"Using issues of abortion and euthanasia as examples, explain the differing ways Christians might respond"

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R.E. Coursework - A02

“Using issues of abortion and euthanasia as examples, explain the differing ways Christians might respond”

Abortion is the death of the foetus (life) from the mother’s womb whether deliberate (operation/termination) or accidental (miscarriage). Christians are divided in their views on abortion.

The Roman Catholic Church does not allow abortion. They do not agree on the precise moment in human development when a human person begins to exist. However, Roman Catholics are very clear that human life (the human person) begins at the very moment of conception. Therefore, it is unjust to destroy the human embryo or foetus deliberately and directly. From the time of the great theologian St. Thomas Aquinas in 12th century, it has been the Church’s position that the soul of the person enters at the moment of conception. Therefore a person becomes a person when they are conceived. Roman Catholics also believe in Natural Law, which is allowing nature to take its course and not interfering with nature. The teaching was repeated in 1995 by the Church in an encyclical that said, “By the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors, and in communion with the bishops of the Catholic Church, I confirm that the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent being is always gravely immoral”. Although, Roman Catholics do accept abortion when the life of the mother is in danger as a result of her being pregnant.

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The Protestant tradition takes a less hard line as Catholics do in the abortion debate. It accepts that there are certain situations when abortion is an unavoidable consequence of deciding between ‘lesser of two evils’. For example, if a woman has become pregnant after being raped, Protestants accept that that woman might consider having an abortion. They believe the demand for abortions is unacceptably high. They stress that abortion should happen as early in the pregnancy as possible and only after serious moral reflection. Their view on late termination of handicapped foetuses is that they should only be given ...

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