige Hill is a former Scientologist who, after leaving the Church of Scientology in 2005, has become one of its most prominent critics. She is the daughter of Ron Miscavige, Jr. and the niece of current church leader David Miscavige....
, the niece of Scientology leader David Miscavige
David Miscavige
David Miscavige is the leader of the Church of Scientology and affiliated organizations. His title is Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center , a corporation that controls the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. Miscavige was an assistant to Hubbard while a...
. Astra Woodcraft said that when she was about 17 years old, Scientology came up with a policy that Sea Org members could not have children. "If you get pregnant when you're in the Sea Org, you either have to leave or you get an abortion. I know people who have gotten like up to four abortions," said Hill. Astra's father Lawrence Woodcraft told Nightline, "She was very upset when she was about 16 or 17 and told me they suddenly decided to change the rules and Sea Org members were no longer allowed to have children." Two years later, Astra became pregnant, and she said that she was asked about this by a high-ranking member of the Sea Org, "A very high-level Sea Org member one day saw me and asked me what I was doing and I said I was leaving and I said I was pregnant and he said, 'Oh, is it too late for an abortion?' I didn't even know what to say in response."
Former Scientologist and actor Jason Beghe
Jason Beghe
Jason Beghe is an American film and television actor and critic of Scientology. As a young man he attended the Collegiate School in New York City, where he became best friends with John F. Kennedy, Jr. and David Duchovny. Beghe is married and lives in Los Angeles, California.Beghe starred in the...
and former Scientologist and Sea Org member Marc Headley commented on issues of Scientology and abortion in September 2008 at a conference in Hamburg, Germany sponsored by Germany’s Department of Interior Affairs. "It is against the codes of Sea Org to have children. If a female staff member for some reason was married, and got pregnant, then she's basically forced or convinced to have an abortion. If she refuses to have an abortion, then she will be offloaded from the Sea Organization and in most cases, declared; and she will not be able to speak to any of her family or friends that are Scientologists," said Headley.
In 2009, husband and wife Marc and Claire Headley filed lawsuits against Scientology's Golden Era Productions, asserting the organization participated in human trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
and violated United States labor law
United States labor law
United States labor law is a heterogeneous collection of state and federal laws. Federal law not only sets the standards that govern workers' rights to organize in the private sector, but also overrides most state and local laws that attempt to regulate this area. Federal law also provides more...
on the state and federal level. Claire Headley was an employee at Golden Era Productions from 1991 to 2005, and stated in the lawsuit that she worked "long, hard hours for illegal wages, was forced to have (two) abortions to keep her job and was subjected to violations of personal rights and liberties for the purpose of obtaining forced labor." Scientology representative Tommy Davis
Thomas W. Davis
Thomas W. "Tommy" Davis is the head of the Church of Scientology's Celebrity Centre International in Los Angeles, California.-Celebrity Centre:...
described the Headleys' lawsuits as "utterly meritless" in a statement to The Press-Enterprise. Davis said that "As members of the religious order called the Sea Organization, we have dedicated our lives to the service of the Scientology religion." He told The Press-Enterprise, "Here's the thing that's so disingenuous about (the lawsuits). When you join the Sea Organization, you know you are voluntarily signing up and becoming a part of a highly dedicated, highly disciplined, very regulated lifestyle as part of a religious order. It's tough. It's not meant to be easy."
Laura Ann DeCrescenzo filed a lawsuit in 2009 against Scientology, in which she asserted the organization had engaged in "human trafficking, obstructing justice, employment violations, discrimination and violation of privacy". "There are two very different versions of Scientology. There is the Scientology as presented to the outside world and there is a different Scientology in which plaintiff lived and worked for approximately 13 years. In the Scientology world plaintiff experienced, 12-year-old children are taken from their homes, asked to sign employment contracts and put to work. Pregnant women are coerced to have abortions," wrote DeCrescenzo in her complaint. She asserted in the complaint that while in Scientology she was "coerced to have an abortion". The complaint stated, "At age 12, plaintiff signed her first 'Contract of Employment.' She left school, home and family to work for the Church of Scientology International. This required that plaintiff move to another state. She was married to a co-worker at age 16, became pregnant while still a minor and was coerced by CSI to have an abortion at age 17."
In March 2009, investigative journalist
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
Nathan Baca of KESQ-TV
KESQ-TV
KESQ-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the Coachella Valley of California licensed to Palm Springs. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 42 from a transmitter on Edom Hill northeast of Cathedral City and I-10...
interviewed former Scientologist Maureen Bolstad. Bolstad said that women who worked at Scientology's headquarters were forced to have abortions, or faced being declared a "Suppressive Person
Suppressive Person
Suppressive Person, often abbreviated SP, is a term used in Scientology to describe the "antisocial personalities" who, according to Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard, make up about 2.5% of the population...
" by the organization's management. Bolstand told Baca, "If a woman gets pregnant, and does not abort the child, then they are declared a suppressive person. Because, it kind of started out gradually. At first, the thing was, the Church of Scientology International did not want to pay for child care." L. Ron Hubbard stated those declared suppressive persons, "cannot be granted the rights ordinarily accorded rational beings". As part of their protest movement against Scientology, in June 2009 the group Anonymous
Anonymous (group)
Anonymous is an international hacking group, spread through the Internet, initiating active civil disobedience, while attempting to maintain anonymity. Originating in 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, the term refers to the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic,...
released a statement highlighting what it referred to as "abuses in the Sea Org", including "Child labor, coerced abortions, harsh working conditions, human trafficking, cruel punishment, disconnection of families", and asserted a "Cadet Org" for children within the Sea Org "was disbanded as unnecessary when abortions were made mandatory for Sea Org women."
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n politician Nick Xenophon
Nick Xenophon
Nicholas "Nick" Xenophon is a South Australian barrister, anti-gambling campaigner and politician. He attended Prince Alfred College, and studied law at the University of Adelaide, attaining his Bachelor of Laws in 1981. Xenophon established and became principal of his own law firm, Xenophon & Co....
, an independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
member of the Australian Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
, gave a speech to the Australian Parliament in November 2009, about statements he had received from former Scientologists. He said that he had been told members of the organization had coerced pregnant female employees to have abortions. "I am deeply concerned about this organisation and the devastating impact it can have on its followers," said Senator Xenophon, and he requested that the Australian Senate begin an investigation into Scientology. According to the letters presented by Senator Xenophon, the organization was involved in "ordering" its members to have abortions. Former Scientologist Aaron Saxton
Aaron Saxton
Aaron Saxton is a former Scientologist and member of the organisation's elite group called the Sea Org. He contacted Senator Nick Xenophon of Australia, who quoted statements by Saxton about Scientology into the parliamentary record of the Australian Senate in November 2009.His critical comments...
sent a letter to Senator Xenophon stating he had participated in coercing pregnant women within the organization to have abortions. "Aaron says women who fell pregnant were taken to offices and bullied to have an abortion. If they refused, they faced demotion and hard labour. Aaron says one staff member used a coat hanger and self-aborted her child for fear of punishment," said Senator Xenophon. Carmel Underwood, another former Scientologist, said she had been put under "extreme pressure" to have an abortion, and that she was placed into a "disappearing programme", after refusing. Underwood was the executive director of Scientology's branch in Sydney, Australia.
Former Scientologists Anna and Dean Detheridge of Sydney had been Scientology staffers for 17 years, and according to Senator Xenophon they had been "subjected to physical and mental abuse during their time with the organisation". The Senator said that, "Anna and Dean also provided evidence where information they and others have revealed to the church have been used to blackmail and control. They also provided more information about coerced abortions." Mike Ferriss, the head of Scientology in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, denied the claims of forced abortions, saying to 3 News "There are no forced abortions in Scientology and if Aaron Saxton or anyone else coerced someone into having an abortion then they are way outside of the Church's policy and ethical conduct. We respect human life and the rights of mother's and families in such matters. The Church does not intervene." In March 2010, former Scientologist Janette Lang stated that at age 20 she became pregnant by her boyfriend while in the organization, and her boyfriend's Scientology supervisors "coerced them into terminating the pregnancy". "We fought for a week, I was devastated, I felt abused, I was lost and eventually I gave in. It was my baby, my body and my choice, and all of that was taken away from me by Scientology," said Lang. Lang explained why she chose this time to come forward, "I'm speaking out today because the time has come for victims of Scientology to be heard." Scientology spokesperson Virginia Stewart rejected the statements made by Janette Lang, and asserted, "The Church of Scientology considers the family unit and children to be of the utmost importance and does not condone nor force anyone to undertake any medical procedure whatsoever."
Commentary
In his book A Piece of Blue SkyA Piece of Blue Sky
A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed, published in 1990, is an examination from a critical perspective by former British Scientologist Jon Atack of the history of L. Ron Hubbard and the development of Dianetics and the Church of Scientology...
, author Jon Atack commented, "A rather peculiar aspect of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health was Hubbard's emphasis on 'attempted abortions.'" Atack pointed out that Hubbard thought attempted abortions caused ulcers, and noted, "He had been suffering from a duodenal ulcer since 1943. Author George Malko wrote in Scientology: The Now Religion
Scientology: The Now Religion
Scientology: The Now Religion is a non-fiction book on Scientology, written by George Malko. The book was the first full length analysis of the history surrounding the founding of the Church of Scientology, and L. Ron Hubbard. The author conducted interviews with members, and provides analysis...
that "Hubbard's extensive discussion of things sexual, his concern with abortions, beatings, coitus under duress, flatulence which causes pressure on the foetus, certain cloacal references, all suggest to me a fascination which borders on the obsessive, as if he possessed a deep-seated hatred of women. All of them are being beaten, most of them prove to be unfaithful, few babies are wanted." Hubbard's interest in abortions was criticized in the 1965 Anderson Report
Anderson Report
The Anderson Report is the colloquial name of the report of the Board of Inquiry into Scientology, an official inquiry into the Church of Scientology conducted for the State of Victoria, Australia. It was written by Kevin Victor Anderson QC and published in 1965.-Background:In 1959, L...
as "a morbid preoccupation with matters relating to abnormal behaviour of women" and "a prurient and distinctly unhealthy attachment to abortions, rape, perversion, and similar matters."
New religions scholar J. Gordon Melton
J. Gordon Melton
John Gordon Melton is an American religious scholar who was the founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion and is currently a research specialist in religion and New Religious Movements with the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara...
told the San Francisco Chronicle that Scientology discourages members of the Sea Org from having children. "They don't look at children as a resource, but as a problem. Children take people off-line, so they discourage members of the Sea Org from having children," said Melton. In the book New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America, Melton contributed a chapter, "A Contemporary Ordered Religious Community: The Sea Organization". In the piece, Melton commented on statements he had seen about Scientology and abortion in "anti-Scientology literature". Melton wrote, "It has been asserted in some anti-Scientology literature that the Church had, at least for a time period, demanded that any female Sea Org members who became pregnant obtain an abortion. I have been unable to find any verification of that allegation." Melton went on to assert, "Given the nature of the church, were this ever to have become a policy of the Sea Org, there would have undoutedly been a paper trail of documents which, if they existed, have never been produced."
In an article in the Marburg Journal of Religion
Marburg Journal of Religion
The Marburg Journal of Religion is a peer-reviewed online academic journal that publishes articles on empirical and theoretical studies of religion. It is believed to be the oldest internet journal devoted to the study of religions, the first issue having appeared in April 1996...
, Stephen A. Kent discussed Scientology and abortion, writing "Because the attitude among some Sea Org leadership appears to be that children hinder adults from performing their vital assignments, researchers should not be surprised to learn of pressures that Sea Org women felt to either abort pregnancies or give-up children for adoption." He commented, "Taken together, the interviews, legal declarations, media accounts, and internal documents present troubling glimpses into the lives of Scientology's most committed members. Sea Org obligations override many personal and family obligations and responsibilities, and devotion to the Scientology cause often appears to take priority over the needs of children."
In a 1998 speech, attorney and Scientology critic Graham E. Berry commented on Mary Tabayoyan's affidavit about Scientology and abortion, "Mary Tabayoyan has testified as to how she and other Scientologists were ordered to have abortions; and I have argued before a court that that constitutes instructions to commit murder. At the very least, it denies a woman freedom of choice with regard to abortion. And why does Scientology do this? Because children require "Family Time" and "Family Time" interferes with production; the production of things that produce money." In a May 2009 speech before the cult monitoring organization FECRIS
FECRIS
FECRIS - European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism - is a non-profit association that serves as an umbrella organization for groups which investigate the activities of cults or cult-like organizations in...
, Berry cited "forced abortions" among what he referred to as "Scientology’s many secular abuses and crimes". In a 2009 article in Catholic Online, associate editor and former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, Randy Sly, pointed out what he saw as a contradiction between Scientology's stated pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
stance on abortion, with its reported practices. "Those who were pregnant were counseled to seek abortions, even though Scientology publicly affirmed a pro-life position," wrote Sly.
See also
- Abortion debateAbortion debateThe abortion debate refers to discussion and controversy surrounding the moral and legal status of abortion. The two main groups involved in the abortion debate are the self-described "pro-choice" movement and the "pro-life" movement...
- Minors and abortion
- Paternal rights and abortionPaternal rights and abortionThe paternal rights and abortion issue is an extension of both the abortion debate and the fathers' rights movement. Countries recognizing father's legal rights on abortion have laws requiring that the male who impregnated the pregnant female either consent or be informed before she has an...
- Religion and abortionReligion and abortionMany religious traditions have taken a stance on abortion, and these stances span a broad spectrum as highlighted below.-Buddhism:There is no single Buddhist view concerning abortion. Traditional sources, such as the Buddhist monastic code, hold that life begins at conception and that abortion,...
- Self-induced abortionSelf-induced abortionA self-induced abortion is an abortion performed by the pregnant woman herself outside the recognized medical system. Although the term can include abortions induced through legal, over-the-counter medication, it also refers to efforts to terminate a pregnancy through alternative, often more...
External links
- Scientology positions - Abortion, St. Petersburg TimesSt. Petersburg TimesThe St. Petersburg Times is a United States newspaper. It is one of two major publications serving the Tampa Bay Area, the other being The Tampa Tribune, which the Times tops in both circulation and readership. Based in St...
- Forced Abortions in Scientology, Mary Tabayoyon affidavit, Cult Awareness and Information CentreCult Awareness and Information CentreThe Cult Awareness and Information Centre is an organization based in Brisbane, Australia that provides resources and information on groups they identify as cults and other controversial groups...
- New Hampshire picket and forced abortions, Operation ClambakeOperation ClambakeOperation Clambake, also referred to by its Web address, Xenu.net, is a Web site and Norway-based non-profit organization, launched in 1996, that publishes criticism of the Church of Scientology. It is owned and maintained by Andreas Heldal-Lund, who has stated that he supports the rights of all...