Most religions do not agree with abortion but some are stricter than others about their beliefs.
The Roman Catholic Church deems abortion as totally unacceptable in any circumstance (including the probable death of the mother). Catholics have been taught that abortion is morally evil since Pope Pius VI declared that 'ensoulment' (gaining a soul) happened at conception.
The Church of England and the Church of Scotland argue that abortion is wrong because it does not give the foetus a chance to live but there are extreme circumstances i.e. when the mother is in danger for her life, that abortion is acceptable. Judaism and Hinduism teach that life begins at conception, so abortion is discouraged except when the mother's life is at risk. Islam teaches that life begins at the moment of birth, but abortion is discouraged except when the mother's life is at risk, and sometimes rape. The Free Churches (Baptist, Methodist, and Evangelical) hold that abortion is a matter for the individual to decide.
However, women from all religions continue to seek abortions. Many peoples’ attitudes towards abortion differ from their religious leaders. They believe that individuals have the right to follow their own consciences; after all it is the woman’s choice. If it would be better that the pregnancy should be terminated, then surely a request for an abortion is a responsible decision when faced with the prospect of a child that she is not able to love for or care for? Why should a woman seeking an abortion be accused of having no respect for life when her prime concern has been the future quality of life for herself, the potential child, her partner and her family?
With modern technology, a pregnant woman can now find out a lot more about her unborn child. This means she can find out if the child has a disability. The woman can then make the choice of having an abortion on medical grounds. In some cases this is good, in some it's bad. I think that if a child has a serious disability for example; Hydrocephaly - this is when the child is born with water on the brain and has a life expectancy of only three days. Another serious disability is Cystic Fibrosis - this is a serious lung disease where the child has problems breathing, children with this have a very short life expectancy (teenage years). Hydrocephaly cannot be treated; Cystic Fibrous also cannot be treated but can be prolonged with antibiotics and physiotherapy.
In either case, the child will not live for any length of time, and in the case of Cystic Fibrosis the child will suffer all their short life. In these circumstances the mother may very well have the foetus aborted, and why shouldn't she? She is only thinking of the child in this case, and the suffering it would face and possibly the death of it shortly after its birth. If the mother is told by her GP that her unborn child will be born with Cystic Fibrous, she might still want to have the baby but is she certain? She will have to give the child twenty-four hour care, and it would be very depressing for her to watch her child growing up like this. She will know that the child will only be in her life for a very short time, and I believe she should have the right to choose abortion because of serious disability. The abortion law states that a foetus can be aborted if ' there is a substantial risk that if the child was born it would be seriously physically or mentally handicapped' and I fully agree with it.
I also agree with the law where it states that the embryo can be aborted if ' there is a risk of injury to the woman's mental or physical health'. If a young woman has just got married and is expecting her first child, and finds out that there is a possibility that going through with labour will mean risking her own life, is it not better that this young woman lives and continues with her own life? It may be a hard choice to make but after all she could abort and try again, so that both she and the future child could live. It is difficult for a newborn child to cope without its mother, the father might not have any experience and might find it difficult to cope with the grief from his wife dying together with a newborn baby, or he may even resent the child and may not have the support of family to help him.
In the UK, abortion was made legal in 1967 under certain circumstances. I think that the problem we have nowadays is where to draw the line. Will women in twenty years have an abortion just because the child is not her preferred sex? I do not agree with this under any circumstances. I do think that it is a woman's own personal choice of whether or not to have an abortion, but I don't think that all abortions take place because of valid reasons, for example, the woman gets pregnant with twins and only wants one child.
To conclude abortions are a reality in today’s society and I think they should be allowed to take place under the right circumstances and with a legitimate reason. There are many reasons to argue against abortion, however, the majority of abortions take place in the first twenty-four weeks. Therefore, the procedure is painless to both mother and foetus and in addition the law states that it isn’t a viable child until after twenty-four weeks, so it isn’t a baby yet, it is just a foetus. If a child was brought into the world and was hated and disowned it would feel worthless. At least with an abortion it doesn’t know the difference.
Everybody makes mistakes. If one of them happens to be getting pregnant at the wrong time, or under the wrong circumstances or the child has a serious disability then the option of abortion should be made available. A woman should never be made to feel that she should pay for this mistake for the rest of her life, especially from religious groups. I would think that coming to terms with a pregnancy and the possible termination of the foetus would be a very difficult choice. The woman would always remember her decision, even if the child were not born. It is the mothers’ life that the baby will change forever so it should be the mothers’ choice to continue or terminate the pregnancy. She should be allowed to make this very personal difficult decision free from any moral, religious or societal pressure.
