Many people feel that there are no alternatives to abortion or requesting voluntary euthanasia, but there are other possible options.
Abortion Alternatives
The baby can be given up for adoption.
The baby can be fostered or put into temporary care until the mother can cope. This is used by many teenage mothers until they feel mature enough to rear a child.
If you do not want to get pregnant, then don’t have sex or don’t have sex without using contraceptives. Abortion or the ‘morning after’ pill should not be classed as a form of contraception. Obviously contraception doesn’t always work, many Christians would argue that if getting pregnant would be a disaster, then the simple answer is don’t have sex.
The woman can have her baby and seek varying degrees of help from e.g social services.
The churches views!
The Roman Catholic view
A Roman Catholic believes that abortion is murder . He or she would quote ‘Do not kill’ from the ten commandments. Roman Catholics believe life being at contraception. In 1968, Pope Paul VI wrote in Humanae Vitae that it was an absolute rule for Roman Catholics that abortion was wrong. In 1970, Pope Paul VI reiterated that abortion had always been considered murder since the early church and nothing had changed to alter that view.
The Church of England view
In 1983, the following statement was put forward by the General Synod
‘The Church of England combines strong opposition to abortion with the recognition the there can be strictly limited conditions under which it may be morally preferable to any alternative.’
The Church believes that the foetus is God-given life and is to ‘be nurtured, supported and protected.’
The views of other groups
There are other groups who have strong views about abortion
Christians for Free Choices believes that women should be fully and phoned about all the options, then allow God to guide them. It says you cannot make one set of rules as all cases are different.
SPUC(Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child) aims to ‘defend and promote the existence and value of human life from the moment of conception.
Marie Stopes International aims to ensure that all people have access to the human right to ‘ have a child by choice not chance’. It works in over 30 countries, offering contraception, health screening, sterilisation, abortion and obstetric care.
BPAS (British Pregnancy Advisory Service) supports women’s reproductive choice by providing quality, affordable services for those who wish to prevent pregnancy using contraception or to offer abortion. It also provides sterilisation, vasectomy and crisis counselling. It rejects the label pro-abortion. It says it is pro-choice.
Bible passage!
Luke 12:4-7
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do not more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who has the power to throw you into the hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.’
Here Jesus gets the point across that God cares for us. We should respect God, who will judge our lives. If He cares for sparrows then he surely treats us as more precious. Opponents of abortion would say that God cares, and children are a gift of God. He also cares for those who suffer. However, others say Jesus did not teach specifically about abortion or voluntary euthanasia.
Jeremiah 1:5
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.’
From this passage we find out that god has mapped our lives for us before are conception. He planned what we will do so to kill the life he has made plans for would be against his word.
Euthanasia!
The act of killing someone painlessly. To relieve suffering from an incurable illness.
One of society most new and up and coming problem Euthanasia, which I think is interobal, Jesus put life on Earth so wouldn’t it be wrong to end someone’s life, it’s pretty much like committing murder. Even thought these people may have an incurable illness, miracles do happen. Christians support both sides of the argument. Euthanasia was expressed in soaps recently as Dot Cotton killed off her best and long term friend Ethel who was dieing of a painful disease.
In R.E we watched a video on a woman who was certain to die she was unable to move. There was nothing any doctor could do for her. She was brought to Lourdes a place of worship for Catholics in Ireland. She had a few days to live, she was brought into church at Lourdes where the priest said a mass where there were many other dieing people. After the mass she was asleep in her bed she woke up and called the doctor. The doctor came and the sick woman step up out of her bed and walked, the doctor was amazed and just could believe her eyes. From a woman who was at the end of the line, who was unable to be helped by doctors everywhere to a perfectly normal woman. She was then assessed by many doctors, who were absolutely amazed that the disease she had was completely gone from her system.
Many people believe this was a miracle, but for me this story shows what ever the situation there is always hope and to never give in.
How Does It Effect The
Sacredness of Life?
For me euthanasia effects the sacredness of life greatly, it takes away the whole meaning ‘to have life and to have to the full’ it means for me many are not trying to live out there life to the full. People are putting the effort to for fill life like lady in Lourdes who was definitely going to die but put in all she could and was blessed to life again.
If were dying of an incurable disease I known it be easy to say but wouldn’t you much rather die naturally than killing your self off.
I feel strongly that life is a gift from god and only he can take it away.
Arguments for & against!!!
*The case for voluntary Euthanasia
It can quickly and humanely end a patients suffering.
It can help to shorten the grief and suffering of the patients loved ones.
Everyone has the right to decide how they should die.
If the law in the UK was changed, doctors could legally act on a patient’s desire to die without further suffering.
It would help doctors if they knew of their patients intention’s
It would help others to face death if they realized they could die with dignity.
The initial decision about euthanasia could be made when the individual was not under the stress of immediate suffering or anxiety.
*The case against voluntary Euthanasia
There are many pain-killing drugs which can help the patient die naturally with dignity.
A patient might not be able to make a rational decision of might change their mind but be incapable of telling the doctors
Many people recover after being ‘written off’ by doctors
Many old people might feel they are a nuisance to others and opt for euthanasia when in their heart they want to continue living.
Life is a gift from God and only God can take it away.
Euthanasia devalues life by making it disposable it could be the first step on to a slippery slope.
The relationship of trust between doctors and patients could be destroyed. Under the Hippocratic Oath doctors must try to preserve life.
If there were better facilities for caring for the dying, there would be less need for euthanasia.
Alternatives
There are many different alternatives to euthanasia like to give a patient drugs e.g. morphine to relieve there pain knowing that the drugs will kill them over a period of time this is what doctors do as there aim is to relieve there patients pain not kill them. Another way would be to turn off there life support machine. The removal artificial feeding e.g. drip this is where some no catholic Christians believe it’s acceptable to remove the drip which is the patients only form of food so in turn it kills them. Some non Catholic Christians believe it is acceptable for somebody with a terminal illness to commit suicide at a way to a quiet, easy death. When someone make a will which that if they become terminally ill and incapable of making a decision for themselves they want to be given a painless death to relieve them of there suffering which is believe by conservative and fundamental protestants.
Introduction
Christians believe human life is sacred God gave life and only God can take it away. ‘God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he create them. God blessed them and said to them, ‘ Be fruitful and increase.’ Genesis 1:27 [Revised English Bible]. Life is important as it is a result
of a supernatural event that is permanently beyond the descriptive powers of physics and chemistry. Life is important as it is the creation of living things in are world. Life is a gift from God as God brought us to Earth to live the way he wanted us to live, so it is a gift he gave us to live and to have life. For Christians life begins at conception [when the male sperm and female ovum combine]. Abortion is the expulsion of a fetus from the uterus before it has reached the stage of viability [in human beings, usually around the 20 weeks of gestation]. Abortion effects the life of many including the mother, the baby, the father and there families. It for me effects the mother the most as she will feel very guilty for killing her own baby. Euthanasia which is also called mercy killing, is an act or practice of painlessly putting to death persons from a painful or incurable disease or in capacitating physical disorder. Euthanasia effects for me the people he/she has left behind. Pro-life is a belief that abortion is murder, as life begins at the moment at the moment of conception. Pro-life is a belief that the woman who is pregnant should make her own decision, after counselling, about whether or not to continue her pregnancy based on full information about all her options.
Abortion and Euthanasia
Coursework
Conclusion
As a Roman Catholic I’m totally against both abortion and euthanasia although in the case of abortion I feel that if a woman is forcefully raped against her will then if she wants she can abort the baby. Also I would if I where the person to make the rules if the woman or baby is in harm of dieing then may be the baby could aborted. But, otherwise I feel that abortion is an act of murder. I am totally against euthanasia as a practicing Roman Catholic I believe that God gave life and only God can take it away.