'Faced with the issues you have chosen (Abortion and euthanasia); explain the different ways Christians might respond?'

conception so life should be protected from then on. Roman Catholics disagree with abortion completely. It is totally not allowed. They do however say that this is in the majority of cases. The Roman catholic view on abortion is that abortion is a serious sin in all circumstances. There are no exceptions. They think this because human life begins at conception and from then on everyone should try to protect it. The Church of England’s attitude towards abortion is that abortion is only right if the life of the mother is endangered. They think this because ‘the life of the foetus id to be specially protected and respected. None the less the life of the foetus is absolutely sacrosanct if it endangers the life of the mother.’ The Church of Scotland’s view on abortion is ‘Abortion has no moral justification and represents the unwarranted destruction of human life that is made in the image of God.’ They were careful to say however, that this was in the majority of cases. They have similar reasons for believing this as the other two churches. The Methodist church is reluctant to approve abortion but is bound to respect the sacredness and well being of the mother. They recognize tragic conflicts of life that may justify abortion. They think abortion is an unacceptable means of birth control or gender selection. Christians are often influenced by the society around them as well as their faith. Some Christian denominations today do not give very clear teachings on abortion. You can also interpret many teaching in different ways to mean different things. The alternatives to having an abortion are, keeping the baby yourself, Putting the baby up for adoption or foster care. Another option if you are very young may be to have your parents accept the baby as their own and look after it. Life is a charity that provides a nationwide care service for pregnant girls and women. It is not a religious organisation. Life provides leaflets, booklets, poster, slides, and videos e.t.c. showing how human life develops from conception and how abortions are performed. Life says ‘life cares because, every time a pregnancy is deliberately destroyed, a girl or woman is abused and a life is ended.’ It says this because abortion can do serious harm to the mother as well as the child, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well.   On the issue of Euthanasia, most Christians believe that life was given to us by God, so it is never our right or decision to take it away. The Roman Catholic teachings on Euthanasia say that killing an innocent person whether it be an embryo, child, teenager, adult, or elderly person who is dying is never acceptable. Ending their life is opposing Gods love for that person.