The Church of Scotland’s Board of Social Responsibility has a slightly more hard line approach to abortion. It said, “Abortion has no moral justification and represents the unwarranted destruction of human life that is made in the image of God”. It also stated however, that this was only “in the great majority of cases”, which means that abortion could be right under certain circumstances, such as if the child is severely handicapped. The Protestant Churches are similar to the teachings belonging to the Church of England and Church of Scotland-that it is much better to choose against abortion, but accepts that certain circumstance where it may be the preferred option.
The Roman Catholic view however is very different. It teaches that abortion is a great crime and is unacceptable in all circumstances. This is based on the opinion that life begins at conception and it is wrong to kill a human being. Pope Paul VI said in Humanae Vitae in 1968 that “human life is sacred” and “All men must recognise that fact”. Vatican II, Gaudiun et Spes 51 supports this, “life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.”
Although most Christians are generally against abortion, many are influenced by society as well as their faith. Also, some women’s views are altered by feminist views about the need to make your choices about your own body. In addition some Christians regard abortion as morally right and believe that they are doing no harm as they think that foetuses are not alive until a certain point.
As with abortion, there are contrasting views over the issue of euthanasia.
Christians who support euthanasia do so because they think Jesus would have condoned it. They believe this to be the case as Jesus showed compassion and didn’t want people to suffer. They say that euthanasia is compassion as is it is kinder to let someone go than to keep them alive and prolong their misery. The Bible does not mention euthanasia so there is no definitive Biblical teaching, but it is very hard to believe that Jesus would rather make someone’s pain last longer than to end it and let them die.
Most Christians however, do refer the Bible when the issue of euthanasia is raised. They look back to the Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill”. While they recognise that euthanasia ends suffering, they still regard it as killing someone and unsurprisingly, they do no want to support something that contradicts the Ten Commandments. Christians regard life as sacred and because only God can give life, only God has the authority to take it.
Most Christians do not think euthanasia is right thing to do, because nearly all denominations of Christianity do not support it. The Roman Catholic Church absolutely condemns it and in 1975 The Church of England produced a report “On Dying Well” which opposed euthanasia. The Methodist Church does not promote euthanasia either, but it is debatable as to whether Christians should follow the beliefs of their church. Euthanasia was not an issue at the time of Jesus so consequently he did not teach about it. Different denominational beliefs about euthanasia have arisen from the leaders and is therefore very much a matter of opinion-as the Bible does not refer to it Christianity as a whole cannot say whether it is religiously wrong or right.
