Abortion-Catholic and Islamic Perspectives The views regarding abortion in the eyes of Catholics and Muslims are similar, with a few exceptions. Catholics believe that human life is sacred from the time of conception until the person dies of natural causes. The Catholic Church teaches that “Human life is sacred because from the beginning it involves the creative action of God and remains forever in a special relationship with the creator” ("Donum vitae," 5). Taking the life of an innocent person, whether they are born or unborn, is morally wrong. In Islam, there is a very high respect for both the life of a mother and a fetus.
They provide evidence for the idea that life starts at conception with biblical quotes like "the days ordained to me were written in your book before one even came to be" and "your eyes saw my unformed body" suggesting that our personhood in God's view starts at as soon as the egg is fertilised. With that in mind, one of the ten commandments: "thou shalt not kill" would apply strongly to foetuses, and this is why many Catholics believe abortion is wrong under all circumstances. As for the societal implication, Christians could argue that allowing abortion could lead to a lesser respect for human life in general, which is disrespectful to God who gave us the divine gift of life. From the perspective of Joseph Fletcher's situation ethics, abortion can be seen as unacceptable in many cases where the amount of agape love is not maximised. This could mean in cases where the mother could look after the child comfortably with love and care but chooses not to out of selfishness instead (one of the four functioning principles: pragmatism, would need to be applied to decide).
‘Abortion can never be justified’- Do you agree? Christians have a divided opinion on abortion, dependant on their interpretation of Bible teachings. Catholics are pro-life and therefore will agree with the statement on the basis that abortion goes against teachings on the sanctity of life as they believe that life starts at conception. On the contrary, Liberal Protestants are pro-choice, believing that the mother has the right of choice. They believe that life starts at birth or when the baby is viable, hence seeing no issue with abortion within the current UK law.
“In the Bible, God always refers to the ‘baby’ as an ‘infant’, or a’ babe’. That proves that conception is the beginning of life.” Journalist E. J. Graff asks her readers this question in her article, “Anti-Abortion and Pro-Choice?” “Do you believe you should impose your beliefs—which are fundamentally spiritual beliefs about an honest question that cannot be decided in any factual or scientific way—on others, no matter their circumstances, overriding their own ethical and moral deliberations?”(The American Prospect) It is true that in the Bible the words ‘fetus’ or ‘embryo’ are not used, but as stated by Alan Marzilli, “because the U. S. Constitution’s prohibition of the establishment of religion has been interpreted to require a separation of church and state,”( Point, Counterpoint: Fetal Rights) this reasoning is invalid. Let us not forget that not everyone has the same religious views or code of ethics and that if prop 26 were passed, we would be forcing personal morals on
Persons that are pro legal abortion claim that a fetus is not a human being and that personhood begins at birth. In addition they claim fetuses are incapable of feeling pain when an abortion is performed. The anti-abortion is usually a religious belief and threatens the vital separation of church and state. Furthermore, abortion gives the couples the option to choose not to birth babies with severe and life-threatening medical conditions; it is not right to sentence a child to life with an acute handicap such as Cystic Fibrosis or Down Syndrome. Moreover children should not come into the world unwanted as this only increases the already high number of orphans.
Warren beings her argument by acknowledging that abortion “…usually entails the death of a fetus. ( Social and Personal Ethics: The Moral Status Of Abortion, Marry Anne Warren, Page 109)” Shockingly enough, at least to many individuals, Warren still holds firm that safe abortion is both morally permissible and under no circumstance should be illegal. Warren recognizes that it is almost futile to argue with those who believe that abortion is equivalent to murder unless it is argued that fetuses to not have the same right to life as other human beings. She does this by
(i) I agree with this statement because the modern attitude of protestant Christianity teach that although Adam was said to be made first in the creation story, in Genesis 1 God says that he created male and female in the image of himself, and that he created both male and female at the same time. Therefore no Gender is more superior to another. Another reason that I believe women should have equal roles in religion is because St Paul teaches that neither male of female are within God. If this is the case men and woman should have equal rights. Finally it is evident from many Gospels that Jesus treated women this the most upright respect and as his equals.
Even in the case of rape, the RC Church does not support abortion - the foetus would be paying for someone else’s crime. “Human life is sacred”. Humanae Vitae, 1968: “The unborn human being’s right to live is one of the inalienable human rights” Pope John Paul II, 1985 "Abortion is a serious sin. Everyone, whether Catholic or not, should have a proper respect for human life. "Declaration on Procured Abortion, 1974: "From the time that the ovum is fertilised a new life is begun which is neither that of the father or the mother.
The movement of anti-abortion was created and was also expanding. Creating two sides: pro-life which are against abortion, stating that abortion is murder. They believe that the fetus is a person, and has rights like all humans, and shouldn’t be killed. And the other side is pro-choice, entailing that those against abortion are against choice. They don’t see the fetus as an individual, they think that it’s mother’s decision to stay pregnant or not.
The Utilitarianism approach would argue that whatever would benefit the majority should be done, therefore Jeremy Bentham would probably support that claim that all women have the right to a child. The UN (United Nations)says that its human rights that every has a right to marry and have a family, and it’s a legal viewpoint that can be followed as the legal viewpoint for whose who accept human rights. Christian ethics would say that the Sanity of Life is important if some of the embryos are used for foetal research or are simply disposed of if unwanted. The child is a gift of God and there are concerns about older women, and the development of saviour siblings. Some Christians do argue that women should have the same rights as men as far as becoming parents is concerned and age should not be a barrier.