Sanctity of Life and Abortion Notes
Sanctity of Life
Life is considered sacred or holy.
Christians believe human life is holy because:
It is a gift from God, who is the source of holiness.
Humans are made in the image of God.
Church Teachings
Human life is to be treated as holy, valued, and preserved.
This includes:
Respecting life.
Preserving life.
Treating life as an end in itself, not a means to something else (e.g., opposing murder, human trafficking, designer babies).
Because God creates life, humans do not have the right to treat life as they wish.
Life belongs to its creator, so decisions about life and death must be in God's hands (ownership vs. stewardship).
The life and death of Jesus show how sacred human life is.
Christians believe God sanctified human life by becoming human (the Incarnation).
Jesus' suffering without trying to cut it short shows that life should not be ended except when God decides.
How Life Is Shown as Special in the Bible
Among all creatures:
Only humans have the capacity for a relationship with God.
Only humans have a soul.
Only humans were made in God’s likeness:
Gen 1:27 states: "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."
Human life comes directly from God.
The Bible makes the special nature of human life clear in the Ten Commandments:
“You shall not murder” (Ex 20:13).
St. Paul describes the human body as a temple because God’s spirit is in humans.
Gen 2:7: "Then the Lord God formed a man from dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."
1 Cor 6:19: "Do you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you …?"
The Importance of Sanctity of Life for Christians Today
If human life is sacred, what are Christians allowed to do if attacked?
Does self-defense justify taking a life?
How does fighting in wars fit with the belief in the sanctity of life?
If human life is sacred, is capital punishment allowed for Christians?
Killing in Self-Defense
It is legitimate to take the life of someone attacking you if that is the only way to protect your own life (a duty/an inclination to preserve life).
The sanctity of one’s own life takes precedence over the sanctity of other people’s lives.
Catechism of Catholic Church # 2264
Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality.
Therefore, it is legitimate to insist on respect for one's own right to life.
Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:
If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful.
If he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful.
Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one's own life than of another's.
Killing in War
Wars inevitably involve taking life.
Some Christians believe that the sanctity of life means they should never fight in wars.
Killing in Capital Punishment
Christians should never use capital punishment.
Christianity teaches that all life is sacred, which is why murder is condemned.
If it is wrong to take life, then capital punishment must be wrong.
Past Exam Questions
Choose one religion. Outline two teachings about the sanctity of life in this religion.
Outline non-religious teachings about the value of life.
Outline religious teachings about the sanctity of life.
Explain why it might be important for religious people to believe in the sanctity of life.
Abortion
The process of ending a pregnancy so it does not result in the birth of a baby.
Also known as termination of pregnancy.
Depending on how many weeks pregnant, the pregnancy is ended either by medication or by a surgical procedure.
British Law on Abortion
The 1967 Abortion Act states that an abortion can only be carried out in a medically registered facility, and only if two doctors agree on the following:
The mother’s life is at risk.
There is a risk of injury to the mother’s physical or mental health.
There is a risk that another child would put the mental or physical health of existing children at risk.
There is a substantial risk that the baby might be born seriously handicapped.
The 1990 Abortion Act states that abortions cannot take place after 24 weeks of pregnancy, unless the mother’s life is gravely at risk or the foetus is likely to be born with severe mental or physical abnormalities.
This is because advances in medical techniques mean that such fetuses have a chance of survival.
The Primary Questions
The moral debate about abortion deals with two separate questions:
Is abortion morally wrong?
Should abortion be legal or illegal?
Different Christian Teachings About Abortion
The Catholic Pro-Life Attitude (Evangelical Protestants Share the Same Attitude)
The Catholic Church teaches that all abortion is wrong whatever the circumstances and so can never be permitted.
The Church teaches that:
Life begins at the moment of conception.
A woman does not have the right to do what she wants with her body after she has become pregnant because the new life has rights.
All medical staff should have the right to refuse to be involved in abortions.
Abortion Is Wrong Because
Life is holy and belongs to God [sanctity of life], therefore only God has the right to end a pregnancy [ownership vs. stewardship].
Life begins at conception. Human life begins when an ovum is fertilised; abortion is therefore taking life.
The Ten Commandments [5th Commandment – Do not murder] teach that it is wrong to take life; abortion is therefore wrong.
Every person has a natural “right to life”. A foetus is a human being and abortion destroys its right to life, so if follows that abortion is wrong.
The Church points to evidence that some women who have abortions can suffer from traumas leading to guilt and sometimes mental illness.
Catholics believe that adoption is always a better solution to unwanted pregnancy than abortion as it preserves life and brings joy to a new family.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception.
From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognised as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.
Difficult Issues Surrounding Abortion
The mother's life is at risk?
The mother’s life is at risk:
If doctors discover that a pregnant mother has cancer and chemotherapy would kill the foetus.
Catholic moral philosophers use the doctrine of double effect:
The first effect is to save the mother’s life.
The second (double) effect is to end the life of the foetus.
The death of the foetus is secondary, and so not intended, an abortion has not occurred.
Rape-Related Pregnancy & Unwanted Teenage Pregnancy
If a woman becomes pregnant as a result of rape.
The Church teaches that one sinful act should not provoke another.
With counseling, help, and adoption, good can come out of evil in the form of a new life.
The Bishops of England and Wales issued a statement saying that a rape victim may be given contraception to prevent implantation of the rapist’s sperm as long as it could be established that conception had not taken place.
The Liberal Protestant Pro-Choice Attitude
Abortion is wrong, but it must be permitted in certain circumstances because:
Jesus told Christians to love their neighbor as themselves, and abortion may be the most loving thing to do (e.g., for the victim of rape).
They believe that life does not begin at conception.
Christians should accept technological advances in medicine, therefore if doctors have developed tests to detect diseases and suffering in a foetus, parents should be allowed abortions on the basis of such tests.
Christianity is concerned with justice and if abortion were banned, an unjust situation would arise. Rich women would pay for abortions in another country, but the poor would use “back-street” abortionists.
Atheist and Humanist Attitudes
A foetus cannot be considered a separate life until it is capable of living outside the mother (viable).
Until that time, the foetus is part of the mother and its treatment should be determined by the mother.
As life does not begin at conception, abortions before a certain point in the pregnancy are not taking life.
A woman should have the right to do what she wants with her own body in the same way that men do.
They would argue that an unwanted pregnancy is not different from an unwanted tumour. The problems caused to a woman by having an unwanted baby are a sufficient justification for her having an abortion.
Abortion should be an automatic right of women who have been raped or subjected to incest (sexual activity between family members or close relatives).
Other Concerns
Some Humanists argue that because foetuses born at 22-24 weeks can survive, the time limit for abortions should be reduced to 18 to 20 weeks.
However, others believe in ‘abortion on demand’.
This is the idea that women should have the right to an abortion without having to meet the conditions of the 1967 Act because they are the ones who will have to carry and then bring up the baby.
For Humanists, the quality of life will always be more important than the preservation of life at all costs.
Quality of life = the idea that life must have some benefits for it to be worth living.
The probable quality of life of the baby and of the woman’s rights should all be taken into account.
Most Humanists put the interests of the woman first, since she would have to complete the pregnancy and probably care for the baby, whose happiness would largely depend on hers.
When Does Life Begin?
When does the foetus be considered a separate being?
Catholics: At the moment of conception (when the woman's egg is fertilized by a male sperm).
Liberal Protestants: Not at the moment of conception.
Legal Position: Human life only begins when the foetus is viable; they are only concerned about the time limit for abortions.
Situation Ethics
Joseph Fletcher also believed that there are no absolute laws other than the law of Agape love and all the other laws are laid aside in order to achieve the greatest amount of this love.
In other words, all the other laws are only guidelines to help us achieve this love, and thus they may be broken if the other course of action would result in more love.
Situation Ethics Continued
Claimed to be Christian morality
Based on the law of love
Goes in line with Jesus’ teaching on the love of God and the love of our neighbors and His sacrificial death on the cross for the sake of sinful humanity.
Yet situation ethics is rejected by the Catholic Church
Nothing can be labeled as “wrong” or bad” in Situation Ethics
There are no absolute laws
Reject all forms of relativism
Steps:
Looking at the situations (address their uniqueness)
Deciding on the pros and cons of the possible choices
Determining what would be the most loving thing to do
General rules could illuminate a situation, but they would not prescribe an action.
Situation Ethics and Abortion
Abortions would be considered the most loving thing in the following situations:
If the woman has been raped
If the woman’s life is at risk
If the foetus is so handicapped that it would have no quality of life
If the woman was living in poverty
If a baby would have a bad effect on the woman’s physical or mental health
If the effects of another child on the rest of the family would be negative
The Story of Dr. Anthony Levatino
Former abortionist, Dr. Anthony Levatino, in the early part of his career as an OB/GYN, performed over 1200 abortions.
One day, after completing one of those abortions, he looked at the remains of a pre-born child whose life he had ended, and all he could see was someone’s son or daughter.
He came to realize that killing a baby at any stage of pregnancy, for any reason, is wrong.
Past Exam Questions about Abortion
“Abortion should be banned everywhere.”
Outline non-religious attitudes towards abortion.
“The current law on abortion should be changed.”
Choose one religion. Explain why there are different attitudes to abortion in this religion.
“Women have a right to abortion.”
Choose one religion. Outline its teachings about abortion.