Abortion has been used throughout the world for thousands of years. In the UK, abortion became illegal in the 19th century when the penalty for procuring a miscarriage was life imprisonment. As a result women trying to escape an unwanted pregnancy were forced to use dangerous methods. They either performed operations themselves or they visited back-street abortionists, many of which were performed dangerously and/or in unsanitary conditions. However when these illegal facilities were too unsanitary, too expensive or not available, the pregnant woman performed dangerous operations on herself. These included poisonous drugs, knitting needles, soap or lead solutions inserted through syringes, and blows to the abdomen. In the 1950’s, it was frowned upon to be pregnant and unmarried. During this time, the small amount of unmarried mothers found it very difficult to cope with children on their own. The lack of emotional and financial support would seriously affect the upbringing of the child and the mental health of the mother. As a result of this, many unmarried pregnant women turned to illegal abortion.
There can be many reasons as to why pregnancies can be so unwanted. Contraceptive failure is currently a major reason for women requesting abortion. The woman may be too old or young, it is the wrong time in her life, she is single and lacking support, she is pregnant as a result of rape, the mother maybe homeless or has relationship reasons. Sometimes the baby is aborted because it is likely to be born with serious disabilities, or there maybe diseases in one of the parents family.
As women gained more rights in society, the legalisation of abortion was focused on. Also, many people were appalled by the number of women suffering and even dying as a result of illegal abortion.
In 1965, two thirds of those questioned believed that abortion should be legal ‘in some cases’. All thus led to the Abortion Act in 1967. It was believed that women should have the choice over their body. In 1976, after the 1967 Abortion Act, 55% agreed that abortion should be legally available to those who want it.
There were certain conditions. The Abortion Act said that the ending of a pregnancy would not be illegal if:
- The operation is carried out by a registered doctor and in a registered hospital.
- Two doctors agree that by carrying on the pregnancy, there would be a risk to the physical or mental health of the mother, or that there is a risk that the foetus would be born with a serious physical or mental handicap.
- The pregnancy is no longer than 28 weeks.
In 1990 another law was passed called the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act. This act says that legal termination of pregnancy may be carried out if two doctors agree that the woman is less than 24 weeks pregnant and that continuing the with pregnancy would involve risk to her physical or mental health or that continuing with the pregnancy would involve risk to the physical or mental health of any existing children in her family. Two doctors must agree and those with religious or moral objections are not legally obliged to help.
This reform act changed to 24 weeks as babies had been born before 28 weeks and survived. However, babies have been born at 25 weeks and survived. The implications with this are that people may argue that 1 week wouldn’t make a difference in a baby’s development. Therefore, should the 1990 Act now be changed?
Another controversial issue is the debate of who should have the final decision. Should the mother have the ultimate decision or does the father deserve a say? Also does the foetus have rights? And if so, who is it that has the final decision? We can’t answer that due to the foetus’s lack of status or voice. Or does the doctor have the final right? After all they can refuse to agree with the pregnant woman’s choice. When a doctor starts his/her profession they have to sign the Hippocratic Oath which says they have to preserve all life. Due to personal or religious beliefs, they can refuse.
Due to the unanswered questions concerning the topic, abortion is a very controversial issue. Although people’s views have been considered, they is and will always be campaigners or ant-abortionists that will either continue to campaign against abortion or learn to cope with their different opinions, after all it will never be possible to satisfy everyone.
Christians look to the bible as a source of guidance and comfort. Christians may feel the need for daily reflection, worship and comfort. Christians want to understand what God wants of his people in the world, they may want to formalise belief and custom. The Bible provides Christians with moral guidance on dilemmas and also information about what Christian life is like and what is needed to live that life.
The Bible, according to Christians is the words of God and that it explains the correct way to live your life. These words can be expressed in poems, songs, teachings or just words from important people of that time.
The direct topic of abortion is not mentioned in the Bible due to the fact that the following situations were very uncommon:
- A woman having a sexual relationship before marriage
- A woman therefore having children before marriage
- A woman attempting to kill a foetus or child
However some Christians believe that the Bible contains advice that can relate to the topic of abortion, such as issues like birth, self-respect, life, death and how we relate to God. These passages can be interpreted either way, supporting abortion or against it, depending on the passage or the readers view and interpretation.
GENESIS 1 v27-28
“So God created human beings, making them to be like himself…have many children, so that your descendents will live all over the earth and bring it under their control”.
Everybody is made to be like God. Although he plans and creates us, it is our job to make sure these children do get the chance of life through reproduction. We are Gods servants and by having an abortion we are disobeying him and not fulfilling our duty and purpose as respectful human beings and also Gods servants. It is our duty to reproduce and fill the land with Gods children, which is our purpose in life which should be carried out. If we do not we are committing a sin, nor do we have the right to decide when the right time is to have a child, that is Gods decision. Nowhere in the bible does it say we should have control of when we have children and how many of them we have. Everything happens and lives for a reason, the reason we are here is to reproduce and to act as a catalyst for Gods children to develop.
However the passage does contain the words “bring it under their control” so does this suggest that we have control over the children we have and when we have them? Does this give us more powers? God wants us to have control over our lives and he expects us to make responsible and adequate decisions as to how out lives are lived. Does this therefore give us the right to decide our parenthood end therefore a pregnancy if we believe it is the best thing? Different people will have different views on this passage.
1 CORINTHIANS 3 v16-17
“Surely you know that you are Gods temple and that Gods spirit lives in you! So if anyone destroys Gods temple you will destroy him for Gods temple is holy and you yourself are his temple”.
Every human being contains a part of God. We are therefore holy and sacred. We are a temple of what we should worship as does God, we are Gods temple. If anyone kills this holy temple through murder or abortion, they are destroying a part of God and a part of his temple. As well as having no respect for him, you will have no respect for your self as a human body is a sacred and holy temple that has the right to be protected and preserved until Gods planned death is imminent. God expects us to provide a safe and secure environment and life to protect his sacred work. Therefore if you kill a life whether it be living and walking on earth or if it is still inside the mother’s womb, you are murdering a piece of God and destroying a holy and sacred temple, which is worshipped by God and should be worshipped by yourself.
PSALM 139 v13
“You created every part of me, you put me together in my mother’s womb”.
It is God’s job to shape, construct and plan you and your life. It is he that decides who will be born and what they will turn out like. We are therefore merely couriers for God’s creations, so we have no right to interfere with his plans or to alter them. Everyone is an individual created by God and that life is meant to be. The mother and father are simply catalysts for God’s work to develop. We are God’s children and no-one else’s, only he should decide our development and autonomy; nobody else has the right to.
EXODUS 20 v13
“Thou shall not kill”.
This is one of the 10 commandments, the sacred and important rules of life that if you follow you will be rewarded in heaven. God states that as servants of him, we have no right o destroy one of his creations, if we do, we will be punished. However what is a life? When does life begin? If we terminate a pregnancy at its earliest stages, are we committing one of the most terrible sins? Or if we kill an insect, which is another one of Gods creations, are we condemned to suffer in hell for eternity?
JOB 1 v12.
“I was born with nothing and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave and now he has taken away”.
This is saying that God is in charge and in control of everything. He owns all of the living in the world and he decides who or what is born, when they are born and what they are born with. God decides what happens to people and what is given or taken away. No-one has the right to meddle with God’s plans, God decides what is right and what he believes is suitable for him, for you and the world, after all it is God’s world, God’s creatures and God’s people therefore he can decide what goes in the world and what comes out of people and creatures. Nothing is a coincidence, everything happens for a reason and God is the one who plans that reason. Nothing really belongs to us, especially a baby or a foetus. God moulds the babies and gives them out for the correct people to nurture. Everyone and everything belongs to God. If you kill a foetus you are not destroying your child but God’s child and also God’s doing. Therefore no person has the right to interfere with the superiors’ plans.
MATTHEW 7 v1.
“Do not judge others so that God will not judge you”.
If we pass judgement on our fellow citizens, then God will therefore judge us and our sins. We don’t want to be judged by God as he has the power to reward us or punish us by sending us to either heaven or hell. We don’t want to get on the wrong side of God. Everybody commits sins otherwise we would be perfect and therefore we would be God. God can forgive these sins as long as we don’t judge other peoples sins. We don’t have the right to look down on a sinner when we have committed sinful actions in the past. We have our own choices in life and have the right to make decisions concerning out life. Nobody should pass judgement for your choices and neither will God just as long as you refuse to judge others.
JOHN 8 v7
“As they stood there asking him questions, he straightened up and said to them ‘whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her”.
Everyone has committed a sin. No-one is perfect. We all make mistakes and these mistakes shouldn’t be made worse by condemning the sinner, we should be good Christians and provide support and comfort if the sinner is experiencing pain. We should be a good neighbour. If a woman has an abortion we should not waste out feelings on condemnation but try to understand that her mistake was what she thought was best and that at this time the last thing she may be is happy or relieved. We should comfort this woman as she may be suffering because of her mistake. No-one has the right to condemn others unless we are perfect and have never committed a sin, which is none of us.
These passages suggest different things. Depending on the reader and their views, the Bible can either support the right to choose and the right to sin or that abortion is a sin that cannot be forgiven as ending a pregnancy is destroying a part of God and killing God’s child.
MARK 12 v31.
“The second most important commandment is ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself”.
We should treat others as we would want to be treated. We should understand other people’s situations and decisions and have compassion for those around us even if they may have sinned. We should support each other and be there for people around us in need of help. Don’t walk away when people are in need of help. If we have self respect we will have respect ourselves in return. This is the ultimate goodness and what Christianity is all about. We should all follow Jesus’ example.
Christianity cannot be seen as one religion, of which all of its followers have the same views and principles. Christianity is a religion that over many years has branched off into many different groups of the same religion. They have all formed their own dogma on the issue of abortion. This is another reason as to why abortion can cause such controversy, due to the many different views.
Baptist Union
Baptists believe in the sanctity of all life, but there are circumstances in which they regard the taking of life as justified. This is usually when the mother is in danger or if relationships are in danger then the abortion is said to be acceptable. They have no agreement as to when life begins. They agree with the 28 week restrictions but believe that the time limit should be reduced due to the foetus’s development.
Church of England
Although it does not agree with abortion the Church of England will accept it if children will be born to parents who will not be able to cope or into situations where the child’s quality of life may be deficient. They acknowledge that abortion is a controversial issue. They question whether abortion can ever be justified.
The General Synod of 1993 said:-
- Number of abortions since 1967 is too high considering only 4 conditions
- The church and society needs to create a caring and loving and educating framework to try to reduce the need for abortion
- We need to support the BMA and try to make sure that abortions happen as soon as possible
- “Serious foetal handicap” should be understood as that if the foetus did survive until birth, it would not survive very long outside the womb, and if this requires an abortion after 24 weeks it is justified.
- We need to provide spiritual, moral, practical support to aid parenthood.
"We affirm that every human life, created in the divine image, is unique”
Methodist Church
They discuss the status of the unborn child and also the issue of when life begins. A statement in 1976 said that abortion was always evil, and to be avoided. They believe that care should be given to single parents and also to provide actual, worthwhile help to encourage mums to keep the baby. They advise women to consider the idea of adopting their child out if all else fails. In 1994 they changed their opinion and said that abortion is justified if the woman is pregnant as a result of rape, if the foetus is greatly handicapped, or if the mental or physical health of the mother is in danger. They believe that counselling should be given to both the mother and father before abortion is given. Finally if abortion is the case then it should be given as soon as possible.
“The unborn child is created in the image of God and is one for whom the Son of God died. Therefore, it is a sin to take this child’s life for reasons whether birth control, gender selection, convenience or to avoid embarrassment.”
“Abortion is always an evil to be avoided if at all possible... However, in an imperfect world there will be circumstances where termination of a pregnancy may be the lesser of two evils. Some embryos are grievously handicapped. Where the pregnancy is the result of rape, an abortion may be necessary for the recovery of the victim. Termination of pregnancy may be indicated in view of the social circumstances of the existing family, or the mental or physical health of the mother.... If abortion were made illegal again, the result would be more ‘back street, abortions."
Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
They all share the same principle: that of respect for the Light within each person. They wish to respect the mothers concerned with abortion, but they respect the sacredness of the foetus’ life. They believe that life is the greatest gift there is. Different Quakers may interpret the principle differently. Much depends on the circumstances and the people concerned. They admit that they may get it wrong. In the end, they accept that they are each responsible, for their own lives, to God.
They only rely on the experience of other Quakers. There are many different opinions within the society. Quakers question the controversial issues such as when life begins and if God is present in each and every conception. Whatever a Quaker decides, they are always loved and supported.
Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholics believe abortion is always wrong as it goes against the natural process of childbirth and therefore against the will of God.
They believe that an unborn child is a human and a gift from God, worthy of complete respect. They believe that all life should be protected and see abortion as murder in all cases. Catholics believe that contraception is a form of abortion as it prevents fertilization.
"Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person.... Abortion is a horrible crime."
Salvation Army
Salvationists believe in the sanctity of all human life from the moment of fertilisation. They believe that life is sacred and should be protected from the moment of conception. The rights of both the woman and the foetus are always considered and no-one is ever turned away no matter what. They do except termination of a pregnancy when:
- The birth of the baby would cause a serious threat to the mother
- The pregnancy is a result of rape
- The foetus lacks ‘cognitive function’.
United Reform Church
The members of the church all have different opinions and have therefore refused to take part in any recent major debates. The vast diversity comes from some people supporting the right for the woman’s choice and those who wish to ban abortion. They are more concerned about the welfare of the mother and they usually just describe the foetus as ‘potential’. Each case is seen as individual and a decision is made concerning the mother’s and the community’s best interest.