Unit 4 - Clashes between religious and secular values in: Abortion Flashcards
Define abortion
The deliberate termination or ending of a pregnancy through a medical process.
What does Christianity teach about abortion?
- Life begins at conception
- The moment when the sperm meets the egg
- The fertilised egg is a sacred God-given life
- Has the same rights as a baby, child or adult
Why do some people believe that fertilisation isn’t a good point to mark the beginning of a sacred life?
- 70% of fertilised eggs don’t become implanted in a woman’s womb
- A large proportion of eggs that are implanted are naturally lost through miscarriage, around 25%
Beliefs about when life starts
- Human life starts at conception
- Human life starts at some point during pregnancy
- Human life doesn’t start until the baby’s born
When should the termination of the baby take place?
Before the 24th week of pregnancy.
After this time, the foetus is able to survive independently outside its mother’s body.
Define pro-life (includes most Christians)
The belief that the moment of conception marks the beginning of life and abortion is always wrong.
Define pro-choice
A woman should have an absolute right to decide whether or not to continue with her pregnancy.
Some pro-choice beliefs
- It’s a woman’s body
- Her life will be affected by pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood
- No one else should have the power to force her to continue with an unwanted pregnancy
- Women should have the right to choose safe, legal abortion
What do the Catholic Church believe about abortion?
- Never acceptable
- Absolutist
- Does accept abortion if it’s to save the life of the mother (slightly contradicting)
- This is because the intention’s to care for the woman’s life and health and the woman would be a full Catholic having done the SACRAMENTS
- The end of the pregnancy is an unfortunate side-effect
- Foetus is a human being from conception
- All human life is sacred
- Foetus has a right to live
What do the COE believe about abortion?
- Certain situations it can be justified
- For example, if the pregnancy will lead to the mother’s death or if the foetus is so badly disabled that after being born it would only live for a short amount of time
- Some Anglicans believe that in the extreme cases of rape or when a baby’s likely to be born with a disability, abortion is morally acceptable
- Alternatives to abortion should be available
Scriptures about abortion
- ‘You shall not murder’
- ‘You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.’
- ‘Do to others what you would have them do to you’
