Sacred Choices: The Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World Religions

Sacred Choices: The Right to Contraception and Abortion in Ten World Religions. By Daniel C. Maguire. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001. 150 pages. Paper. $13.00.

Daniel C. Maguire, Professor of Ethics at Marquette University and President of the Religious Consultation on Population, Reproductive Health and Ethics, uses this work to comb life-affirming stories in the world's major religions. He brings together experts in Roman Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism, Judaism, Islam, Protestantism, and Native American spirituality to speak on the historical as well as the contemporary perspectives concerning women, contraception, and abortion.

"Historically, women have been the principal cherishers and caretakers of life. We can trust them with these decisions. This book shows that the world's religions urge us to do so" (p. xiii). Maguire also emphasizes that religious beliefs have the ability to mature and grow: "Nothing survives that cannot adapt to change, including the world's religions" (p. 94). By this he means that certain beliefs of a particular religion are capable of reevaluating themselves to coexist with changing culture, without losing its truths.

If all Maguire wanted to do was talk about sacred choices, he could have done it in half the number of pages, because these topics only get play in the last quarter of each chapter. A very large portion of the book is written to explain each world's religion in ways that highlight and promote the author's agenda. Therefore, although I appreciate his passion and remarks, at times I think his explanations are underdeveloped.

Janelle Rozek

Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

COPYRIGHT 2004 Lutheran School of Theology and Mission
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group