Abortion

Biblical teaching on abortion

Human life begins before birth

-Psalm 139: 13-16

‘You knit me together in my mothers womb…’

God’s deliberate, proactive role in the creation of life in the womb

The unborn baby has value: God has a plan

-Jeremiah 1.5

‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations’

-Isaiah 49.1

‘Before I was born the lord called me’

God knows and plans every person’s life before they are born. To prevent a baby from being born is to oppose God’s plan

God has power over life and death

-Job 1:21

‘Naked I came from my mothers womb and naked will I depart. The lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the lord be praised’

God knows every person’s life-It is God’s prerogative (right) to give and take away life since God is the creator and maker of life

‘Playing God’: To end another’s life

-Exodus 21: 22-25

If a man ‘hits a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely, but there is not serious injury’ the person who hit the pregnant woman is fined whatever the husband demands

If there is serious injury to the baby you take ‘life for life, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise’

A right to life; as important as a fully grown human; valued/worthy life-The person who harms the baby is punished (proportionate punishment-equal punishment for what the person has done) -as they would be punished if they harmed a grown human being

The foetus is under the protection of the law

Church teaching on abortion

Early theories

Ensoulment-The catholic belief about when a foetus receives a soul (originally thought to be 40 days for male, and 90 days for a female-Augustine)

Quickening-The time when the baby starts to move in the womb, e.g. Luke 1:41

‘When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby (John the Baptist) leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit’

Roman Catholics

-Killing an unborn baby is morally wrong in all circumstances-Absolute morality (something is either totally wrong, or totally right, regardless of the circumstance)

-Life begins as soon as the baby is conceived (as soon as the egg and sperm meet)

-The baby and the mother have the same rights, even if the baby is born handicapped

-Human life is not to be stopped from being created, even for therapeutic reasons. It is unlawful.

Catholic Catechism

-Life begins at the moment of conception

-God is the lord of life and therefore it is our duty to safeguard life not to kill it

-Abortion willed either as an end or a means is gravely contrary to the moral law

The doctrine of double effect

If the intention of an action is good, then the action can be justifiable of acceptable even if there is a bad or negative outcome

E.g. Ectopic pregnancy-If the embryo implants itself in the fallopian tube, and the mothers life is in danger, then the embryo may be killed and the mother saved. The doctrine could be applied because the mother would be saved but the embryo would die.

Church teaching on (and attitudes to) abortion

The Anglican Church

-Opposes abortion

-Understand that in certain conditions abortion is morally acceptable

E.g. the pregnancy threatening the life of the woman

Methodist Church

-Abortions are “always evil”

-There are cases when abortion is the “lesser of two evils”

-The embryo is severely handicapped

-The pregnancy is the result of rape

-The health (mental or physical) of the mother is at risk

-Abortions should take place early if they are going to happen

-Abortions should NOT be made illegal-‘back-street’ abortions would return

The Baptist Church

-Aim to protect the life of the foetus

-Abortion may be the lesser of two evils if:

-The pregnancy is a result of rape or incest

-The pregnancy will cause a threat to the pregnant woman

The Salvation Army

-Life is sacred from the moment of conception

-Abortion should happen in a few cases:

-The mother’s life is in danger

-The baby is so severely abnormal that it cannot possibly survive

The United Reform Church

-Accepts that there are a wide range of views

-Difference between a foetus ready to be born and the early stages of pregnancy

-Few week old pregnancy-not a child

-Sometimes abortion is necessary

The religious society of friends (Quakers)

-Some-abortion is an act of violence

-Others-there are some circumstances where it is necessary

-Woman is raped

-No Quakers force their views on others

	Created by Molly Munyard about 12 years ago

GCSE RS (Medical ethics) Note on Abortion, created by Molly Munyard on 13/03/2014.