"Abortion is never justified." Do you agree? Give reasons to support your answer and show that you have thought about different points of view. You must refer to Christianity in your answer.

Authors Avatar

Rachel Third 10AT Religious Education Coursework

“Abortion is never justified.” Do you agree? Give reasons to support your answer and show that you have thought about different points of view. You must refer to Christianity in your answer.

The statement, “Abortion is never justified,” means that no circumstance or situation makes a procured, deliberate abortion morally acceptable. The abortion debate is a delicate issue, as each individual case is unique and there are many different circumstances to consider. I do not agree with the question statement, as I believe that in some extreme cases the termination of a pregnancy may be the lesser of two evils.

For example, in the case of a rape many people would agree that an abortion would be justified. The Church of England state that under this circumstance an abortion may be morally legitimate, due to the need to have “compassion for the mother,” Synod 1993. Christians believe that God calls them to “Love thy neighbour as thy self” as it says in Leviticus 19:18, and so by showing care and understanding towards a rape victim they are putting this commandment into action. The Baptist church agrees, recognising that in a fallen world the taking of the life of the foetus might be the “lesser of two evils.” ProChoice groups, such as the “ProChoice Alliance”, would say that abortion is a tragedy, but in some cases it is the least tragic option. However Christians who are ProLife could have a very different opinion, saying that to have an abortion in a rape case does not improve the situation, and is still morally wrong. Abortion in the case of rape is an “indefensible response to a complex situation,” says the “ProLife Alliance. The Roman Catholic Church would agree with this, as Pope John Paul II said, “The direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human life is always gravely immoral.” However many people might see this view as too strict, as to expect a victim, who may already be suffering emotional distress as a result of the rape, to carry and give birth to the child of her rapist, would be unfair and unloving. On the other hand, Christians who are ProLife might say, that does it follow that a child conceived of a rape has no right to life? Christians believe that as person is made in the “image of God” (Genesis 1:26) every person is in equal possession of inherent God given dignity. They believe that God has planned every pregnancy, even a pregnancy that is the result of rape, as it says in Jeremiah 1:5 “I chose you before I gave you life… Before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.” Therefore to end this life would be to defy God’s will, and destroy a life that is valuable to God. Christians are taught that this is unacceptable, as it says in 1 Corinthians 3 “If anyone destroys God’s temple, he will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy and you are God’s temple.” This text teaches how all human life is sacred in the eyes of God. For this reason I believe that unless the victim of the rape is a child (less than 16 years of age) and therefore is not mentally or physically mature enough to give birth to or raise a child of their own, abortion in the case of rape is not always justified.  

Join now!

Both the Abortion Law, the Church of England, the Methodist church and the Baptist church agree that in the case of severe foetal abnormality an abortion can take place at any point during the pregnancy, right up until birth, although these churches agree that late abortions should be very rare. However, this gives rise to the question; “What is the definition of a severe abnormality?” Reverent Joanna Jepson began legal action over the late abortion of a baby found to have a cleft palate, which she believes is not a serious handicap. Miss Jepson had corrective surgery herself as ...

This is a preview of the whole essay