Reconceiving Reproductive Health
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Reformed Theology in Africa Series Volume 1 Reconceiving Reproductive Health Theological and Christian Ethical Reflections Edited by: Manitza Kotzé, Nadia Marais & Nina Müller van Velden Reformed Theology in Africa Series Volume 1 Reconceiving Reproductive Health Theological and Christian Ethical Reflections Published by AOSIS (Pty) Ltd, 15 Oxford Street, Durbanville 7550, Cape Town, South Africa Postnet Suite #110, Private Bag X19, Durbanville 7551, South Africa Tel: +27 21 975 2602 Fax: +27 21 975 4635 Email: [email protected] Website: https://www.aosis.co.za Copyright © Manitza Kotzé, Nadia Marais & Nina Müller van Velden (eds.). Licensee: AOSIS (Pty) Ltd The moral right of the authors has been asserted. Cover Image: Original design created with the use of images released under Wikipedia. The images are https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annunciation_in_Christian_art#/media/ File:Bartolom%C3%A9_Esteban_Perez_Murillo_023.jpg. All rights reserved. No unauthorised duplication allowed. Published in 2019 Impression: 1 ISBN: 978-1-928396-95-6 (print) ISBN: 978-1-928396-96-3 (ebook) ISBN: 978-1-928396-97-0 (pdf) DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2019.BK151 How to cite this work: Kotzé, M., Marais, N. & Müller van Velden, N. (eds.), 2019, ‘Reconceiving Reproductive Health: Theological and Christian Ethical Reflections’, in Reformed Theology in Africa Series Volume 1, pp. 1–304, AOSIS, Cape Town. Reformed Theology in Africa Series ISSN: 2706-6665 Series Editor: J.M. Vorster Printed and bound in South Africa. Listed in OAPEN (http://www.oapen.org), DOAB (http://www.doabooks.org/) and indexed by Google Scholar. Some rights reserved. This is an open access publication. Except where otherwise noted, this work is distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), a copy of which is available at https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/. 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Reformed Theology in Africa Series Volume 1 Reconceiving Reproductive Health Theological and Christian Ethical Reflections EDITORS Manitza Kotzé, Nadia Marais & Nina Müller van Velden Religious Studies domain editorial board at AOSIS Chief Editor Andries van Aarde, Post Retirement Professor in the Dean’s Office, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa Board Members Warren Carter, Professor of New Testament, Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth, United States Christian Danz, Dekan der Evangelisch-Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Wien and Ordentlicher Universität professor für Systematische Theologie und Religionswissenschaft, University of Vienna, Austria Pieter G.R. de Villiers, Associate Editor, Extraordinary Professor in Biblical Spirituality, Faculty of Theology, University of the Free State, South Africa Musa W. Dube, Department of Theology & Religious Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Botswana, Botswana David D. Grafton, Professor of Islamic Studies and Christian–Muslim Relations, Duncan Black Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Connecticut, United States Jens Herzer, Theologische Fakultät der Universität Leipzig, Germany Jeanne Hoeft, Dean of Students and Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Pastoral Care, Saint Paul School of Theology, Leawood, KA, United States of America Dirk J. Human, Associate Editor, Deputy Dean and Professor of Old Testament Studies, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa D. Andrew Kille, Former Chair of the SBL Psychology and Bible Section, and Editor of the Bible Workbench, San Jose, United States William R.G. Loader, Emeritus Professor, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia Isabel A. Phiri, Associate General Secretary for Public Witness and Diakonia, World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland Marcel Sarot, Emeritus Professor of Fundamental Theology, Tilburg School of Catholic Theology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands Corneliu C. Simut, Professor of Historical and Dogmatic Theology, Emanuel University, Oradea, Bihor, Romania Rothney S. Tshaka, Professor and Head of Department of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa Elaine M. Wainwright, Emeritus Professor, School of Theology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Executive Leader, Mission and Ministry, McAuley Centre, Australia Gerald West, Associate Editor, School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics in the College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa Peer review declaration The publisher (AOSIS) endorses the South African ‘National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum Best Practice for Peer Review of Scholarly Books.’ The manuscript was subjected to rigorous two-step peer review prior to publication, with the identities of the reviewers not revealed to the author(s). The reviewers were independent of the publisher and/or authors in question. The reviewers commented positively on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and recommended that the manuscript be published. Where the reviewers recommended revision and/or improvements to the manuscript, the authors responded adequately to such recommendations. Research Justification While reproduction is fairly often touched upon in theological and Christian ethical discussions, reproductive health is not. However, reproductive health is a matter of theological and ethical concern. Discussion pertaining to reproductive health includes a number of debates about, for instance, abortion and the termination of pregnancy, reproductive loss, childlessness, infertility, stillbirth, miscarriage and adoption. Additionally, new reproductive possibilities made available by the development of reproductive technology have necessitated theological and ethical reflection on, for example, surrogacy, post-menopausal pregnancies, litter births, single mothers or fathers by choice, in vitro fertilisation and the so-called saviour siblings. These new developments compel us to reconceive our notions of what reproductive health is or should be. Many of these topics are receiving increasing attention in a variety of theological publications. The focus of this volume is unique, however, and to the best of our knowledge, this is the first volume dealing not only with reproductive issues, but also reflecting theologically and ethically on reproductive health. It makes a contribution by providing a variety of perspectives from different theological fields on this theme, and in many chapters, focussing especially on the South African context. These discussions are also part of urgent debates within churches, which require developing life-giving theological language and imaginative theological alternatives that may speak to experiences of matters relating to reproductive health. The popular books, TV series and films that touch upon these discussions – including The Handmaid’s Tale and Mother! – strengthen the perception that a more in-depth theological and ethical discussion on the theme may be necessary, particularly towards exploring stories and confessions from our faith tradition that may provide us with a timely opportunity to do the important work of theological ‘reconceiving’. The target audience includes academics, professionals and researchers. The methodology utilised by the chapters differ, but all take the form of a type of literature study. No empirical research was conducted and the research, therefore, does not pose any ethical risks. The chapters in this volume are all original research that has not been published elsewhere. It includes a diverse range of perspectives from several disciplines. This volume, we hope, will contribute to scholarly discussion and deeper theological and ethical reflection on reproductive health. It aims to offer a comprehensive view of the theme of reproductive health from theological and Christian ethical viewpoints. This is done by providing new and novel lines of inquiry, new topics for discussion and new insights into established research. At the same time, we are also aware that the theme of reproductive health is much broader than can be (re)conceived in one volume and hope that one of the contributions of this volume will be to spark and become part of a larger conversation and discourse. Dr Manitza Kotzé, Unit for Reformed Theology and the Development of the South African Society, Faculty of Theology, North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa v Contents List of Abbreviations, Figures and Tables in the Text and Notes xiii List of Abbreviations xiii List of Figures xiv List of Tables xiv Notes on Contributors xv Preface xxi Chapter 1: Reconceiving reproductive