Catholic and Islamic Perspectives on Abortion

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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. Although, a Muslim’s options regarding abortion are divided into two categories: abortion before four months of pregnancy and abortion after four months of pregnancy. Therefore, according to the fifth commandment in Christianity, abortion is forbidden but in Islam, there are exceptions to it depending on the situation the mother may be in. In Catholicism, the killing of a human whether they are born or unborn is wrong and forbidden. The Catholic Church teaches that life is created and begins at the moment of conception and sees abortion as a way of terminating life. Catholics believe that deliberately committing such an evil is not and never will be justifiable, no matter the situation. For example, pregnancies that are a result of rape or are a danger to the life of the mother are not seen as reasons to abort a child. People have pointed out that the word “abortion” is not stated in the bible and that is true, but the moral lessons and teachings about it are there. Just as the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible, but it is certainly taught. First of all, the Bible teaches that human life is much different from other types of life because humans are made in the image of God. In the book of Genesis, it is said that “God created man in His
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