However, despite these emotive arguments abortion is still wrong. Rape is a violation of a woman’s body but she should not allow her body to be violated again by abortion – two wrongs do not make a right. The woman has got more options than abortion. She can continue with the pregnancy and bring the baby up looking upon it as a good thing coming from a bad thing. But if she feels she could not bring up her rapists child then the child could be offered up for adoption after it is born. Surely this is a better option than killing a child. The woman has to remember,
This is more than a potential human being; it is a human with potential.
Nowadays some teenagers as young as 13 or 14 become pregnant. In the opinion of many Christians, girls this young are only children themselves and are not mentally mature enough to raise a child. Therefore some believe it is permissible for children this young to have an abortion. The Catholic Church would not agree with this. Firstly they believe that children this young should not be having sex so the problem should not arise. However if it does happen, it doesn’t matter how young the mother is, she should not kill her baby. If she odes not want to keep the baby she could offer it up for adoption or foster care until she is old and wise enough to completely look after the baby herself.
There are many cases when the mother’s life is threatened by the pregnancy, but usually the child can be delivered by surgery and given a chance to survive. Medical knowledge has advanced to such an extent where the choice of saving the mother and the child is no longer common. Good medicine can save both lives but if the danger occurs early in the pregnancy then the mother’s life is taken priority.
As far as the Catholic Church is concerned abortion can never be justified. Whatever the circumstances are behind the pregnancy there are no conditions under which it is acceptable to take the life of another. If a three-week-old baby was murdered using brutal tools and having its head crushed the public out cry would be unbelievable. Why then are people prepared to allow this to happen numerous times a day just a few months earlier in the child’s development.
The facts of abortion are ugly … killing a baby is killing a baby even if people call it termination of a baby.
There is no excuse for abortion and to kill an unborn child is one of the gravest sins.
What you do to one of my brevrin you do on to me.
We have to remember this quote in the case of euthanasia too.
The word Euthanasia comes from the Greek word meaning “easy death.” There are two main types of euthanasia. The first is compulsory euthanasia, which is when other people decide to end a person’s life because they are terminally ill or have a terrible disease. These other people could be relatives, doctors or others in society. The second type is voluntary euthanasia. This is when a person who is dying or in tremendous pain asks to die. They would then be given a painless, lethal injection. Euthanasia is not legal in this country. In fact there is only one country in the world, Holland, in which it is legal. However there are documented cases in almost every country of these so-called “mercy killings.”
The Catholic Church teaches that euthanasia is wrong. The foundation for this belief is much the same as the foundation for its views on abortion, namely that God gives life and only god can take it away and human life is sacred.
If anyone destroys god’s temple god will destroy him don’t you know that you are gods temple and god lives in it.
The bible tells us that;
Naked I come from my mother’s womb, naked I shall return again. Yahweh gave, Yahweh has taken back.
This verse from the Old Testament shows that God alone should be in charge of how and when we die. As the Catholic church puts it;
The moment of death is too important to take out of God’s hands, for these reasons the church is opposed to euthanasia. It believes compulsory euthanasia to be suicide. Both of these are morally wrong.
There are, however, some instances when a Christian may believe that euthanasia is the best policy. For example when an elderly person is terminally ill and is in great pain some Christians would believe that if the person wishes to die they should have the right to do so. But we have to remember the quote from Luke’s gospel;
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by god. Indeed, the very hairs on your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
However, while this seems to be a very noble concept essentially it is nothing more than suicide, which the church teaches as being morally wrong. Also if euthanasia was legalised a patient in such a situation might feel compelled to sacrifice their own life in order to free up hospital space for a patient with a chance of survival. These sorts of emotions should not have to surface in a civilised society. By reading the following quote from the bible we learn that dignity in old age and in pain are above all a matter if you know you are loved.
Oh son help your father in his old age and do not grieve him as long as he lives and even if he is lacking in understanding show forbearance in all your strength. Do not despise him for kindness to a father will not be forgotten and against your sins it will be credited to you. (Syrah 12-14)
Another occasion when a believer might think that euthanasia is right would be when a person is involved in some sort of accident and is left with little control of his or her own body. In these circumstances some Christians would believe it acceptable for a doctor to administer that person with a fatal injection.
However, to the Catholic Church this would be murder. Any time one person deliberately takes the life of another a sin is committed. However poor a person’s standard of life might be they should live that life as what has happened is God’s will and he has a purpose in what he has done. Also it is not unknown for people to make miraculous recoveries from seemingly permanent injuries.
In some ways it is easier to defend euthanasia than abortion as there is a legitimate reason in euthanasia and it is not the deliberate killing of an innocent baby. But euthanasia is still wrong. It is a violation of the fifth commandment and cannot be morally justified. Suffering is a part of every Christian’s journey and there is no excuse for that journey to be ended however short or long it may be. Many of the same arguments are used against both abortion and euthanasia. They are both the premature ending of a valuable human life. The church disagrees with both because of its promotion of the sanctity of life. Both are violations of the fifth commandment. In ways both are denial of faith and certainly no Christian who would have party to either can honestly say, “This is what Jesus would have done faced in the same situation”
“God gives life and only God can take it away.” Do you agree or do you disagree?
The gift of life is very important. It is the most valuable gift that we have and therefore we should entrust it our creator. Humans do not have the right to end life. God gave life and only God can take it away. We have to remember that we belong to God and that we come from God.
To discuss this argument we have to look at all points of view.