Scientology and Forced Abortions

A while back, I posted about a YouTube video making fun of an album of crappy Scientology "music". I have read some of the anti-Scientology sites off and on for a few years. However, for the past couple of months or so, I have been paying more attention to some of the information coming out about this cult. A lot of people laugh off Scientology as just some goofy cult for Hollywood people. However, there are some far more serious aspects to this cult. People have died, gone insane and/or committed suicide because of Scientology.

Scientology promises people that they will be able to use their "technology" to get rid of "body thetans" (for details on that, check out the whole Xenu story) and become superhuman beings who never get sick and are never unhappy. However, to go through the various courses and auditing to reach these levels of enlightenment, it costs at least $300,000.

Many ordinary people who get involved with the cult don't have that kind of money. So, many join up with Scientology's Sea Organization or "Sea Org". The Sea Org is a pseudo-military outfit whose members are basically the worker bees in the Scientology organization. They are paid little and have very few days off. They sign a one billion year contract where they promise to come back to the Sea Org in future lives to serve. They are also assured that they are doing something to "save the planet" from psychiatry and false belief systems (of which they consider Christianity one). They are completely and utterly dedicated to serving Scientology.

Sea Org members are allowed to get married, and many do just so they can have more privacy, as married couples get their own quarters and don't have to share with a bunch of other people. However, if a woman in the Sea Org gets pregnant, she is given two options: abort the baby or leave. Now, keep in mind that this is a cult that this woman's whole existence is dependent on. These people are kept cut off and isolated from the rest of the "wog" world. ("Wog" being the term used by Scientology to refer to the people and world outside Scientology.) Given that, what choice do you think the woman usually makes? It is a sad fact that most of these women feel they have no choice but to abort. The cult pressures them to abort and makes sure they are cut off from their non-cult family members (if they have any) so that they have nowhere else to go. Since the Sea Org doesn't really offer these people health care of any sort (if they get sick, they are sent to free clinics), the Sea Org women usually end up at a Planned Parenthood to get their abortions.

Dawn Olsen at the blog GlossLip tells the story of one young woman named Astra Woodcraft who left the cult and chose life for her child. Her father, Lawrence Woodcraft, had previously left the cult, so she had a support system to fall back on.

One thing that I, being pro-life, disagree with in Dawn's post is her beliefs about why the "religious right" have not addressed the issue of Scientology forcing women to have abortions. I think religious conservatives and the pro-life movement haven't said much about this simply because they don't know that this is going on. I didn't know about this until quite recently, myself. I bet that most people, while they have heard of Scientology, have never even heard of the Sea Org.

This post is my way of speaking out against this horrible practice (one of very many) by a dangerous cult. I encourage pro-lifers and Christians to get informed about the abuses of Scientology. Despite their propaganda that claims that you can be both a Christian and a Scientologist, that simply isn't true. L. Ron Hubbard was contemptuous of Christianity and had previously been involved in Satanic practices. In fact, the "crossed out Cross" that Scientology uses has also been used by the Church of Satan.

Here are a list of links to help you get informed:

• What Christians Need to Know about Scientology -- A great resource that explains the Satanic roots of Scientology and why it is completely incompatible with Christianity.
• Operation Clambake -- One of the major websites exposing Scientology.
• Lermanet.com: Exposing the Con -- Another major website by an ex-member exposing Scientology.
• Ex-Scientology Kids -- A fantastic new site by some people who grew up in this cult, including Astra Woodcraft.
• Scientology Associated Deaths -- Many, many sad stories here.
• The Jason Beghe Interview on Xenu TV -- Actor Jason Beghe was one of the most devout celebrity Scientologists. He has recently come out and very publicly denounced the cult. Watching this interview is very worthwhile but I must warn you it's not work safe because he uses lots of salty language. He's pretty angry at the whole experience. Also, he uses a lot of terminology peculiar to Scientology, so if you are confused, look it up on some of the above websites.
• Scientology Disconnection -- A website about Scientology's disconnection policy, which is used to break up families and relationships.

Let me add one more important thing. This is an area that crisis pregnancy centers in places where there are a lot of Sea Org members (like the Los Angeles area and Clearwater, Florida) should concentrate on. I would encourage them to make a special attempt to reach out to these women. They are frightened, brainwashed and have no one to turn to.

Update: I have added some links about Scientology's disconnection policy, which is used to isolate cult members from non-cult family and friends. Also, I neglected to recommend that you watch the video accompanying the GlossLip post. It was apparently done several years ago, and Astra talks about life in the Sea Org and her decision to have her baby and leave the Sea Org. I have not had a chance to watch the whole thing yet, since it's over 48 minutes long. I've watched about 30 minutes of it and will watch the rest tonight. The interview really brings home the agony and torment that this cult puts its rank-and-file members through.