- Information
- AI Chat
Abortion Essay - n/a
Religious studies (V620)
University of Salford
Recommended for you
Related Studylists
Religious StudiesPreview text
Abortion Essay
To what extent is the practice of abortion incompatible with Christian teaching? (15) Many Christians have different attitudes and opinions on the practice of abortion and with many Christians; the practice of abortion is incompatible. However, this is not totally true for all Christians as some believe in certain cases that abortion is compatible with Christian teaching. For some Christians they believe that life is sacred, therefore abortion is morally unacceptable because from the moment of conception a human being has been created (not at birth) by God and only God can take away a life. Abortion would not only disrespect the sanctity of life, it would also disrespect God because we will be ‘playing God’. More so, our Christian teaching tells us that God creates life, so abortion is totally incompatible with Christian teaching because we will not be living accordingly to God’s rules. As Christians we follow the Ten Commandments and one of those is; “We shall not kill” abortion is seen as murder. Consequently abortion is obviously incompatible with Christian Teaching as the basic rule of ‘shall not kill’ is broken. Furthermore, the foetus is at its most vulnerable and is completely defenceless and Stott comments that God throughout the bible makes references to the concern for the “defenceless, and the most defenceless of all people are unborn children, they are speechless to plead their own cause and helpless to protect their own life.” This statement proves to Christians that it is our duty to protect those who are defenceless; hence the practice of abortion is incompatible to Christian teaching. Some Christians would state that if the mother’s life is at risk then an abortion is needed, as a result we are saying that the mother’s life is more important than the unborn child. Christians are taught that everyone is equally valuable and therefore to state that the mother’s life is worth more is unacceptable. This supports the view that the practice of abortion is incompatible with Christian teaching. Many Christians believe that abortion on demand is wrong and unacceptable for society; some believe that in certain circumstances abortion is compatible on the basis that the pregnancy was a result of rape/incest, the mother’s life is at risk and the child could be born with a disability. We cannot fully state that the practice of abortion is incompatible with Christian teaching because the Roman Catholic Church have said that abortion is acceptable on
the principle of doctrine of double effect. This means that abortion is acceptable on the basis that the mother’s life was at risk and the side effect of treating the mother was abortion. This is because the main purpose was not the intentional killing of an unborn child but it was the consequence of the main purpose- to save mother’s life. Therefore to an extent the practice of abortion is compatible with Christian teachings. An argument against this would be that in today’s world and its technology, it is in an unlikely case that the mother’s life would be at risk and a abortion would be the only solution. The foetus could be delivered as early as twenty-four weeks and could survive. Most Christians therefore would agree that the practice of abortion is incompatible with Christian teaching because a mother’s life may not be at risk and an unborn child could be saved. The Methodist Church believe that there is ‘hard cases’ which should be considered when making an opinion on abortion and they believe that in the case of rape, abortion should be acceptable. Many Christians believe that a level of compassion should be shown to those who were raped and will have to go through the traumatic experience of birth if they do not have the option of abortion. If Christians follow the teaching of a situationist, like Fletcher it would tell us that the most loving course of action would be abortion. This would not only be because of the effect for the mother, but the child could be born unloved and Fletcher states: “no unwanted and unintended baby should ever be born.” Therefore, in some cases, the practice of abortion can be compatible with Christian teaching. The Methodist Church also stated that in the case a child should be born with a disability, the best thing to do would abort the child on the basis that ‘quality of life’ is better than a life full of suffering. However, this is not the true feelings of all Christians as we should have the response of caring and supporting the child and that everything God does, has a reason. We are all of equal value and God has each given us with gifts and talents to bring into the world. Therefore, although the Methodist Church agrees with this reason for abortion, not all Christians do so abortion is not always compatible for Christian teaching. To conclude, to an extent depending on your Christian teaching, abortion is compatible. However, not all Christian teachings support the practice of abortion because it does not fit in with their beliefs that God gives life for a reason and he too can only take it.
Abortion Essay - n/a
Module: Religious studies (V620)
University: University of Salford
