A study of Christian beliefs about abortion in comparison with the ethical consideration of abortion.

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Adora Mba

A study of Christian beliefs about abortion in comparison with the ethical consideration of abortion.

 Abortion has been an issue that not only divides church leaders and Christians, but also politicians and members of our society. The choice to have an abortion is largely influenced by the laws of the land and sometimes by religion. The question of “The Sanctity of Life” is a key concern for both Christian churches and modern people as is the freedom of giving birth and whether it is a life that can be taken and destroyed. If life is indeed a gift from God, can this life be taken away by choice? And if indeed so, who has the right to do so? Such questions as these will be discussed in detail in this coursework, and I will examine the abortion matters concerning the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. In addition I will examine the abortion matters concerning situationists, utilitarianists and consequentialist looking at the ethical views on abortion and the life of the foetus. I will be looking at hard cases such as rape and disability and question whether abortion can be permissible in these situations.

I will then question who and what determines the right to an abortion and whether because the law permits an abortion occurring it is morally right or good.

The word “abortion” was derived from the Latin word “aboriri” which means, “to fail to be born”. Abortion is currently defined as “an untimely delivery voluntarily occurred with the intent to destroy the foetus.” Because it is the deliberate ending of a pregnancy, it is also called a “termination”, although the medical term for this is procedure is “induced abortion”. It is now legal in large parts in the world and has been since the second half of the 19th century.

Before the Abortion Act was established, the English Common Law allowed abortions to occur provided it was carried out before the woman felt the foetus move. 1803 saw the change in the law and abortion became a criminal offence from the time of conception with penalties of up to life imprisonment for both the pregnant woman and the abortionist. This was reinforced by Section 58 of the Offences against the person Act in 1861 which made abortion a criminal offence punishable my imprisonment from three years up to life, even when performed for medical reasons. No changes were made till 1929, which provided exceptions to the 1861 law by clarifying when an abortion could be legal. 1929 also introduced The Infant Life Preservation Act that amended the law so that abortion would no longer be regarded as a felony if it were carried out in good faith for the sole purpose of preserving the life of the mother.

The Abortion Act 1967 came into effect on 27 April 1968 and permits the termination of a pregnancy subject to certain conditions. An abortion can only occur if two doctors have agreed that the abortion is permissible (e.g. the termination is necessary to prevent the permanent injury whether physical or mental of the pregnant mother).

Finally, in 1990, Section 37 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act introduced a time limit of 24 weeks instead of the previous 28 weeks. This has been the last change made to the law.

 The Abortion Law is almost entirely determined by the Judaeo-Christian tradition. The Old Testament saw abortion as primarily a loss a property. Exodus 21: 22-25 for instance distinguishes between the deliberate and accidental hitting and killing of a man and the accidental hitting of a pregnant woman causing her to miscarry. Although the punishment is explicit that the deliberate killing is a capital offence, the passage is less clear about miscarriage and seems to treat it as a loss of property liable to a fine. However, this passage could also be translated as one that views the foetus in the womb as valuable as any adult life for it says:

“But if there is a serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”(Exodus 21: 25-29).

A distinguished Hebrew scholar, Dr. Gleason Archer, commented on this passage saying, “there is no ambiguity here whatsoever.”  He said that the passage is describing how if there is an injury to the unborn baby or the mother, it should be avenged:

“There is no second class status attached to the foetus under this rule. The foetus is just as valuable as the mother…The penalty is life for life.”

As there is no direct guidance from the Bible concerning abortion, Christians are divided on the issue as indeed members of one denomination may well be divided. Traditionally, Christianity condemned it. A teaching document of the early Christians called ‘ The Didache’ stated, “ You shall not kill by abortion the fruit of the womb”. However, the gravity of the sin of the abortion was determined by the developing age of the foetus. This was closely linked to the question of when the soul entered the human body. St Augustine (4th century theologian) maintained that God implanted the soul at 46 days. However, Saint Thomas Aquinas (13th century philosopher and theologian) maintained that the souls of girls were implanted at 90 days and the souls of boys at 40 days. This he called “Ensoulment”. Abortion, therefore, was not a problem provided it was carried out before the soul was “implanted”. However, the Roman Catholic Church taught that God implanted the soul at the moment of conception, which led to the Catholic view that all abortion is murder.

The present Pope, John Paul II, absolutely condemns induced abortion though he recognizes that the decision to have an abortion is often tragic and painful for the mother. This decision is often made neither for selfish reasons nor out of convenience, but out for a desire to protect certain important values such as her own health, or a decent standard of living for other members of the family. Yet, according to the Church, these reasons, however serious or tragic, can never justify the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. Abortion is morally wrong and is an intrinsically evil act (an act which is “in and of itself” evil i.e. wholly evil).  This doctrine he maintains, is based upon the Natural Law and the Word of God. St Thomas Aquinas said that everything has a purpose and the fulfilment of that purpose is good. This is called the Natural Law. One of the purposes of man is to procreate; therefore to have children is fulfilling a purpose and this is good. Anything that prevents procreation must be wrong as it prevents man from fulfilling his purpose. For this reason, abortion must be wrong as it prevents procreation.

Quotations from the Old Testament such as those is Psalm, project the idea that God’s interest in an individual is evident from the earliest moments of life:

“You created every part of me

You put me together in my Mother’s womb….

You saw me before I was born.” (Psalm 139: 16-19)

This theme is also echoed in Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (1:5).

I agree with the Church to a certain extent because life is indeed a gift from God and this gift is sacred and cannot be thrown away for selfish purposes. However, sometimes abortion occurs because of other reasons such as rape. According to the Roman Catholic Church, if the cause of abortion was rape, “the foetus should not have to suffer the death penalty because of another’s crime.” The Church is forgetting the mother in this case. She would have to bring up a child that she may hate because of the violence she experienced and I would argue that it would be better to bring into the world a wanted child rather than one that is going to be unwanted.

The Roman Catholic Church takes its view on abortion seriously. There are four basic principles, which summarise the church’s theological position on abortion. The first is the principle that God is the Lord of life and death. Therefore, a person’s ultimate value stems from God and no individuals can take it upon themselves to place themselves in control over the life of others.

The second is that human beings do not have the right to take the lives of others. This is based on the fifth commandment: “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13)

The third principle states that human life begins at the moment of conception and so the foetus deserves to be treated with the same respect as that of other human beings.

The last principle states that abortion, at whatever stage of development of the foetus, is the taking of human life.  These views are enforced in the encyclical on birth control written by Pope Paul VI in 1968. “Humanae Vitae” states “Abortion must not be resorted to as a way of regulating births.”

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The official Canon Law of the Church states:

“A person who actually procures an abortion incurs automatic excommunication”. This means that the person who decides to have an abortion has to think that her particular abortion, taking into account all the circumstances of her life and pregnancy, is a sin against God, and yet still decide to go ahead. If she does not believe it is a sin against God, because of her circumstances, it does not need to be confessed and is not a sin.

The Roman Catholic Church strongly believes that as life is a gift from ...

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