Abortion is when a mother decides that she can't go ahead with her pregnancy and decided to get rid of it.

     Other religions also follow some of these views, Judaism teaches that life begins at the moment of birth, however abortion is discouraged except where the mother’s life is at risk.  Islam also teaches that abortion is permitted only in extreme circumstances in which case the actual life of the mother takes priority over the probable life of the foetus.

     Is abortion murder?  In Britain, legally it isn’t, however there is something that is being killed when an unborn child is aborted, but what is it.  We need to decide if when we abort the foetus, if we are killing a human being, but to do this we need to know what we would classify as a human being, is it when you have all of your senses or when you look like a human being.  Normally you would call a human someone who is out of a mother’s womb or someone who looks like us, but a baby that is fully grown inside of a mother’s womb is clearly a human being as it has all of the features of a human, so in fact we are killing a human.

     These Christian teachings may make a person stronger in their beliefs and so they will try and get their message across to other people, but some Christians may not believe entirely what God believes and what they have been taught.  A poll was set up in 1988 and asked ‘Do you think that women should have the right to choose abortion in the first few months of pregnancy?’  From these results, 86% of people who follow the Church of England believed that women should have the right to choose abortion and so these people do not completely follow their religion as the C of E say that abortion is wrong and that it denies the foetus right to life.  In the Roman Catholic religion, over two thirds believed that women had the right to abortion, even though Catholics believe that abortion is totally unacceptable in all circumstances and so these results show that most RC’s do not believe in what their religion believes in, in the case of abortion.  With non-Christians there are 87% of Jews, 100% of Sikhs, 66% of Hindus, and 33% of Muslims who all believe that the mother has the choice of abortion, with those that do not have religious beliefs, 85% supported the right to choose and so some still do not agree with the right to choose abortion.  This poll was a while ago and so compared to a poll in 2001 which showed that 65% of the people asked believed that if a woman wants an abortion she should not have to continue with the pregnancy and so more and more people have changed their attitude towards abortion and are following the beliefs of their religion.

     Christians who have had children of their own may influence them in how they think about abortions and how they feel about it; Christians train children to reject it and to see it as a part of the list of injustices and evils in the world rather than part of the list of rights, freedoms and choices.

     There are many ways in which a Christian might use their beliefs to put their point across about abortion.  The most likely one would be within a discussion with other people, where they might show their disagreement with abortion and use their faith to explain their opinions.  There are also many different ‘pro-life’ organisations that campaigns against abortion such as Life or SPUC (Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child), where these organisations organise protest marches and other methods of protest to get their point across.  A Christian’s beliefs about abortion may affect the way they vote, as they may vote for someone who may make abortion harder to obtain.  Many people decide to take part in protests against abortion, such as writing letters to newspapers and to their MP.  They may also take part in marches and demonstrations where they carry signs that show their opinions and also protest at clinics that offer abortions to try and persuade people who visit the clinic to change their mind about having an abortion.  A Christian might try to encourage schools to give children better sex education so that there are fewer unwanted pregnancies and they may also organise talks to young people within their church or become volunteers at counselling centres to help give advice about contraceptives.

     On the other hand, Christians who believe that women have the right to choose to have an abortion may join a group that campaigns for the right to choose abortion or support an organisation, which offers counselling for people who have had abortions.  Christians may also support people who are considering having abortions so that they don’t feel as if they are alone.  Furthermore, during conversations Christians might explain that it is sometimes right for a woman to have an abortion and try to discourage others from criticising women who decide to take this action.

     SPUC is an organisation but not a Christian organisation, although many Christians do support it as it campaigns against abortions, the work that they do involves raising money so that they can produce advertising material to show their point of view.  The group organises protests, whenever they are needed, especially when people suggest the law needs to be changed to make abortion easier and they may write letters to MP’s when abortion is debated in Parliament to try and change their views.  Many Christians will believe that it is wrong to do nothing to stop abortion as the Bible teaches that it is important to defend the weak, “ Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked” (Psalm 82:4) and from this, they will put their faith into action.

     ‘Death is God’s business and people should not interfere.’  I do not agree with this statement and this is because there are many different reasons for my choice.  In abortion the pregnant women may have been raped and so she feels that she can’t go ahead with the pregnancy and if the baby is born then the mother may not be able to cope with living with it and so it has to be terminated.  Another reason is that the foetus may have physical and/or mental problems that the mother may not be able to cope with and she may think it would be unfair on the foetus if it were born.  It is also the same with euthanasia, people who have suffered for most of their life would hate to carry on living when they don’t have to and the reasons for their suffering could be that they have cancer in the terminal stages and there would seem to be no good reason to prolong a person’s suffering and force him to undergo a painful and undignified death.  Also if a person has a permanent and crippling disability or have lost control over their bodily functions and so that person should be able to die with dignity.  But on the other hand, for Christianity followers they would believe that it is God’s business and he is the one who chooses whether you live or die, as he is the one who makes us, brings us into the world and is the life-creator and giver according to Christians and religious organisations.  The part of this statement that says the ‘people should not interfere’ shows that God is in charge and has all the power with every living thing on earth and that he shouldn’t be contradicted for his decisions.  Christianity rejects the taking of innocent life and so abortion is considered a grave sin – essentially evil, and condemned absolutely by the Roman Catholic Church, as it goes against natural law and the World of God.  A quote from Jeremiah 1:5 says ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’  This is saying that we are part of a plan and as God made this plan you should not break it.  However Liberal Protestant Christians oppose abortion in principle, and advocate the preservation of life, but allow for abortion in certain situations (where the mother’s life is threatened, in the case of rape or incest, and when the mother’s metal or physical health is endangered).  This different way of looking at abortion is one that I agree with as many people cannot handle being pregnant and if they are raped they may not be able to cope.