Abortion - a discussion on the debate and Christian teaching.

In general churches to not support abortion, the Presbyterian Church says “The scripture leaves us in no doubt that from his earliest days in the womb, the unborn child is fully human, a person made in the image of God”.  The section about a person being made in the image of God is particularly poignant, as they would believe that you should not kill something made in the image of God.  The Catholic Church says “The direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral.”  This shows that Catholic Church is defiantly against abortion and that they consider an unborn fetus a human being.  The Anglican Church says “Christians reject the practice of induced abortion” And the Methodists Church says “The worth of the human race itself hinges on the reverence for human life” this means that every life should be treated with care and respect and that abortion would be wrong as it is destroying this human life.

However there are alternatives to abortion such as.  If the child is unwanted, adoption and fostering are an option, this would not only allow the child to live, but would also give it a chance at a full life.  Also if it was a teenager who was pregnant who was pregnant, then she could receive home tuition instead of leaving her education.

Sometimes it is difficult to accept the Christian teaching on abortion such as.  In the case of rape it could be very hard for the mother to keep the baby as it would be a constant reminder of what happened, and she may not be able to fully love the baby.  Also if the mother knew the child would be disabled it would raise the question in her mind if it is right to bring it into the world.  This raises the issue of quality of life or quantity of life.  Finally if the mother’s life was in danger, then she may not want to go through with the birth.

Personally I am against abortion, because the simple fact is that I view it as murder.  It may be argued that the fetus is not alive until the birth, but so many stories are heard of children born months premature.  These children may not be healthy, but are certainly alive. And even before this point in the development of the fetus, we do not know enough to presume that the baby will feel no pain in the abortion process.  I find it hard to comprehend how people can justify getting an abortion when there are alternatives.  Fostering and adoption seem to be an ideal solution to the problem of an unwanted baby, and yet people would still rather kill the child.  However there are instances in which an abortion could be seen as a viable option, such as when there is risk to the life of the mother.  In my opinion this is the only instance in which killing a baby is justifiable, as it is the mothers right to choose to live.

Some people try to look at it as if there was a difference between killing and murder.  For example killing a solider at war and killing someone during an armed robbery.  Obviously the latter of these is much more serious, but both involve taking a life that is not yours to take, this is the same principal that applies to abortion.