The churches teaching is based on scriptures and traditions, this tradition of regarding all human life as sacred can be seen to have its roots in scripture.
Abortion
Abortion is “the direct and intentional killing of a child within the womb”
Partial abortion is when the child is unduced then killed, usually after 24 weeks.
In the UK the number of abortions have risen to over 150,000 per year, mostly due to personal connivance.
Euthanasia
Euthanasia is known as “Easy Death” or “Mercy Killing” sometimes if a person is in extreme pain or is deemed to have “no quality of life” or no prospects of recovery, it is argued it would be kinder to help them die through the denial of a drug or some form of medication.
It is seen as putting them out of a terrible or miserable state of existence
The church is against abortion because it is seen as an “ abominable crime” this was said at the second Vatican council and Pope John XXIII wished to outline the churches teaching clearly as the 20th century progressed. All the teaching of the church is taken its lead from this; the Irish Bishops declared
“Gods commandment is that no human being may deliberately take an innocent human life, what life is more innocent than that of an unborn child?”
They say, “ deliberate abortion is always gravel sin”. The foetus has a fundamental right to life from the instant of conception.
The church is not nearly anti-abortion: it is pro-life.
It is legal to terminate the foetus in Great Britain up to week twenty-four out of thirty-six of development. In the United States of America a foetus can be aborted right up to birth. (Partial-birth abortions take place in the later stage of development) as legally the foetus is not a person until they are fully born.
The pro-life stance refutes these laws which claim you are not fully human until the later stages of the foetal development. They believe once the egg is fertilised, the fact that this has become a potential human being gives the foetus rights to life that should not be taken away
Here are some arguments for and against the churches pro-life stance.
A woman has the right to chose, yes this is true but so has the child, it is a separate human being and so it has rights. Although some people might argue that the child is not a human being until it is born but in the eyes of the church it is a human being form the moment of conception.
It is a form of birth and has a practical advantage for the overall good of the world, but this is an easy way out of obligation to provide a decent lifestyle for every citizen of our society and world this is true and people should respect this.
It is less traumatic than giving a child up for adaptation, but abortion can have greater psychological effect and it is more likely to cause feelings of guilt and regret, yes and also it is giving the child a chance of life instead of killing them off.
This is just a religious guilt thing to control people yes but the UN Declaration of Children’s Rights speaks of the need to protect children before and after birth.
If the child is defective in any way, abortion can save unnecessary suffering and hardship for the child and family, but each person has a right to life, none of us are perfect as a whole. If we make judgements like these, where will the line be drawn as regard to who is “fit” to live?
A woman raped or impregnated shouldn’t have to suffer the birth of a child as well as the scares and traumatic of an event like this, this is all well and good but abortion brings its own scars and mental problems. It is very rare for pregnancy to occur especially after rape. To add to these scaring events brought about by aborting the foetus, would likely cause more problems than it would solve.
It can make sure a person’s life isn’t ruined by an unwanted pregnancy, this is true but abortion is the killing of a life: to do so causes emotional and mental repercussion for all involved.
The foetus feels no pain, well the child is never an aggressive agent, and it did not ask to be conceived, regardless of the circumstance. The child should never have to suffer by being “killed off” or terminated.
The pro-life stance also means the church is against Euthanasia for many of the reasons it is anti-abortion. All life, the church teaches, is sacred and precious to God. Therefore it is to be protected, nurtured and cared for until its natural end.
One of the main arguments for mercy killing is that it can prevent painful prolonged suffering in people who are sick. Pope Paul VI said of Euthanasia
“ A temptation, to take a persons life under the false pretext of giving them a pleasant death rather than having them suffer an atrocious agony without the consent of the person, euthanasia is murder. With their consent it is suicide, morally this is a crime that cannot be made by any means.
Pope Paul makes it clear that euthanasia is against the moral-law even if it is made politically legal, his words emphasise this action is always wrong. It could be argued that euthanasia is against natural law.
After doing this piece of coursework, I firmly believe that Abortion should be banned everywhere. This act of “mercy-killing” is not acceptable in the eyes of the Christian community. If we are going to live in a society where killing is banned we have to stop these acts of murder from occurring. If God didn’t want anyone to have a baby he would have done that, but a child is a gift from above and we should accept it as a blessing, not just some piece of dirt that we just throw it away. So I am appealing to people to stop these acts of violence and lets abort abortion in out society.
MARK WATTERS
S2D