With these issues, there is much disagreement throughout the different religions and their beliefs on different things, such as when life begins. For this coursework, I shall only be focusing on the beliefs of CHRISTIAN religions (Anglicans, Church of England, Roman Catholics etc).
A topic, which could often come up on the topic of abortion and euthanasia, is that of the suspected quality of life that the person might/ will lead if they had the chance to live. For example, if an unborn child can be seen (with ultrasound) to have a serious handicap or illness, then many different views could be given on this such as, the child would not have a very good life at all, or alternatively that every person has the right for life, regardless of their health issues. Another topic, which comes up a lot, is that of the sanctity of life, which is very important to Christians, as they see life as being sacred.
Christians believe that life is sacred and of infinite value because it is a gift made by and from God, and when regarding life as sacred, we should do as much as possible to try and preserve and value life as much as possible and to its fullest extent. To Christians, the sacredness is seen especially in the life and death of Jesus Christ, and they believe that God sanctified human life by becoming human. The following quote comes from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
“Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end.”
This gives the idea that if an un-natural death is “performed” then this is completely ruining and interfering with God’s work. This next quote from the Bible, suggests that by killing a human being, that person is effectively also killing a part of God;
“God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them…” Genesis 1: 26.
Anglicans believe that a foetus should be specially protected, as the Church of England stated in 1984, but that it was not sacrosanct, and this in a way would contrast to the catholic beliefs that life is sacred. Anglicans are said to believe that abortion might be understandable if the situation was:
- Rape
- Age of the mother (if she was extremely young)
- If it is likely that the child will be disabled/ handicapped.
This again contrasts on some of the catholic views that life should be preserved no matter what.
The quality of life that a person who is likely to be involved in a “performance” of abortion of euthanasia, will definitely be looked into, because some people will think/ believe that if an unborn child can be seen to have major disability(ies) or a serious illness/disease, then maybe they will think that that child will lead a life worse than death and so in this case, they would feel it right to abort the pregnancy and not make that life suffer. However, some people take the opposite view on things and say, that even if the unborn child will have handicap(s) or illnesses, then surely it would be better to at least give that child the right to a life, rather than not at all. It is not always easy to decide this, and usually the decision is left up to either the parent (whether they feel that they can cope with having a handicapped baby) or the doctor, who will know its certain state of health. The same situation will apply to those suffering from a terminal illness, and euthanasia is an option. The decision of whether to carry out euthanasia will again, either be left up to the closest relative/ significant other or then the doctor/nurse/surgeon, or indeed if the patient is in an able state of mind, then he/she will make that choice. Most Christians take the belief that any person, whatever state of health they may have, should be given the right to life. Also in law, it is morally and ethically assumed that life is good and should be preserved.
However, despite all of the disagreement on the issue the Roman Catholic Church tells us that we should support and help those who are considering having an abortion, and most Catholics will agree with this and do so. It is very obvious, that in society today there is much disagreement and contrast on when and why abortion or euthanasia should be carried out, and the different views and beliefs that people of different Christian religions have.
