The teachings and actions of Jesus also reiterate these feelings as Jesus was always concerned with the well-being of the weak and defenceless, as we see in the stories of Jairus’ Daughter, The Woman with a Haemorrhage, Blind Bartimaeus and the instance when Jesus Blesses the Little Children.
The oldest surviving piece of Church literature also stresses the beliefs and responsibilities of Christians, contained in the text of the Didache there are some references regarding the treating of the child at the stage while it is in the mother’s womb, one of these such references is:
“You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the new-born to perish”.
Unfortunately the unborn child is not always shown respect, as in the case of abortion which is defined as, ‘The deliberate termination of an unborn child.’ One of the published stances of the Catholic Church on the subject of abortion is the Declaration on Procured Abortion (1974). The main points around which this declaration revolves are human rights, and the most basic human right is the right to life, and the fact that the unborn child should not be excluded from this.
“From the time that the ovum is fertilised, a life is begun which is neither that of the father nor of the mother. It is rather the life of a new human being with its own growth. It would never be made human if it were not human already” Para. 12
For me this is the most poignant of all the quotes that can be found in the declaration and I feel that it perfectly explains the beliefs that Christians have about their responsibility for the unborn child. In the eyes of the Church abortion is seen as murder. However, people ask for abortions because of various reasons which are sometimes very serious, the declaration covers these situations by stating:
“This does not mean that one can remain indifferent to these sorrows and miseries. Every man and woman with feeling, and certainly every Christian, must be ready to do what he can to remedy them” Para. 26
This shows us the fact that the Catholic Church deems abortion unacceptable in all circumstances. Other Church documents and statements deliver the same message:
“Never, under any pretext, may abortion be resorted to, either by a family or by the political authority, as a legitimate means of regulating births.” Vatican Council II
Also the document Human Life is Sacred portrays the Church’s views on abortion as murder:
“God is the creator of life, He gives life and takes it away, we live our lives in the shadow of his providence”
“Each life is sacred because only God knows when it has run it’s course”
Human Life is Sacred
These quotes tell us that it wrong for us to murder and that it is not up to our conscience, whether to end a life or not. Life is a gift from God we should cherish our own and allow others to cherish theirs.
One of the main discussion points about abortion being classified as murder depends on the perceptions of when human life begins. The belief of the Catholic Church is that life begins at the moment of conception, as it is with other Christian denominations, yet they all have different views about abortion.
For example, the Church of England and the Church of Scotland teach that abortion is wrong because of the fact that it denies the foetus the right to life. Yet in extreme circumstances as when the mother’s life/health takes precedence over the probable life of the foetus.
Most Christian denominations teach that abortion is wrong, but some permit it in cases where the life of the mother takes precedence over the probable life of the foetus. Yet the Christian denomination of Methodism and others like it leave the decision on abortion up to the individual.
To take a more liberal view of Christian’s responses for the unborn child I refer to a poll taken in 1988, where the question asked was, ‘Do you think that women should have the right to choose abortion in the first few months of pregnancy?’ Of those who replied the majority of members of both the Catholic Church and the Church of England were in favour, with results of 66% and 86% respectively.
In conclusion, most Christian denominations teach that abortion is wrong, but it appears that the vast majority ordinary Christians on the street would agree that it would be satisfactory if the pregnant woman was allowed to make the decision whether to have an abortion or not.
