Summary
Syracuse City Court Judge Felicia Pitts Davis refused to officiate a same-sex wedding, citing religious beliefs.
Another judge, Mary Anne Doherty, performed the ceremony.
Pitts Davis’ actions, considered discriminatory under New York judicial ethics and the Marriage Equality Act, are under review by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct
I’d say “technically” because there’s no such thing as magical water and because this is only a ceremony to give an appearance of leaving it up to divinity, not a way for people to actually have an abortion. This doesn’t look to me like it helps pro-choice arguments at all since anyone arguing the other side is going to be able to say, “See, it’s in God’s hands.”
Wow, so a biblical description to specifically cause an abortion in case of adultery, is not an argument for pro choice among Christians?
Just wow???
The thing is it’s not a “hey, need an abortion? just do this.” Look at what it’s saying: if you drink the bitter water and God judges you guilty, it will cause an abortion, and that’s how we’ll know whether you’re guilty or not.
Religious POV: No human has any choice in the matter. Drink the water, God decides. Zero choice.
Non-religious POV: I see a few possible explanations.
One is the person administering the “bitter water” might actually have some concoction that worked, but if it did work, that would signal to the community that the would-be mother was guilty under their harsh law. Not good for her, not really a choice.
Another possibility is that it’s a ritual designed to let people move past perceived adultery. Drinking the magic water shows your faith and innocence because you would have believed you were poisoning your baby if you knew you were guilty. In reality, maybe not, but that’s what the ritual presents on the surface. You drink the magic water, everyone feels better that God either didn’t judge you guilty or forgave you, everyone goes on with life. Everyone’s happy except if the mother was so desperate she would rather have been punished by the law than have that baby. Still no real choice.
