“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness… So God created man in his own image.” Genesis 1:26-27, this passage describes how everyone is made in the “image of God” and therefore it follows that we are all in equal possession of inherent God-given dignity. Because of this, in God’s eyes we are all equally worthy of respect and every life is sacred to God. The Church of England states that all human life, including life developing in the womb, is created by God in his own image and is therefore to be nurtured, supported and protected. The Methodist Church agrees, teaching that all human life should be reverenced as we are all made in the image of God. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” Luke 7:13. To be “born of God” and to “know God” makes each person unique and special. God gave us the gift of love, because he is love and therefore we are each a part of him, each made in his image to be “like him.” Therefore we are all precious to God.
Christians arguing that abortion is wrong could say that as the life God gives is sacred and holy, human beings do not have the authority to take innocent human life. They may use 1 Corinthians 3 to support this view, as it says, “If anyone destroys God’s temple, he will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy and you yourselves are his temple.” This shows how only God has the power to decide the fate of his creations, as they are made in his image and therefore are precious. Job 1:21 also supports this view, saying, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away,” and Job 12:10 which says, “It is God who directs the life of his creatures; everyone’s life is in his hands.” If God has planned and created a life no human being has the power to take it away. One of the Ten Commandments is, “Thou shall not commit murder,” Exodus 20:13, and as this was laid down as one of the most important rules for mankind to live by, it proves that even single lives are important and valuable to God.
The Roman Catholic Church would say that they regard the foetus as a sacred human life from the moment of conception, as therefore to destroy this life would be the same as murder. “The voluntary and direct killing of an innocent human life is always gravely immoral.” Pope John Paul II. They believe that the deliberate procured abortion is a serious sin in all circumstances as in Catholic theology human life begins at the moment of conception. The Second Vatican Council teaches that “Life must be protected with the upmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.” The Didache, one of the earliest Christian writing outside the New Testament, supports this view saying, “You shall not kill by abortion the fruit of the womb and you shall not murder the infant already born.” Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun said, “God has created us to love and to be loved, in his own image, as evidence of his love. For this reason I say that abortion is the greatest evil.”
However other churches disagree on this, believing that to say a cold “No,” to a woman in desperate trouble is insensitive and unloving, and therefore not following Jesus’ example of putting agape into action. Christians are called to “Love they neighbour as thy self,” Leviticus 19:18 and “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you,” Matthew 7:12, therefore the churches recognise the needs of the pregnant woman and try to treat her with love. The Baptist Church recognises that taking the life of the foetus might be the “lesser of two evils” in a fallen world, for example in cases of rape or incest, or cases where the health of the mother, the foetus or the wider family is at threat. The Church of England agree that there are some conditions under which an abortion may be morally legitimate, due to the need to have “compassion for the mother” Synod 1993, and a proper responsibility for the life of the unborn child. The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams says, “The termination of a pregnancy is not necessarily the worst possible moral option, even though I consider this to be the termination of a human life.” The Methodist church supports this saying that in difficult cases abortion can be justified as the lesser of two evils. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that in the case of cancer of the womb and ectopic pregnancy, where the operation carried out for the purpose of saving the mother would kill the unborn child, the operation is permissible and necessary, as abortion is not the prime intention. The loss of the baby is a consequence of treating the mother. This is called “Double Effect.”
The bible teaches that Jesus’ reaction to sinners was forgiveness and love, and therefore by treating women considering abortion with compassion and understanding, rather than judging them, Christians are putting agape into action. Matthew 18:21-22 describes how Peter asks Jesus how many times he must forgive his fellow believer who has sinned against him. Jesus replies, “I tell you this, you must forgive him more than seven times. You must forgive him even if he does wrong to you seventy seven times.” Also, John 8:1-12 tells of how the Pharisees brought an adulterous woman to Jesus saying, “The Law of Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” Jesus replied, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the one to throw a stone at her.” Everyone left, and Jesus said to the woman, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” These passages both describe Jesus’ forgiveness and kindness, and Christians are called to follow Jesus’ example.
In the Old Testament, for example Exodus 21:22-23, it seems that they did not see the foetus as having all the rights of a person, “If some men are fighting and hurt a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is not serious injury the offender must be fined whatever the women’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are allowed to take life for life.” This shows that although God values the life of the unborn child (a man can demand a sum of his choice in payment) it seems from this passage that the life of the already living mother is more valuable as a much higher price is demanded – it says, “A life for a life” therefore implying that the foetus is not yet a life. However the Roman Catholic Church would say they disagreed with this interpretation, as Pope Puix XI said, “The life of an unborn child is as sacred as that of its mother.” John Habgood, the former Archbishop of York said, “Personhood is gradually acquired during the process of gestation,” which implies that he thinks that the early foetus does not have all the rights of a person, disagreeing with the Roman Catholic Church’s point of view.
