In many countries such as the Republic of Ireland, Malta Afghanistan and Pakistan have made abortion illegal. This is as they believe it to be completely immoral. Most of these countries contain strong beliefs in an absolute morality. Absolute morality in these countries usually stems from potent religious followings which all of these countries traditionally hold. Religion plays a huge role in the argument against abortion. However, different religions, atheists and even different denominations of the Christian church have conflicting opinions on the topic. The Roman Catholic Church holds the predominantly anti-abortion status supported by a letter written by Pope John Paul II on 19th May 1991; “The Roman Catholic Church tends, not only to reaffirm the right to life - the violation of which is an offence against the human person and against God the Creator and Father” This shows how against abortion the Roman Catholic Church is; they believe abortion to not be morally right due to laws published inside the church community.
This again highlights how important law is to determine peoples’ views and whether or not abortion is morally right. The law which was published for the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox churches is called the ‘Canon Law’ and goes as follows “The Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox churches forbid abortion. The official Canon Law of the church states that anyone who commits abortion automatically excommunicates themselves from the church.” Without any exceptions it seems, the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox churches forbid abortion, through total morality and disregarding relative morality.
“We have been created by Almighty God in his image and likeness. No pregnancy is unplanned as no baby can be conceived unless Almighty God intends that conception” This was a statement published by Catholic truth society and sums up their views with the single statement. The Church of England takes a similar view, “We affirm that every human life is created in the divine image, is unique…..and that holds for each of us, born or yet to be born.”-Church of England report 1984. This shows the Church of England follows a total morality, followed from the ten commandments and one in particular, “Thou shalt not kill” Exodus 20:13. The Church of England is against abortion and in conclusion most of the Christian faith is against abortion in some way or another. However there are few denominations of the Church whose views on abortion depend on their relative morality which includes mainly the situation of the mother. A main example of this is the Methodist Church who although are fundamentally against abortion believe that the mothers situation, if she is in danger which would threaten her life an abortion may occur. This stems back to the principles of the Abortion Act when first made active. The abortion act was originally derived ad restricted by the principles of the Christian belief, as society then was much more involved in religion. As people grew away from the Christian following and became more permissive, the law changed also to suit their new views and so people take modern ideas to integrate them into their religion. This use of relative morality depends solely on the circumstance of the mother’s pregnancy. Some people may include rape, danger to the mother’s health due to the pregnancy and a handicapped child as reasons for an abortion. In a general Christian overview abortion is not morally right although in some circumstances an abortion may be allowed but in very few denominations of the Church. As Christianity, in general, follows absolute morality from a set of guide lines given in the Bible, as given in Jeramiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart”, abortion has never been acceptable in any true Christian faith.
In my opinion, the different denominations share the same basic view and from what I have researched it appears there is no one Christian view on abortion and individual Christians may not even totally agree with their denominations’ official stance.
My personal stance is that I believe abortion is undoubtedly wrong. I also believe that this does not depend on circumstance, stage in the child’s development nor any other variable. This is as, from my own morality, that all human life should be preserved and that no matter what stage a life is at it continues to be a life. If any of these stages were removed the forming of an adult human life would not be possible and this is why, in my opinion, abortion is killing. The essay title is “Is abortion morally right?” and, so far, I have given the views of the religious and legal systems.
These systems have shown they are both against abortion, however, relative morality is used to justify some abortion cases. Abortion for convenience is becoming much more of a regular occurrence. A recent inquiry conducted by the “National statistics for England and Wales” showed that most abortions were carried out on single women which also reflects the promiscuity in today’s society causing unwanted pregnancies. To add to this point the majority of women were also aged 16-19 years. I believe that this adds to how abortion is immoral as it is commonly used as a form of emergency contraception.
Family Planning Clinics treat abortion with some care but will usually advise the mother towards one if the mother is unstable or not financially secure. This is one view provided by an organisation as, even organisations have views on this topic. An example of an organisation which is against abortion would be the Pro-Life Group. The Pro-Life Group represents the views of the unborn child and will campaign against abortion. They believe abortion to be immoral whereas Family Planning Clinics although they offer a neutral perspective will support the mother if a decision is made to carry out an abortion. These groups both try to help in a difficult situation but attempt to help different people. The Pro-Life Group will help the unborn child and the Family Planning Clinic will help the mother. In this sense, both are striving for a positive outcome, whether it be the life of the baby or the well-being of the mother. In this way, even though both these opposite organisations have conflicting views they share a common goal. I believe, in today’s society of permissiveness it is these modern ideals which make abortion more acceptable.
The Pro-Life Group will always offer an alternative to abortion; adoption.
“We will always support the mother’s decision although we do insist in the mother’s consideration of the adoption option.” Women who think they may want to have their baby adopted will consider key points such as: ‘will I want to see the baby after the birth’ and ‘could I cope with knowing that I have a child somewhere’. The positive aspects of adoption are that the child will ultimately survive and be given a stable environment to grow up in.
Some women feel that even though they did not plan or want this baby that motherhood is the only option. Financial and accommodation problems may arise for the mother and baby but with the help of the Welfare State through the Social Security a future may be secured. This cancels out reasons for abortion such as being unable to cope financially. This is why motherhood and adoption are great alternatives to abortion. If there are alternatives, then abortion must be viewed as an immoral way of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. This is further evidence to show how abortion can be legal and yet immoral.
In today’s society the frequent use of abortion is being seen as more and more common and a natural thing to do. This is why a child who has been brought up in this kind of society and believes abortion to be a way of dealing with an unwanted pregnancy may commit herself to abortion thus being amoral. She would not understand the reasons why abortion may be thought of as immoral.
The main topic which founds the basis of the case for and against abortion is “when does life start?” Some people believe life starts at fertilisation, others whilst the foetus is established in the womb and others at birth. If any of these stages were removed the forming of an adult life would not be possible. Therefore abortion is killing it cannot be anything else. I am supported in this conclusion by the Christian religion and many other world religions in the sanctity of life. The law supports this statement in part although pressure from modern society is allowing abortion on demand. The grounds on which abortions are allowed will soon perhaps degrade to even cosmetic reasons as society relaxes it’s rules. Even though it is widely believed that abortion is immoral pressure is allowing religion, government and society to believe the murder of a child can be justified
