R.E. Medicine Coursework

There are many different types of treatments available to help infertile couples have children. Some of theses treatments are Artificial insemination and GIFT. Artificial insemination is when the partner or husbands sperm count is low. Some samples of the sperm are taken and inserted into the women’s womb. This method has been available for over 50 years however it has a low success rate. GIFT or gamete intra – fallopian transfer is when the sperm and the egg are fertilised by an air bubble in a fine tube. They are injected into the women’s fallopian tube and fertilise naturally.

ZIFT is also another type of treatment available this is like GIFT however the egg and sperm fertilised outside the body and then injected in. ICSI is when a single sperm is injected into the egg and then put into the woman’s’ womb, this would give the chance to help men who have a really small sperm count have a child. PID is a new treatment, which allows families to insure that their children don’t have diseases that are inherited this could however be one step closer to a baby bank which is where parents can decide the eye colour hair colour and even smartness of a baby this however is quite controversial.

During egg donations and IVF women are given powerful drugs, which induce multiple ovulation and this usually has serious side effects. These eggs are collected in a fine tube and then fertilised using IVF treatment. IVF is when the egg cells and sperm cells are put together in a small dish. When the egg is fertilised it is kept in ideal conditions for a few days while it is incubated the egg multiplies 8 times (blast cyst). These are then injected in to the women’s womb. The more blast cyst injected the more chance of pregnancy however if 4 or more are inserted there is a risk of quads. These are some ways infertile couples could have children.

B)

Christian attitudes towards treatments that can help infertile couples have children are as follows. Some Roman Catholics believe that God gave us life and no one has the right to give children. The Catholic Church does not allow most treatments the feel as if the sacredness of life is being taken for granted. Catholics do not allow IVF treatment because several eggs are fertilised and some of them are thrown away which is the same as abortion. The Roman Catholic Church condemns all types of surrogacy because it involves men masturbating which is a ...

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B)

Christian attitudes towards treatments that can help infertile couples have children are as follows. Some Roman Catholics believe that God gave us life and no one has the right to give children. The Catholic Church does not allow most treatments the feel as if the sacredness of life is being taken for granted. Catholics do not allow IVF treatment because several eggs are fertilised and some of them are thrown away which is the same as abortion. The Roman Catholic Church condemns all types of surrogacy because it involves men masturbating which is a sin. All forms of fertilisation takes place away from sex and this is going against God’s will as Roman Catholics believe God wanted sex to be a part of creating life.

Other Christians allow IVF and AIH because the cells used are from the father and mother, it brings joy to the couple and the embryos, which are discarded, are not yet foetuses. This can also be justified by the double effect theory, “ it is permissible up to fourteen days” (quote source needed).

Most Muslims would agree with most Christians and say that IVF and AIH is okay because it is only using medicine to give a family a child, they also would agree because again the egg and sperm cells are form the mother and father, 2 if the semen of a man is placed in an artificial womb … the action is permissible” Articles of Islamic arts, Imam Al- Khoei. However Muslims disagree with all other types of treatments and they are banned because they deny the children to know who their parents are. This is a form of adoption, which is also banned in Islam, “no Muslim is allowed to donate sperm to a women who is not his legal wife and no women is allowed to donate an egg to another woman” (quote source needed).

Religious people may have an issue with transplant surgery because they may believe that we are playing God by transplanting.

Some Hindus believe that transplant surgery is wrong because if a person is meant to have a problem for example a heart problem it is because of his wrong doings in is past life. Many Hindus believe that transplanting is breaking the Law of Karma. Some other Hindus also believe that the poor may try to sell their organs to help provide money for their families. However some Hindus may agree that since the soul is eternal and will move on to its next life anything that happens to the physical body in this life does not matter as you will be reincarnated they ma also say that humans who to donate organs are very kind and will have a good life.

Most Muslims do not agree with transplant surgery because they believe that it is going against Gods’ will. The Qur’an teaches that God created the body of a person just for that person so taking something from another is going against his wishes, which is a sin. Muslims also oppose transplant surgery because they believe in the sanctity of life and only God has the right to take a life. Muslims also believe in the Shari’ah, which teaches that nothing should be removed from the body after the person has died. They may also believe that since life is a test using transplant surgery is essentially cheating it.

Some Christians may disagree with the Muslim view because they believe that the soul is immortal they believe that the body is not needed after some one has died so the organs from the body should be used to help other living humans. They also believe that they will be resurrected and organs are not needed for this. However some Christians disagree and say that transplant surgery is like playing God as we are changing what God wanted for us.

D) “Only God has the right to interfere with our genes”

Some atheists would disagree with this statement because they may say that we have human beings have free will and it is our choice to interfere with our genes because otherwise we may not evolve as a species. They may also say that the world would be a better place if we did change our genes because we could get rid of things that make peoples’ lives painful, An example of this is diseases like cancer if we altered our genes we could get rid of some of the things in our cells that would cause us to get cancer. Some scientists may say that we could save many lives and help a lot of people if we were able to change our genes they may also say that embryos are not considered human life until 14 day so if any genetic engineering did take place it is not technically being done on a human life.

A number of liberal Protestants believe that Jesus cured and healed people so Christians should do anything possible to cure disease, “Jesus of Nazareth was a healer…Clearly, where genetic manipulation is the means of healing diseases- in animals or humans- it is to be welcomed”. Christians are taught to help and cure others “heal the sick who are there and tell them, the kingdom of God is near you” They also believe that god wanted us to discover genetic engineering and that it is no different to doing research on drugs and cures for disease because in a sense we are playing God by doing this. Some other Muslims agree with the liberal protestants view because they believe that creating a person using genetic engineering is wrong but creating different cells and changing some genes is okay as we are working with God. Some Jews agree with liberal protestants as well as Muslims because the Tenakh and Talmud says that Jews should do everything they can to cure diseases.

On the other hand many religions disagree with genetic engineering because they believe that when humans change genes they are playing God. Some Christians may think this because believe that God creates the genetic make-up of any human being at conception so altering genes is opposing God’s will, “to create and destroy human lives simply to extract cells for research is wrong” from a letter to The Times from the Roman Catholic Archbishops of Westminster and Glasgow. Other Muslims believe that altering embryos is wrong because you are interfering with Gods will and you are changing God’s map for you. Some Muslims also say that genetic is good as long as it is done to cure diseases and not to create perfect humans.

I believe that genetic engineering is a step in the right direction for the human species because I fee that you have to take risks in life to progress. Some religious people say that we are playing God by altering peoples genes and that there are too many risks involved with genetic engineering like mutations but I think that we have to takes risks and they are bound to occur for example the first operations were done using different instruments that had many risks to humans but as time went on we discovered other more safer ways to operate I feel that this in a sense is the same. Genetic Engineering right now may have a few risks but in the future who knows we might become a superior species.

Sneha Patel 10’O

Ref Religion and Society book by Victor W. Watton.