According to the Roman Catholic Church our life begins long before we are born and interrupting the baby’s life by unnatural means destructs its fundamental right to grow someday into a healthy man or woman. They believe that a life is created at the exact moment of conception, that we are not merely “embryos” or “cells” during the first few weeks of growth, but actual human beings, deserving of love. Nonetheless there are no direct references in the bible to “conception” as such, for this notion of fertilization had yet still to be discovered by medical science many years later. But the bible underlines the essential – God is the creator of life, and that each and every individual is sanctified and created by his love as can be seen in the Old Testament where God appoints Jeremiah as a prophet to the nations “Before I formed you in the womb, and before you were born I consecrated you…” Indeed, by Roman Catholics referring to the ten commandants “thou shalt not kill” this fully justifies their stance against abortion.
One can even trace the Christian teaching on abortion as far back as the Didache also known as “the teaching of the apostles” written somewhere in the late 1st or early 2nd century. In short it states, “….thou shalt not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born…” Although the author is unknown its words on abortion still remain a vital part of an important teaching on the Christian way of life.
The “Declaration on Procured Abortion” (1974) takes more contemporary look at the Roman Catholic teaching on abortion. Here it declares, “The first right of the human person is life”
Others however, such as the pro-choice organisation known as the National Abortion Campaign follow their own key message “Our bodies, our lives, our right to decide” Their belief is that the morals of others should not be forced upon the pregnant woman for it is her own body and the NAC defends women’s reproductive rights and defends the rights of women to make their own decisions. Abortion is viewed as merely being the removal of an unwanted part of a woman’s body. But the declaration on Procured Abortion also states that while the movement of women’s rights is a good thing, arguments stating that it is the woman’s body and she should be allowed full control, do not compensate for the loss of an innocent life.
When looking at euthanasia there are two main categories: voluntary and compulsory. The difference betweens these two lies upon who makes the decision to end a life. Voluntary euthanasia is where the person makes her or his own decision to die whereas compulsory means that another person makes the decision for the person, usually a family member or doctor. These categories lead on to two further types, which involve the method in which a life is ended. Active euthanasia, usually called suicide is death to avoid suffering in the person’s current life while passive euthanasia allows death to occur to avoid suffering. There is a noticeable difference between “taking” and “allowing”. While active euthanasia produces death, passive allows death to take place, where the person is not assisted to die but their life is not prolonged in any way beyond its ‘natural life span’. It is mainly active euthanasia that comes under biblical scrutiny.
The word “Euthanasia” originates from the Greek word meaning “good death”. It sometimes known as “mercy killing” and cases of voluntary euthanasia are often associated with people who are hopelessly ill or injured and wish to hasten the relief of death. Although Euthanasia is illegal in the United Kingdom, there is still the on-going debate in the United Kingdom as to whether Euthanasia should be legalized or not.
The stance the Roman Catholic Church takes on euthanasia is directly similar to their view on abortion. One clear and definite view – The Roman Catholic church condemns euthanasia absolutely as an act of murder and is therefore classified as a mortal sin. Under no circumstances should Catholics go against the will of God, for we were put on this earth for a purpose and only God decides whether it is our time yet to live or die, as emphasised in Corinthians “If we live; we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die we belong to the Lord.”
Although organisations such as EXIT argue that a person should be allowed to die with dignity, and that their ‘quality of life’ is at stake some Roman Catholics may argue that the quality of the person’s spiritual life should be taken into account rather than their physical health. Only if a person has a relationship with God can they have any form of ‘quality of life’ [Jesus said] - 'I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.' (John 10:10) Suffering, is viewed as an essential part of life for a Roman Catholic, and is there in order to strengthen faith in God. As far as the Roman Catholic church is concerned euthanasia defies God’s will as people are meant to die through natural causes as mentioned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church ‘... an act, or an omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder greatly contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator.'
In the Protestant religion there are a vast array of views regarding euthanasia. Those who oppose it refer to the teachings of Jesus condemning murder and suicide; they may also argue that no human has the right to ‘play God’. Those in favour of euthanasia often relate to Joseph Fletcher, a well-known humanist as their main activist. Mr Fletcher argues that ‘suffering and pain are purposeless, demoralizing and degrading’, ‘human personality and dignity are of greater value than life itself’ and Jesus’ statement in the Sermon of the Mount, “blessed are the merciful” is of the same importance as “thou shalt not kill”. Organisations such as EXIT also support the right to choose as they believe that every human has a valid right to decide over his or her life and should therefore determine their manner of dying. Their aim is to “make dying with dignity an option available to anyone, to protect patients and doctors alike in upholding the humanity of dying well, to seek legal reform, where necessary, and to introduce safeguards regarding voluntary euthanasia.”
The Islamic faith and Hinduism are closely similar in their view towards euthanasia. Both agree that we cannot interfere with the cycle of life and the plan that was set out for us, so both groups oppose it. Islam believes that deciding the time of a person’s death is not man’s jurisdiction for it is not Allah’s will. No matter how cruel this appears to be with people who are suffering unbearable amounts of despair, Allah has a reason for it to happen.
Section 2: “God gives life and only God can take it away”
All religions view life as something special, whether it be Muslims or Anglicans, Hindus or Methodists, the only difference lies in how much human control is given over a person’s life when discussing issues such as abortion and euthanasia.
Yet some people part of a secular public known, as humanists prioritise human choice before God’s, and believe that we in fact are in control of our own bodies. In addition they believe in the respect for life but not its sanctity. They do not rely on God as a creator who gives and takes away our life and rather concentrate on the quality of life for the individual person. It all rests in the hands of the person, not God.
In the case of abortion, I am in agreement with the Roman Catholic Church. “God gives life and only God can take it away” I believe that each and every one of us is entitled to the fundamental right to life. Abortion is murder, no qualms, no ifs or buts. In society today where abortion is fast becoming a convenience for women, figures show that only 1% of women undergoing abortions do so because of rape or incest. The rate of abortion stands at around 120,000 per day, which are 120,000 individual human beings created by God wiped off the planet worldwide each and every day. We do not have the right to play God. If a mother were to abort her child on the grounds that he or she were to be severely handicapped how can she really know for certain that that child, given the chance to life, would not experience at least one moment of happiness that God intended life to offer. Also, if women were to start aborting their unborn children merely because they were disabled or physically defective in any way, can anyone really be certain where to draw the boundaries as to where the killing should stop?
Euthanasia I believe is a much harder issue to deal with. It is not simply killing, but killing moved on an act of compassion. Yet this is still morally wrong. I understand the difficulties there must be when placed in the situation of watching a loved one die in utter affliction or enduring the person’s suffering myself, but one must realise that that suffering no matter how painful it seems, is but just a phase in our on-going journey to God and it was given to us for a reason. God placed us on this Earth to live as he intended us to in his image, for as long as he wishes us to live for. Also in the case of active euthanasia or suicide, even though people may not be in the best state of minds to realise what they are doing, strength should be sought from God, since death is not the abrupt end to everything. As we don’t determine when we are born I do not think it right that we should determine when we die or decide death for another life for we do not own our own lives. We are, God’s property for he, and only he, created us out of most powerful love ever imaginable. “Acknowledge that the Lord is God, he made us and we belong to him…” (Psalm 100:3) God has given us the greatest gift of all…who are we to throw it all away?