The Abortion Act was passed in nineteen sixty-seven making it legal for women to have an abortion under the following circumstances:
- Risk of life to woman (Double Effect Principle)
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To prevent permanent injury to physical or mental health of the woman
- Risk of injury to the physical or mental health of existing children
- Substantial risk of child being born seriously handicapped
The arguments for abortion are:
- The foetus is still part of the mother and is not capable of independent life, therefore it is not considered as an individual.
- Abortion has existed throughout history and trying to make it illegal or socially unacceptable does not drive it away.
- If women are to lead healthy, happy lives and offer the same to any children they may have, they need to be able to exercise control over their reproductive lives.
- Making abortion illegal in the nineteenth century in the UK led women with unwanted pregnancies to try dangerous methods in order to induce abortion.
- Legal abortion is safe, particularly when it is carried out in the first 12 weeks of the pregnancy.
- The lack of 100% reliable form of contraceptive means unplanned pregnancy is a reality where contraception is available.
The arguments against abortion are:
- Human life begins at conception and the church believes that abortion destroys respect for human life.
- Abortion is violent for the mother and child and it is uncivilised and unjust.
- Abortion is unnecessary and alternatives can be found.
- Women suffer from past abortion trauma which results in depression, guilt, broken relationships and emotional difficulties.
- Medical knowledge and science have advanced in recent years to such a degree that abortion is rarely necessary.
- Many women use abortion as a contraceptive method.
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Tests can show if a child in the womb is disabled – anti-abortion organisations often believe that the child needs help with the difficulties or disabilities it may be born with.
- Whenever and however abortions are performed, they always end up in the loss of at least one life, possibly two (not very often).
Religious Views:
Most religious leaders have put forward their views on abortion at some time, but even where they have been strongly against it, this does not seem to have much effect on the women who follow this religion. Every society seems to have very high rates of abortion.
The Roman Catholic Church has never proclaimed an infallible teaching on abortion or when ensoulment occurs. In practice, the Catholic Church is officially against abortion and in countries it is dominant in, it has held out against abortion being legalised although not always successfully.
“God gives life and only God can take it away”
The official law of the Catholic Church is that anyone who commits the sin of abortion automatically excommunicates herself from the church. Although, if she does not believe it is a sin against God, because of her circumstances, it does not need to be confessed and is not a sin. The official Church is also opposed to contraception that even the use of the ‘safe period’ is not allowed.
In the Bible it teaches that God considers an unborn child to be a living being and also that a human life is sacred.
“So God created human beings, making them to be himself” (Genesis 1:27)
Different Protestant groups hold different positions but stress the rights of individual conscience before God. Exodus 21:22 states that if 2 men are fighting and wound the pregnant woman, they shall have to pay their husband a fine if she a miscarriage, but they will have to give a life for life if the woman herself dies.
Early Protestant reformers had an even stricter view of abortion than the Catholic Church at the time, but the majority no longer do so and much wider views on abortion prevail.
What about Euthanasia? Is it ok to end the life of a person who is in pain or terminally ill? In spite of modern medicine and new surgical techniques, people still die. When the time comes, we naturally hope our passing is as easy and as painless as possible.
Euthanasia means “mercy killing” or “assisted suicide”. When a cat gets a fatal disease, we ask the vet to put it out of its misery because that seems the most compassionate thing to do. So if the needle is the right way out for an old loved pet, why not for grandma as well? When it is clear that a person’s life is nearing its end anyway, isn’t it the most loving (and therefore the most Christian) solution to accelerate death painlessly?
Euthanasia is the intentional taking of a life with the purpose of stopping a person suffering or to put them out of their pain or misery. Euthanasia can be one of two types:
Involuntary – This is when the person is so sick that they cannot make the decision themselves. I.e. they are in a come, and therefore their next of kin has to make this decision. When a car has knocked down an old lady or a young motorcyclist gets seriously injured in collision, they are both usually hooked up to a life support machine. It sometimes happens that brain death is diagnosed or brain stem dead. One diagnosis is made beyond a doubt, the doctor can turn of the machine because they are not killing the person but merely recognising that they are already dead.
But in other cases where the person is incurably ill, or in extreme pain, but aren’t brain dead, this would be Euthanasia. If they are in a coma this is a persistent vegetative state or “Dasein őhne Leben” which means “Existence Without Life”. In these cases, the family may wish to turn off the life suppose machine although under current British law, this is not allowed.
An old man with advanced lung cancer could contract pneumonia and a doctor has to decide whether or not to prescribe antibiotics. Family may be able to help with this decision, but almost certainly, the patient cannot. Again, most doctors would claim that they are not administering euthanasia if they withhold treatment in this case. Their overall job is to promote them patient’s well-being and if the process of dying is irreversibly underway, prolonging their deaths may be worse in the long run
Voluntary – This is when the person’s life is taking with permission of the person. I.e. they want to die. Most of the controversy surrounding mercy killing concerns voluntary. This is when a person is in so much pain or suffering because of their oncoming death that they effectively sign away their life and give someone else the permission to kill them. This is also illegal and there was a recent case in America where a woman brought this to court that her husband should be allowed to kill her if her health degraded to a certain point and she lost. As I am writing this, she is awaiting a decision from the European Court (will be announced tomorrow 29/05/02)
What do the Churches say?
The Presbyterian Church emphasises the need to care for the dying and is opposed to the practice of Euthanasia. They say that life is God’s gift and only he decides when to take the life, not us. He asks Christians to help each other through the dying process, and to not encourage people to use quick death as a solution
The Church of Ireland say’s mostly the same thing, only they also say that if the treatment of a patient is hopeless, then they do not consider it wrong to withhold the treatment. They say that this is to make the patient as comfortable as possible.
The Catholic Church condemns Euthanasia and brands it as “morally unacceptable”. They also say that ones inability to impede death is merely accepted, as there is no will to cause death
The bible says:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him.” (Genesis 1:27)
This shows that all Christians should believe the God created them and should be grateful for the life they have. They should also accept God should choose when they die, as he has given them life.
“I was born with nothing and I will dies with nothing. The Lord gave and now has taken away.” (Job 1:21)
This quote also states how God is the giver of life and therefore should be the only person who takes it away.
Conclusion:
My own personal view on abortion is that it should be permitted in certain circumstances. In the case of the baby being born causing extreme physical injury to the woman I think abortion should be legally permitted. With this culture of death and the fact that some people have abortions because it is an inconvenience to them and is “cramping their style”, I think people are merely just getting rid of the baby because they either simply don’t want it or it doesn’t fit their lifestyles. I think law should be very strict on this matter and people must have one of the two reasons above. I also believe that a foetus becomes human at the moment of conception and therefore any abortion is the taking of a human life but I do however believe in the double effect principle that the baby’s life can be taken if the mother’s will be saved. I believe that the baby can be terminated any time up until the moment of birth but for no other reason than to save the life of the mother. I think this is the only type of abortion that should be legal, but of course “back street” abortions will never be eradicated and I don’t think there is much we can do to stop this, but I don’t think we should endorse it either.
I think Involuntary Euthanasia should be legalised for certain illnesses. I think a law should be brought in with certain diseases so that if a person is in the later stages of one of these certain diseases and is rapidly and painfully going toward death, then they should be allowed to be mercy killed. With Voluntary Euthanasia, I believe that it should be completely legalised. If the person is in extreme pain or misery, which they must be, if they want to die, and they are of sound mind, then I believe it is their choice whether the live or die in this world. In such countries as Holland where there is no real punishment for Euthanasia, they are just killing people who are old and sick. What is to stop the world turning into a nazi style regime of perfection, where the imperfect are killed off at birth and when they get “over the hill”, they are then killed.
I think if we continue the way we are going, this is exactly what will happen and the world will in fact turn into “a culture of death”
