Another factor that proves that life is sacred is the image of life being a gift from God.
‘The Lord gave her conception and she bore a son’
God gives the mother a son, which means he is a gift from God. God’s gift is seen as precious and should not be misused. The gift of life is used to become closer to God. The Ruth passage shows that God’s gift to women are their children. The elimination of the gift of life through Abortion would be incompatible with the Christian belief in the sanctity of life.
There is a passage in the Bible that talks about how a mother should not reject her baby:
‘So the Lord answers, “Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you! I have written your name on the palms of my hand’
Here, the Bible tells us of how God makes a life everlasting by writing its name in the palm of his hand showing the importance of life to God (sanctity of life). God tells us that a mother should never neglect her child but if she were to reject it, God would be there for the child as there is a personal relationship between the baby and God. This implies that the mother should always give birth to the child even if she were to neglect it, as God would take care of the baby. An Abortion would discount the love God has for a child and would prevent the relationship between God and life. Thus, Abortions must not take place, as it rids the child of a divine relationship with God, which is seen as a sin by Christians.
Most Christians would say that ‘God is Lord of life and earth’. From a Christian point of view, God creates life; ‘You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mother’s womb’ and only God has authority over death. Christians would say that people are not given complete charge over their lives and that God is in charge of their lives in the end. Ending a person’s life rejects God’s will and thus rejects the sovereignty of God. Ending a life is seen as, ‘playing God’, and no human being has this kind of authority to play God’s role.
When God created the world he said:
‘God created man and woman. God blessed the and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number”’
In this passage God tells man and woman to be fruitful, as it is His will. Abortion rejects this idea as it prevents life and destroys it. Christians would see this as a sin because it rejects God’s authority and therefore Abortion must be rejected in this context.
In conclusion, the Bible is clear on the sanctity of life and rejects murder. It shows Christians that there is a divine relationship between a baby and God and that this relationship should never be prevented. It portrays life as a sacred gift from God that should be nurtured and preserved with utmost respect. The Bible tells Christians of how man is made in God’s image and to destroy it would be like destroying part of God. God has supreme authority over life and no other authority has the power to go against His will. The emphasis on the sanctity of life in the Bible makes it clear that Abortion is incompatible with Christian belief as it rejects all the above ideas and thus Abortion is rejected in the Christian faith.
The views of Christian denominations on Abortion;
Catholicism and Protestantion
The Roman Catholic Tradition
The Roman Catholic Church condemns Abortion in all cases.
A Roman Catholic Document, ‘The Declaration on Procured Abortion,’ states, ‘Everybody should have proper respect for human life and human rights, women’s rights should not be used as an excuse that denies a person the fundamental right to life’ and that ‘a person would never be made human if it were not human already’.
The Church sees life as sacred from conception and to destroy the baby would be seen as a sin at all times. Destroying the foetus during pregnancy is therefore seen as murder at all times. The Second Vatican Council states,
‘Life must be protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: Abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes’.
The Roman Catholic Church believes that no one has authority over life, but God. Roman Catholics believe that it is not up to each individual Christian to decide what is right or wrong. The Catholic Church believes it has a teaching authority to say what is right or wrong. The Church tells people to look at the teaching of the church as a whole and has given very clear guidance on the issue. Once a person has been informed by the Church’s teachings, they may then consult their own conscience.
The Catholic Church has very strict guidelines when the topic of Abortion is concerned. This means there are differences of opinion from other denominations of Christianity concerning the topic, namely, the Protestant Church.
The Protestant Tradition
The Protestant Church, takes a slightly different approach when looking at the issue of Abortion. The Church believes that it is enough for people to look at the Bible and apply it to their own lives. The Church advises people to consult their own consciences rather than keep to the strictness of the Church. Some people take the ‘Situation Ethics’ approach where the absolute principle is ‘love’ rather than the sanctity of life and thus abortion would be seen as,’ the most loving course of action’.
The Church of England believes that if the mother’s life is at risk then an Abortion should be carried out because the mother’s life takes priority. Some Protestants also believe that a mother should not be forced to have an unwanted baby and that if a mother will not love the unwanted baby and then killing the baby in the womb could be an option. However the Church of England as a whole condemns this idea of the woman’s individual compassionate needs being a reason to undertake an Abortion, and it should be said that there is no certain Protestant view on the issue of Abortion and many might follow the ideas set by the Catholic Church.
The Church of England believes that:
When the situation arises that the birth of a child would be a threat to the life of the mother, then the foetus is regarded as an aggressor to the mother.
The mother would be entitled to seek protection from the threat to her life. The choice has to be made between the continuation of the pregnancy and the health of the mother. The Church of England would give precedence to the mother.
As a whole, because the Bible condemns Abortion then the Church of England also condemns it.
Christianity does not allow Abortion in most cases (Catholicism does not allow Abortion in all cases) because it rejects the idea of the sanctity of life. We see that the Protestant Church is more lenient.
Some Philosophers’ view on the practice of Abortion
The first philosopher’s view to be considered focuses on personhood and the distinction made between a person and a human being. Some moral theologians would question whether every human being is actually a person, for instance a baby born without a brain may be human because it is made up of human tissue but it would not be regarded as a person. Jack Mahoney in his book Bioethics and Belief writes that rationality, ability to make free choices, experiences and emotions are amongst the criteria of personhood. Mary Anne Warren uses the idea of personhood to argue that Abortion is permissible.
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Mary Anne Warren in the chapter, ‘Abortion’ in Peter Singer’s, A Companion to ethics argues that ‘ birth, rather than some earlier point, marks the beginning of true moral status’. Warren rejects the idea that a foetus is a potential person when she states,
‘If a foetus is a potential person, then so is an unfertilised human ovum with enough viable spermatozoa to achieve fertilization; yet few would seriously suggest that these living human entities should have full and moral status.’
Warren believes that abortion up to the time of natural birth could be argued to be permissible because the foetus is not a person and thus has no moral rights. However, Warren’s theory could be challenged as a foetus of 24 weeks is said to be viable and if aborted is likely to live outside the womb and may actually have to be killed or left to die. This could mean that a foetus that is capable of surviving outside the womb is entitled to moral rights rejecting Warren’s theory.
The second philosopher looks at he idea of dualism, which is the belief of a human person consisting of a soul and body. The issue, which Thomas Aquinas considers, is when the soul is implanted in a human being.
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Augustine thought the soul was implanted in a human being at 46 days but he condemned the killing of both formed and unformed foetuses. Thomas Aquinas believed that the soul of a female was implanted at 90 days and a male soul was implanted at 40 days. This led to the idea that abortion was not a moral problem provided that it was carried out before the soul was implanted. Aquinas suggested that if you hit a pregnant woman and the foetus had to be aborted, then you had not committed murder if the foetus was earlier than 90 or 40 days.
The third philosopher to be considered is one that believes in the rights of the woman and how she may be affected if an abortion is not undertaken in some circumstances.
- Beverley Harrison in an article ‘Our right to chose’ argues strongly for the rights of the woman. She believes that the woman has to go through pain and difficulty of labour, and has to care for and support the child and therefore the woman’s decision to whether she should have an abortion or not should be paramount. Many feminists see Abortion as a way of liberating women from a form of slavery to their bodies. Harrison says,
‘The well-being of the woman and the value of her life plan should always be recognized as of intrinsic value. A good society is one that assures the existence of basic conditions needed to pursue an individual’s life plan.’
Her belief is that the woman’s right to life and her right of ownership of her own body are of greater significance that the right to life which may be accorded to the unborn foetus. The woman’s life plan can be seen as more important than the foetus and the woman has the right to chose which issue has utmost priority.
The fourth philosopher takes a conservative view that differs from the other three views. His view is that from conception the foetus has full moral status; hence a serious right to life.
4. John Noonan rejects the argument of development in stages-because they are arbitrary and there is a continuity in development of the human being. He states that the line can be drawn only at conception. The foetus has an absolute right to life from conception. He objects to any attempt to make exceptions for abortion when for example the foetus is known to be seriously defective or the result of a rape. He believes that the physician "necessarily intends to perform the abortion, he necessarily intends to kill." (In some cases, Noonan states that abortion is permissible on the grounds of self-defence only when the foetus is a danger to the life of the mother. This view is similar to the view of the Protestant Tradition).
Some Christians do not see, ‘sanctity of life’ as an absolute principle and allow exceptions in certain cases. For example the ‘Situation Ethics’ approach may be taken (as discussed in the Protestant Tradition section). Some Non-religious moral philosophers do not see ‘sanctity of life’ as an absolute value either. From the three out of the four philosophers discussed, one can see that they oppose the Christian idea of the sanctity of life as they support the issue of Abortion. However, objections can be made to these theories when medical practises can prove that the foetus can be viable outside the womb from as early as 21 weeks and therefore it could be said that the baby has equal moral rights to the mother at this stage.
It may be useful to argue from a human rights point of view. The human rights organisation LIFE and pro-life supporters emphasize the biological fact that a fertilized egg already has the genetic blueprint of a unique human being and that it is difficult to give any clear cut-off point further on from when a person’s life begins. From a religious point of view, the Catholic Church for example stresses that the soul is implanted in a person from conception and therefore abortion would be murdering the baby.
The issue of Abortion is a complex issue and it is important to be clear on the philosophical assumptions being made, with explicit evidence supporting such assumptions because the issue deals with the human life, something sacred in most religions that should be treated with the utmost respect and equality.
Bibliography
The Puzzle of Ethics, Peter Vardy & Paul Grosch
Today’s issues and Christian Beliefs, Simon and Christopher Danes.
Social and Moral Questions for GCSE Religious Studies, Lion Educational, Oxford 1994
However, capital punishment was seen as wanted by God in the Old Testament.
Patrick Reardon, ‘Abortion and the mother’s life’.
The Declaration on Procured Abortion, 1974
Document from the Vatican II
Report from the Church of England, 1984
A companion to Ethics, Peter Singer pg 313
A companion to Ethics, Peter Singer pg 311
The Puzzle of Ethics, Peter Vardy & Paul Grosch pg 157
www.ul.ie/~philos/vol2/bh