Roman Catholics believe that, “No pregnancy is unplanned because no baby can be conceived unless Almighty God intends that conception and willed that particular unique and completely individual new person into existence.” (Catholic truth society.) This means that God plans every pregnancy with joy and happiness because, “The human life is sacred.” (Pope Paul V1.) Also Catholics believe that a child is a gift from God. When you make love you should not exclude the possibility of conceiving. So if you do not want a baby, you should not have sex, or should use a natural way of seeing if the woman is in her fertile stage. An unplanned pregnancy for a Roman Catholic may be a result of rape. If you have an abortion for this reason you are taking the child’s life away, a child that could achieve something in life and this is the reason why the Church believe it is wrong to abort a child. In the Ten Commandments God said “Do not commit murder.” (Exodus 20) If you abort a child this is breaking that Ten Commandments and therefore not honouring your Church. In Mathew 19:18-19 Jesus talks about how you shouldn’t murder which is why the Church doesn’t approve in abortion. On the other hand women who have become pregnant as a result of rape need to abort their child because of all the mental and physical pressure on the innocent woman. Luke 1:26-36. The birth of Jesus foretold summarises what girls of this day and age should do, when they are granted with a gift from God. The angel Gabriel came to Mary and said, “You will be with child and give birth to a son.” Mary was very worried about what might happen as she is a virgin, “Since I am a virgin?” Mary was very young when she became pregnant, she could be an idol to other young pregnant females in this world today because she accepts her role and responsibility as a parent.
Comparing the Roman Catholic view of abortion to other organisations.
“The Anglican view on abortion is that although the foetus is to be specially respected and protected, nonetheless the life of the foetus is not absolutely sacrosanct if it endangers the life of its mother.” (Church of England report 1984.) Basically the Church of England has the same as the Roman Catholic Church i.e. if the foetus endangers the mother’s life it can be operated upon. Mother Teresa, a well known Christian believes that, “If you do make a mistake, don’t destroy the life… because also to that child God says: I have called you by your name: I have carved you in my palm of my hand: you are mine.” She means here, that you shouldn’t destroy the life of the child because it is a gift from God, it has been hand crafted by God. Humanists regard abortion as “Better than bringing unwanted babies in to the world.” They think abortion is acceptable when contraception has failed. Christians for “Free Choice,” believe that women should be fully informed about all the options. Then allow God to guide them i.e. ask for Gods help. They say that “You cannot make one set of rules as all cases are different.” SPUC, “Defend and protect the value of human life from the moment of conception.” It was the first society in the world to be called ‘Pro lifers.’
Abortion is one of the most controversial topics faced by the world today. People hold different views about abortion some are in favour and some are against. In this coursework I have explained the different views of abortion and I will now end it by expressing my individual opinion on what I feel abortion is about.
Being Roman Catholic myself I have been taught to believe “From the moment the ovum is fertilised a life is begun.” An article taken from the Vatican council 2. I believe that all life is sacred and it is a gift from God and abortion can never be allowed. There are some factors of being a Christian that I disagree with. Firstly the church says that there is only one exception which is if the foetus is endangering the woman’s life. I do not agree with the fact that this is the only exception. If a woman becomes pregnant as result of rape she doesn’t want a constant reminder of the attack through her baby. Therefore to stop inevitable mental torture for the woman the Church should accept this fact of life and allow the woman to have an abortion.
Abortion can be wrong because of the pain that both mother and baby go through during the abortion. There is a high risk of disease spreading or something going wrong in the operation i.e. bones from the foetus are left behind inside the woman, this can lead to more serious infections. Many women suffer post-abortion traumatic stress. Some women will have guilty feelings more than 40 years later. Abortions should be right in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church because it is better than bringing unwanted babies into this small world. If you have sex you must be mature enough to know the consequences and these women must have control over their own lives. For this we must have control over our own bodies. I think abortion should remain freely available to all women who want it.
Although in the Ten Commandments it says, “Do not murder.” This is exactly what we are doing and apart of me wants abortion to be illegal because the doctors are murdering the unique children. The other part of me thinks that the Church should add a few more exceptions to having an abortion i.e. If the mother is underage and would not be able to look after the baby or if the woman was raped and became pregnant as a result of rape, these would all qualify to have an abortion in my point of view.
In my eyes a few more exceptions for women to have abortions legally in the eyes of the Lord are needed. I agree that abortion is wrong because it kills the baby and sometimes harms the mother but there are other ways of dealing with pregnancy with contraception i.e. the pill which prevents a woman getting pregnant. I know that the Church doesn’t allow this so you should find out when the female is in her infertile period. The Church needs to consider other factors of possible situations of women having abortions.