Abortion and Euthanasia

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Daniel McCormick

S2B

Religion

5th Year Coursework

Abortion and Euthanasia

Explain the beliefs that Christians hold about their responsibilities to those at the beginning and end of their lives.

Explain the beliefs that Christians hold about their responsibilities to those at the beginning and end of their lives.

The general belief about life and its beginning is that life is a gift from God which only God can take away. As Ecclesiastes 3:2 says “He sets the time for birth and the time for death”. Also preservation and protection of life are central to the teachings of Christianity. It is also the belief of many people that all humans are made in the image and likeness of God. Gen 1:26-27 says “God created man in his own image, male and female he created them”. All Christians believe that it is special to God and each person is sacred and holy. Each individual is unique.

There is a diversity of views among Christians about when life actually begins. On the one hand The Roman Catholic position is ‘Pro-Life’ and ‘Anti-Abortion’. This means that life begins at conception. Psalm 139 supports this, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made. Your eyes saw my unformed body” this implies that a foetus is recognised by God, and should be recognised by Christians as a person.  Also one of the Ten Commandments is Thou shalt not kill. So if you perform or have an abortion you are therefore killing a life. This is just the same as committing the murder of a living person.

Each individual has a unique relationship with God and no person except God has the right to take this relationship away by either murder, abortion or euthanasia. Matthew 19: 14 Jesus says “Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these”. This would imply that God loves all children equally.

It is my belief that the same set of rules must also apply to those at the end of their lives as those at the beginning of life.

In Matthew 14: 34-36, Jesus heals the sick in Gennesaret, and in Mark 5: 21-42, He heals the daughter of Jairus and also a woman who touches his cloak. These parables suggest that God does not want sick people to die nor do they even suggest that those who are incurable should be put out of their misery. These people want to live and are healed not just by the love of Jesus but also by their faith in God.

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As Catholics, we believe that death with dignity means that terminally ill people should be treated with the best possible medical attention and care available and not just to be put down by means of euthanasia. According to Ecclesiastes 3: 2 it is only God who should decide the time of our death, and according to Corinthians 6: 18-20, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, so to destroy someone through euthanasia is to destroy God’s temple which is most sacred. We should trust in God and place ourselves in His hands.

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