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... wrong. This was taught in the oldest Christian document known, written in 70 CE, it read: "You shall not kill by abortion the fruit of the womb and you shall not murder the infant What it says, is simply that abortion is as wrong as the killing of a child (infanticide). But St. Augustine (1 st century) had declared that the soul was planted in the foetus, by God, on day 46.
Thomas Aquinas (13 th century) preached that the souls of humans were planted, by God, at day 90 for girls and day 40 for boys. Therefore Catholics had believed that, as long as abortion was carried out before the soul was present in the foetus, it was not morally wrong. Now in the present day Catholics believe abortion is always wrong, they feel so strongly in Scotland that they are prepared to offer financial support to the mother of a child, so that she keeps the baby and does not opt for abortion. This has been a controversial issue of late as the church have tried to persuade a 12 yr.
Old girl who has found herself pregnant to keep the baby by offering money. The reasons behind the churches actions are described in The Express newspaper, October 11 1999, by Eileen Bryden, a counsellor for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (a Pro Life supporter): "It is not an ideal situation given her age. But the girl is deliberate killing of an unborn child. It is natural for her to go ahead with the pregnancy and every effort to support her through it should be welcomed. I think that Cardinal Winning, like any other groups, offers a Once a woman is pregnant she is a mother. The decision is whether she is going to be the mother of a living child or a dead child.
Thats the bottom line. " She defends the action of the church by saying that they are trying to help her be able to make the right decision. The money is given because she could not afford a child and the extra income would mean she could opt to keep the baby, instead of committing murder by having the baby aborted. Some of the other Christian churches, such as some Church of England Christians, perceive abortion to be wrong, but to be the best way out of a bad situation. "The Church of England believes that all human life, including life developing in the womb, is to be protected. " Church of England Report This is a very similar statement to that of the Catholic church, they also see the foetus as a life, but unlike the Roman Catholic view that it is a complete person they see it as a developing one. "It also recognises that there are situations in which abortion is justified (namely the risk of a defective or deformed child and in cases of incest and rape. " Church of England This is where the differences between the two churches (both under the religion of Christianity) begin to differ in opinion. The majority of Roman Catholics believe that abortion is always wrong but here, the Church of England is said to believe that there are, in fact, cases where abortion should be available as an option.
The Church of England agree with the second section of the Abortion Act 1967, where abortion is justified when the child is known to have serious mental or physical disabilities. They also agree that it is permitted if the pregnancy has come about because the mother was a victim of either incest or had been raped. There are no references in the bible that states whether abortion is right or wrong, but there are examples of teachings that could be used to explain why God would excuse abortion, the life of Jesus is a good example of what people would use. Jesus was portrayed as a person who cared about everyone, no matter what problems they had, whether it was financial, emotional or physical. He helped many suffering disabled people and saw the poverty that others lived in. He would have wanted the suffering of these people to stop.
From this it can be concluded that the suffering could have been prevented, if the parents had known that this was the kind of life that the foetus inside the mother was likely to lead, that its disability would mean they would not have a good quality of life and therefore could have prevented the child from unnecessary agony. Jesus throughout his life was forgiving of others, he always emphasised that if you were truly sorry for something that you had done, then God would forgive you, as no one is perfect. "God loves the sinner, but hates the sin. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from This famous saying and quote from the Bible back up this theory that God will forgive if the sinner repents. Therefore if a woman felt that abortion was the best option for her and was sorry for the fact she had to take this action, then God would pardon the sin. "Treat others as you would wish to be treated. " The Golden Rule is also used, because no person would want to brought into this world if they knew that they were unwanted, or were the cause of someones pain, therefore the unwanted foetus would not want to be born if they were faced with the decision, so abortion would be allowed. "Some members of the Church, however, would limit abortions only to life-threatening situations while others would permit them for emotional or social economic reasons. " It is apparent from this quote that there is a difference of opinion within the Church of England as well as between the Church of England and the Roman Catholic views. Many believe that abortions are permitted if it would cause the mother/ child, great emotional or social problems, whilst others in the same section of the church would say that the only circumstance for allowing abortion is when the mothers life is in danger (very similar to the Roman Catholic opinion). The Free Churches (Baptist, Methodist and Evangelical) believe that abortion should be left for the mother to decide whether it is the right thing to do.
The Methodist Church especially has been publicly known for expressing their views that abortion is acceptable under the first section of the Abortion Act, if the birth would threaten either the mothers or existing childrens mental or physical health... To conclude, The Roman Catholic Church is extremely Pro Life (anti abortion) whereas the Church of England could be described as being moderately Pro Choice (meaning abortion is a choice that should be available when faced with certain situations). The Free Churches take a greater Pro Choice approach to the controversial issue. "Abortion is never justified" Do you agree? Abortion is a very controversial issue, it is an issue that people feel strongly about, so much so that some of them devote a lot of their time to protesting for the side of the argument that they happen to agree with.
To say that Abortion is never justified is, in my mind, a completely absurd consumption to make. If it was the view of the law, then abortion would become illegal. I believe that every woman who finds herself carrying an unwanted child, should have every possible option open to her. She should have the right to decide herself and not be forced to take a course of action that is not what she wants, just because the law and attitude of society thinks otherwise. The life of the mother is paramount, if this is in serious danger, then it should be preserved at the cost of the foetus.
The mother would know every detail about the event, the baby would not know a thing, the proof of this is obvious really, no one can remember any pain they felt living in the womb, so what is to say that the foetus involved would. Every pregnant womans life is her own and she should be able to put her body, career and future wellbeing first, if that would be jeopardized by the birth of the baby, then abortion would, in my mind, be justified. There can be no argument about her humanity and the right she has to live her life the way she desires, so why should she suffer because of a mistake that has resulted in the beginning of the forming of a human, therefore abortion is not the slaughter of a human life as some would see it, but the ending of a developing one. That is the main issue that people cannot decide over, when the life actually begins? I believe that the foetus is a life from the moment of conception, because it is at that moment that a reaction is triggered that results in the formation of a human life. But this life is only a simple life, the same as the life of an amoeba (or similar) it is a collection of cells that, at the beginning of the pregnancy hold little resemblance to a living person, the point at which I think the life can be considered human, is when brain signals can be detected and the foetus acts like a new born child, being very active, this occurs around 18 weeks.
Until this point I do not see abortion to be the taking of a human life, however after 18 weeks abortion, unless there is a great danger to the mothers life, is not, in my mind, justified. Believing all abortions are not justified means believing that bringing unwanted children into the world is acceptable, this could be described as the ultimate in child abuse, I would have not wanted to come into this world knowing that I was unwanted, if I had been then I would probably resent the society / law that had meant it happened. Think of the childs confusion and horror if they discovered that they were either a mistake, or that their birth had resulted in the death / illness of their mother. If a woman has received and discussed information about all her options, but still believes abortion is the right course of action, then her wish should be respected, she should be seen as a responsible person who knows what is best for her, not told that she has no respect for life, as her reasons would be for the conservation of her own life and the probable life of the child if it was born. How can abortion not be justified when both the mother and baby are likely to die if the pregnancy is not terminated?
That is the taking of two lives, not one. The rights of the mother exceed the rights of the unborn child, because she has spent (however many years) getting to wherever she has got, therefore why should her life be taken away because of one mistake she has made, by something that does not know who she is or what her situation may be. By saying that the rights of the unborn child are greater, is saying that the creator of the life is inferior to the life itself and that makes no sense whatsoever. Roman Catholics would disagree with most of my beliefs, they believe that abortion is always murder and wrong, unless the mother is likely to die. They believe that abortion is not justified because it is the destruction of one of Gods creations, the murder of a human which God had given life to. They believe abortion is as bad as infanticide (the killing of a child), because of their belief that life begins at conception and every foetus is a human life with a soul and purpose and should have equal rights to that of an adult.
They believe in the sanctity of life, that life is a gift from God and only he has the right to decide when each life is over, because it was he who created it, also that abortion is society's easy way out and rather than deal with a problem they are choosing to eliminate it, at the cost of a life. Roman Catholics say that every child born is wanted, if not by the mother, then by people who would love to have the opportunity of having a child, by adoption. People of the Free Churches do, however, believe that, although abortion is wrong, that sometimes under certain conditions, it is the best solution to an overall bad situation, they say that if there is a valid reason for the abortion, (mothers life endangered, serious deformity in child etc. ) that God would be willing to forgive the person, if that person was truly sorry that it was the only action that they felt they could take. They believe this because of the life of Jesus, how he saw suffering and tried to heal the pain, God would therefore not want the person to suffer unduly, abortion would relieve this pain.
I do not think that people will ever see eye to eye on this controversial issue, there will always be those who believe in choice and those who believe in life, the only way people can decide, is to listen to each side of the argument and make up their own minds. Bibliography: Bibliography Sources used in the gathering of information. Bible Contemporary Moral Issues New Edition - Jenkins Introducing Moral Issues Religion & Ethics Various Websites: web / web / web Pro Life campaign material Church of England Reports Christianity in Todays World - Lynch Christianity and Social Issues - Keane Ethics and Religion - Jenkins One World, Many Issues - Williams Daily Express 11 / 10 / 99 BBC Matters of Belief - Abortion, Abortion - Whose Choice? , Education and Choice and Doctors Dilemma TV programmes.
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