However, other people see the start of life as being when the sperm joins with the egg; thus they believe life begins at conception. So by inducing an abortion they believe that the woman doing so is committing murder. All Christians believe abortion is murder and God commanded them not to commit murder, as it states in the Ten Commandments, ‘Thou shalt not commit murder’.
Another argument for abortion is that a woman has rights over the foetus. The woman has rights over the foetus because it is growing inside her and it belongs to her; the foetus is dependent upon the woman for survival.
Against this point is that certain people believe that foetuses have rights, rights equal to the rights of its bearer. So it has the right to be born and the right to exist.
A strong argument for abortion concerns the possibility of complications in childbirth. If the act of giving birth or carrying the infant would actually cause death or injury to the mother and or the child, an abortion may be justified.
As it was said above, many people believe that the unborn child has equal rights to the mother. Even if the mother’s life is threatened the infant still has the right to live. If the termination of the pregnancy would save the life of the mother, wouldn’t it nevertheless be unjust on the terminated foetus?
If the woman’s child was conceived in rape, many people believe that an abortion is necessary. In some Christian Churches they allow rape victims to have abortions even though it is going against God’s word.
Against this, however, is that the foetus in the eyes of some still has rights, and it is not the fault of the foetus that it was conceived by rape. The unborn still has the right to live even if it has been conceived by a violent act. But as God stated in the commandments ‘love thy neighbours’, a rape isn’t exactly a loving act; so Christian women may use this to ask for an abortion.
In conclusion, I believe that the act of abortion can be justified before the heart of the foetus begins to beat. As I believe life ends when the sensation of the heart ceases so I believe that life begins when the heart begins to pump blood, blood being the liquid of life. Before this, however, I believe that the clump of cells is not alive and it can be terminated without it being called murder. I personally believe that only in extraordinary circumstances, such as the probable death of both the mother and child if the pregnancy was allowed to continue, can an abortion be carried out after the heart begins to beat. So in closing and referring to the question, ‘abortion is never justified’, do I agree? I agree that abortions are justified before the heart begins to beat, and only in certain circumstances is it justified after.
