Abortion: The expulsion of the foetus from the womb prematurely, intentionally killing the baby.

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Ever since the first spark of life came to be on this planet, billions of years ago, after the dawn of all time up until the present day; every creature that has ever drawn a breath, respects the miracle that is life.

Something that is universal is the knowledge that all life is sacred. This is evident in some of the earliest references, and in particular, one of the most studied references, The Bible. Again and again the same ideas pop up. The fifth commandment-“Thou shalt not kill”, in the sermon on the mount-“you shall not kill”, the Catholic declaration-“human life is sacred”… no one, under any circumstances, should be able to claim for himself the right to directly destroy any human being against their will.

There is a lot we can learn from other cultures on this, whose belief usually contains a “life is sacred” reference. The native Indians believed that all life was connected and understood that all life is sacred.

It seems that whatever, religion, culture or race, that life, in whatever form it takes is beautiful and sacred and should not be taken or thrown away lightly. The one thing certain from all cultures though, is that life is good and it must continue

Terminating the life of a young baby intentionally is called murder, and considered one of the worst crimes that any person can commit, so why is it that for most people, it is seen as socially acceptable for a foetus to be killed inside the womb? You could also argue that the main problem here is determining the exact point at which the creation is regarded as a conscious being with basic rights, and essentially, the right to life

It might be helpful to first look at the two extremes of the argument about when the unborn child has rights. There is the argument that life begins at conception, in which case, the foetus has rights from the first moment that a two gametes meet and create a fertilised egg. The other extreme is that, although it is illegal to terminate the life of a foetus after the 25th week of pregnancy, (n.b. currently, a child is not considered to have any rights until it draws its first breath). This has meant that if another person kills the foetus intentionally or by accident, they aren’t likely to be charged with murder or even manslaughter, even though after 20 weeks it’s features are almost fully developed and it might survive outside the womb.

There is also the argument that the Roman Catholic Church has kept its views the same since the first century, and as such has failed to move with the changing times and circumstances. Also, this as a law may force women to unofficial and often unhygienic back street clinics, as can be seen in parts of the world where abortion is illegal.

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Adoption is always an option for mothers with unwanted children, but this is often something that some mothers feel they cannot do. There are other things to consider. The idea of knowing that you have a child somewhere in the world that you have given away is too much for some people to bear. Mothers also might be afraid that they might become too attached to a child that, for one reason or another, they feel they cannot raise. Some mothers might also feel it is too cruel to bring a child into the world without their birth parents being able to look after them.

Christians believe that God is our Lord and that we are his people. We obey God by following his word through the bible, through the life, actions, death and resurrection of Jesus and by following the commandments. The commandment most relevant to this argument is “Thou shalt not kill”.

Most people today accept that abortion is a humane way to get rid of an unwanted child. Some members of the church view this as blundering utilitarianism. Many Christians believe (and I am inclined to agree) that allowing women to choose whether they want to have a child is a way of showing Christian Compassion and responsibility towards the world’s issues – whether they agree with the choice made or not. Most feminists believe that a woman is free to make her own choice because it is her body and she is the host. In many cases it may seem like it is in both the child’s and the mother’s best interests for the abortion to take place.

There is of course another, equally valid side to this argument. Humanists believe that “every child has the right to be a wanted child…” and that “…it is better to abort a child than to bring it up when it is unwanted or will have a poor quality of life”. Also, that “abortion saves thousands of children from unwanted, miserable lives”.

For the Pro-Choice campaigners (these are people who believe a woman should be allowed to choose to have an abortion, whatever the circumstances), incidents involving more radical members of the American organisation, Pro-Life fuelled their argument. The incidents I am referring to involved these members of Pro-Life waiting outside an abortion clinic until it closed. They then followed one of the doctors there to his car and shot him. When they were questioned by police, they said he was a murderer. If the doctor was a murderer because he ‘killed’ an unborn child, wasn’t the campaigner who pulled the trigger?

The Roman Catholic Church is probably the strictest on matters which involve the sanctity of life. It forbids abortion, even though it forbids contraception. The one exception to this rule is if the foetus is putting the life of the mother in danger or must be removed in order to treat a cancer of the womb. There might also be some allowance for mothers whose children were conceived in rape. Apart from the fact that they had no intention of bringing the child into the world, the child would remind them of the act forever.

The Roman Catholic declaration on procured abortion (1974) is this: “from the time the ovum is fertilised, a life begun which is neither that of the father nor the mother. It is the life of a new human being with its own growth. It would never become human if it was not human already.”

A more recent Catholic view is this: “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 recognised as having the rights of a person- among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.”

These arguments are in support of the first extreme. This belief stems from the Roman Catholic belief that all life is sacred, and most Roman Catholics still adhere to this belief, and to them, abortion is simply not an option. To those of Catholic faith, it is a form of murder and therefore a sin. This uncompromising teaching over abortion is also supported by the words of mother Teresa: “God has created us to love and to be loved, in his own image, as evidence of his love. For this reason I say that abortion is the greatest evil. If any one of you does not want his own child, do not kill it, but give it to me.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church supports this view:

“Only God has the right to take life. Suffering has its own value. The moment of death is too important to take out of God’s hands.”

In the case of abortion however, I believe that with a rapidly growing populous, poorer conditions as the rich-poor divide widens mean that more children would be brought into a world where they are not wanted. This, I think, is more unethical in the long run than terminating an undeveloped glint of life.

It is not for me to suggest that we know better than God, but given some of the circumstances which come about in this life, I would like to think that God does not condemn any actions which are carried out in kindness. If a woman wants an abortion, we should show our support in her decision and allow her to see that the church will forgive (as is taught in the bible) her and love her unconditionally.

Much of religion is about compromise, although many people would disagree. There are extremes to this argument, the Catholic Churches unchanging view on God’s control over our lives, the atheist who believes there is no God and that our conscience is the only controlling factor and the belief in predetermination that what will happen will happen.

It is the church’s’ belief that by committing murder or suicide, that a person not only violates the natural order of things, but goes against the will of our creator, God.

In a sharp contrast however, it is possible that since God knows everything and that our lives are part of his great plan, that taking a life or lives in some way might also be part of this plan.

So from this point of view it could be considered that all death is God’s intention in one way or another.

As we can see, the arguments for and against abortion are not simple, we have to take many things into consideration before we make any kind of judgement upon it. Although many people are generally against abortion (seeing it as against the sanctity of life) they will accept it in certain circumstances such as if the mother’s or child;s health is at risk or if the mother is too young to cope with a child.