Abortion Is the deliberate termination of a pregnancy, most often performed during the flirts 28 weeks from the date of conception. There are two main views on abortion held by two different groups, the pro-life and the pro-choice supporters. The pro-choice supporters hold the view that women should be able to have the choice if and when they have an abortion. Whereas the pro-life supporters believe that human life begins at conception and that killing potential human life is wrong. Abortion was legalized in the United
Kingdom in 1967 when the abortion act was passed by parliament; but this was revised in 1990 and the legal time frame for abortion was lowered to 24 weeks. The sanctity of life The sanctity of life argument holds the view that all life Is of value, Is holy and belongs to God. Charlatanry teaches that every person Is a sacred child of God, made In his Image. This contrasts with an athletic position which points to the saltcellars between humans and other primates. This view underpins Christian responses to medical issues such as Abortion and Euthanasia. The sanctity of life principle is based on 3 main sources: Natural theology
Natural Law asks what our design or purpose is as humans. One of the main concepts Is to protect and preserve the innocent. This alone leads to the secondary concept (do not carry out abortions). Thomas Aquinas a respected philosopher developed his view of the sanctity of life using the Idea of reason as well as the content of the bible. He observed that as the world Is so complex, Intricate and ordered, it must have a creator, that creator is God. Alongside his theology, he created five primary precepts (fixed moral rules) that should be followed in order to please and satisfy God.
Aquinas believed that all life is sacred and therefore one of he five rules he created was to preserve life; suggesting that abortion is wrong and should not be used under any circumstance. There are no exceptions, but it may appear as though there are because of double effect. For example, in an octopi pregnancy – the fetus Is growing in the fallopian tube, and both the mother and fetus will die. Abortion Is an evil act, and therefore not an option. However, removing a fallopian tube, with the secondary effect that the pregnancy ends, Is not an evil act.
When carrying out an act with two (or double) effects, you ask whether the second effect Is proportionate. In this case It Is. In other words, it is unethical to abort an octopi pregnancy (which would leave the woman woman has one working ovary, would leave her unable to have future children). The Bible The Bible says very little about abortion because it was not as common as today. Girls were often married very young and did not have careers. Abortion was not a safe medical procedure. There were no tests for any health problems for the mother or the fetus.
The Bible does not use the word “abortion” or deal with the issues directly, but Christians use Bible passages both for and against abortion. Bible quotes used to argue AGAINST abortion Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart”- Jeremiah 1:5 God has a plan for every human being even before they are born: ‘Before I was born, the lord chose me and appointed me to be his servant’- Isaiah 49:1 Mimi saw me before I was born”- Psalm 139:16. “God chose me even before I was born”- Galatians 1:15 These help support the idea that life begins at conception or, at the very least, that the fetus is a person.
Once Christians establish that the fetus is a human being, the sanctity of life teachings all apply: “In the image of God” – Genesis 1 “Do not kill” – Exodus 20:13 ‘o yourselves are God’s temple” Roman Catholic teachings – 1 Corinthians 3:16 The Roman Catholic Church teaches that human life needs to be treated as sacred from the moment of conception. While it is impossible to demonstrate that human life begins at conception, Roman Catholics hold the view that it is certainly possible, and therefore even at the embryonic stage you need to treat the embryo as a human being.
The Catholic Church also adopts an ‘absolutist ethical stance’. This means that they believe in rules that have no exceptions, and ‘Do not kill’ is an example of one of mother’s life is at risk. One case involved a 9 year old who was raped; an abortion was carried out and the doctors involved were removed from the church. Scholars: Albert Schweitzer was an early 20th century doctor, writer and philosopher. He developed a theory called ‘reverence for life’ where he argued that we should have a reference for all forms of life as all forms of life have a will to live.
He believed that we should avoid killing a living thing because all living things have an inbuilt desire to go on living. Schweitzer viewed this as a complete approach to ethical life. Mary Anne Warren however has put forward a contrasting theory to this argument. She suggests that Will’ is based upon the capacity to think, which many life forms do not have. She argues that we are all genetically built to promote our own survival, but this is not something that is deserving of reference. Instead, warren suggests that we should Just simply aim to protect the biological community for its own sake.
She also argues that it is not possible to conclude from a feeling of reverence for life that abortion is wrong. Human footsies are living things as are unfertile ova and sperm. However, any abortions can be defended as killing the ‘compulsion of necessity. Strengths and weaknesses of the sanctity of life argument: One of the main criticisms of the sanctity of life is the view that humans are no different to any other creatures and therefore all life is special. Philosopher Peter Singer argues that humans may have distorted mortality; the concept of animal testing supports this view.
Jonathan Glover raises the question “do we value ‘life’ even if unconscious, or do we value life only as a vehicle for consciousness? ” The sanctity of life view might suggest that life is valuable no matter what. Yet Glover is less than convinced. Life is valuable “only as a necessary vehicle of consciousness”. The problem is, having ‘mere consciousness’ does not really distinguish us from other higher animals. Chimpanzees are also conscious. What could be especially valuable about human life?
Other critiques: When someone is in great agony and no longer wants to live, their life is not of supreme value. Severe disability, both physical and mental, can reduce the value of life At its earliest stages, human life is devoid of personality, the ability to reason etc. And therefore should not be treated as sacred Treating all human life as sacred means we cannot do vital research that would improve the quality of life for millions Some lives are simply not worth as much as others – this is why an ambulance driver is trained to focus first on a young person rather than someone who is very old.
It makes no sense to see a person who might die any day of old age as of equal value to someone who has many years left in them Some people lose the right to be treated as sacred when they kill other people It treats all human life as equal (race, gender etc. ) Killing is always wrong (all people have a future) Everyone has equal dignity (irrespective of disabilities) Persephone Persephone is an essential idea in the abortion debate. The majority of people are agreed that it is wrong to kill another person (generally called murder of homicide).
People who are opposed to abortion generally try to establish that the fetus/embryo is classed as a human. The key idea is that once something is a person, it holds the right to be treated as such; often meaning it has the right to life. There are controversial views as to when person hood actually begins. For example, Mary Anne warren has argued that person hood depends on something called ‘moral reciprocity. This is the ability to respect another person’s rights to life. As a fetus as little recognition of others rights to life, they are not said to be reciprocal in that sense.
It is not until much later in a child’s life that it is able to respect others. She goes on to argue that footsies are not persons as they are unable to be reciprocal of others. She does acknowledge however that Persephone should not be used to exclude certain life forms from a right to life, as it is this criterion that was used by the Nazis to murder the Jews, claiming that they were not people. Other people argue that a fetus only becomes a person as the point of birth, when it is able to survive outside the womb. This theory however can easily be rejected as the fetus/baby is the same thing inside or outside of the womb.
Premature babies survive from as early as 21 weeks. As peter singer states ‘it seems peculiar to hold the view that we may not kill the premature infant but we may kill the more developed footsies. ‘ Is we argue that the fetus is a person at birth, it is very difficult to argue that it is not a person a day earlier in the womb. Instrument Instrument refers to the creation or placement of a soul within a human being, usually during pregnancy. One of the main arguments surrounding instrument is hen the soul actually enters the human.
Some theologians have argued that the soul created during the fetus development, whereas others believe that it is present at the moment of conception. Many religious believers claim that a fetus becomes a person when it receives soul; the only issue is the time in which this happens. Muslims claim that instrument happens on the 20th day. The Catholic Church has argued however that the soul appears at conception and treats the blastoffs as a person from this point. This when the zygotes splits in two. The question still stands, does the soul split in two also?
