‘Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.’ (Psalm 82:4)
The general Christian Viewpoint towards abortion is:
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‘That human life is sacred because, from its origin it implies the creative action of God and remains for always in a special relationship with Creator, its one and only purpose. God alone is the master of life and death…’ (Vatican Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith)
- ‘Do not commit murder; anyone who does will be brought to trial.’
Catholics and many other Christian denominations believe that God gives the gift of life and it is God who decides when a life should come to an end.
Christians are often influenced by the society around them as well as by their faith.
The Catholic Church teaches that deliberate procured abortion is a serious sin in all circumstances. In Catholic theology human life is said to begin at the moment of conception. From that moment it is sacred and everybody should try to protect it.
The Irish bishops in their pastoral letter, ‘Human Life is Sacred’, say:
God’s commandment is that no human being deliberately takes away innocent human life. What life could be more innocent than that of an unborn child? Deliberate abortion is, therefore, always gravely sinful. The embryo or foetus possesses its fundamental right to life form the moment of conception
‘Human life is sacred’ Pope Paul VI said ‘ All men must recognise that fact’
The Second Vatican Council declared that ‘ Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.
Mother Teresa: Words of Wisdom
"I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child -- a direct killing of the innocent child -- murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love -- that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts."
Tertullian
Tertullian was the first Christian writer to write in Latin. He stated that:
"In our case, a murder being once for all forbidden, we may not destroy even the fetus in the womb, while as yet the human being derives blood from the other parts of the body for its sustenance. To hinder a birth is merely a speedier man-killing; nor does it matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to birth. That is a man which is going to be one; you have the fruit already in its seed" (Apology 9:8 [A.D. 197]).
One of the earliest Christian writings outside the New Testament – the Didache – says this:
- You shall not kill by abortion the fruit of the womb and you shall not murder the infant already born.
"The second commandment of the teaching: You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not seduce boys. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal. You shall not practice magic. You shall not use potions. You shall not procure [an] abortion, nor destroy a newborn child" (Didache 2:1–2 [A.D. 70]).
Our church the Roman Catholic Church states that the church is officially against abortion. The law of the Church states that anyone who commits the sin of abortion automatically excommunicates herself from the Church.
Other Churches have different viewpoints.
Protestants
They refer to a passage in the bible that states that if two men are fighting and wound a pregnant woman, they shall have to pay her husband a fine if she has a miscarriage, but they will have to give a life for a life if the woman herself dies. The difference is that it indicates that early Biblical writers did not consider that the woman and the fetus had equal status – the fetus was not considered a person.
Orthodox
It teaches that the taking and administration of drugs for the purpose of abortion is wrong, but does not specifically outlaw the other methods of abortion.
Judaism
Judaism has traditionally taught a respect for life, including pre-natal life, and in Jewish law there is an absolute right to be born.
Hinduism
Hinduism has a doctrine of non-interference with natural processes and so it is against birth control and abortion.
The pro-choice groups campaign that women should be able to have an abortion on demand. They believe that the woman should not have to persuade someone else that she is making the rights choice as it is her body and she should be able to decide whether or not she wants to continue the pregnancy.
The all party parliamentary pro-choice group, or pro-choice alliance (PCA) is a group which campaigns for the right of a woman to have an abortion without having to give anyone a reason, up to the 14th week of pregnancy. It is open to members of any religion and any political party, and it campaigns to try to change the law to make abortions easier to obtain. The PCA believes it is wrong for women to have to explain their personal circumstances to a doctor, and then leave it up to him or her to decide whether or not they can have an abortion. This, they say, is an invasion of the woman’s privacy, and is treating her like a child, as though she is incapable of making sensible decisions by herself and needs to be told what she may or may not do by someone else, who usually does not know her very well.
Euthanasia
Euthanasia is where a doctor, friend or relative intentionally ends or helps to end, a persons life to finish their suffering.
There are two forms of Euthanasia:
- Voluntary Euthanasia – this is were a person decides to end his or her suffering.
- Involuntary Euthanasia – this is where someone else decides that it is better for a person to die rather than live in his or her present condition.
The House of Lords in Britain has voted in favour of positive euthanasia, which would involve the discontinuation of treatment for a sick person prolonging life. The Lords outlined certain conditions in which positive euthanasia would be acceptable
- The patient would have to agree freely and spontaneously
- In order to give the patient time to understand the significance of his decision, a time lapse of thirty days between signing the form and the withdrawal of treatment would be required.
Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England condemn euthanasia and some of the reasons that were put forward are:
- ‘God made life in his own image’ (Genesis 1:27). Life is a gift from God and it is sacred. God alone has the right to decide the moment of death.
- The hospice movement has made great advances in helping patients and their families cope with the problems of terminal illness and allow patients to die with dignity.
- Human beings are not animals – they cannot just be ‘put to sleep’
- Doctors are bound by the Hippocratic Oath, which states that they have a duty to preserve life and it is unfair to expect medical staff to break this principle.
- People have been known to recover against all the odds.
Euthanasia is sometimes referred to as ‘mercy killing’. It is proposed for such reasons as:
- Putting an end to extreme suffering
- Preventing abnormal babies from growing up
- Ending the life of the mentally ill
- Preventing the incurable from having a miserable life.
The Christian views on euthanasia are based on the belief in the sanctity of life, which comes form the teaching that all people were made in the image of God and that it is for him only to give and take life.
When the Catholic Church speaks of reverence for human life, the words are meant to be taken in their wildest sense. We do not isolate the defence of unborn life from the defence of human dignity in other areas where these are cheapened, endangered or destroyed. In all these areas the same principle applies, innocent human life is inviolable, no man has the right to suppress it.
A preferred alternative to euthanasia for many people is hospices, which are residential homes for the terminally ill. Dame Cicely Saunders founded the first hospice. The Hospice Movement developed form the concern of Christians that people should be allowed to die with dignity. Hospice care concentrates on controlling pain and giving support to the emotional and spiritual needs of the patients. It is believed that deliberately to kill dying people is to reject them.
The Roman Catholic Church believes that life is sacred and is to be preserved. An exception may be in the case of a person who is being kept alive by life support machine but whose brain is believed to be dead. In such a case it may be right to withdraw the artificial support of life while still offering food and water to a patient through drips.
The Popes view on euthanasia is quite clear as he states in his Evangelium Vitae of 1995 to Roman Catholics, Pope John Paul II described euthanasia as a grave violation of the law of God.
There are a number of different Church teachings about euthanasia.
The Baptist church in the UK teaches that euthanasia is very similar to abortion, and raises the same sorts of issues – whether people have the right to choose to take away human life. In general the Baptists are against euthanasia because they believe that all human life is sacred and therefore worth preserving. However Baptists usually agree that when a person is brain dead or cannot maintain any kind of relationship with friends and relatives, and medical experts agree that there is absolutely no chance of recovery, then it is acceptable for treatment to be stopped and the patient to be allowed to die.
The Church of England has been involved in a lot of discussion about euthanasia in the last thirty years, and has produced reports, which set out its position. It agrees that the sanctity of life is very important. The church also stresses the importance of making sure that the church should do all it can to make the elderly feel important members of society.
The Roman Catholic Church is totally against euthanasia, and teaching that any act, which deliberately brings about death is the same as murder. However it accepts that sometimes drugs, which are intended to relieve pain, might also shorten life, and this is considered acceptable. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that ordinary treatments, such as feeding a patient, must always be continued, but that ‘extraordinary’ treatments, such as a complicated operation that is unlikely to succeed, need not be given. It emphasises that sick people need and deserve special care.
