A philosophical analysis of the moral and Religious issues raised by the practice of abortion
...r personal freedom or risk her health then she must have the choice to do what she wishes to do. If not it will only lead to the misery of the child later on in life when the mother cannot look after her child in the appropriate and necessary way. Secondly, ‘Legal abortions early in pregnancy are easy and safe, safer than childbirth. If women did not have to wait for doctor’s permissions, abortions could be done a lot more quickly and safely than they are at present.’ This argument is not very valid because I think that a doctor needs to check that there are no health risks for the women to have an abortion and it needs to be made official how long the mother has been pregnant because otherwise the correct abortion procedure may not take place. The Roman Catholic Church would be completely against this argument because they do not accept any reasons for abortion. The Church of England would also disagree and say that a doctors permission would be essential because they would recognise that either the mother or child would be at risk if they were to go through with the pregnancy. Thirdly, ‘Human life does not begin at the moment of conception. The foetus has no life of its own apart from the mother. It feels nothing. To kill it is not murder.’ This argument goes against the Roman Catholic Church because they say the complete opposite to this and they do believe that life begins at conception. The Church of England would say that it would be acceptable if the circumstances were not right for the child to be born such as if there is a risk to the life or health (physical or mental) of the pregnant woman, or if there is substantial risk of a child being born with physical or mental abnormalities. However they would not see it as murder, they would see it as the fairest way for the mother (and child). Finally, ‘No woman should be forced to have a child because of rape. Every child should be a wanted child. Every mother should be a willing mother.’ The Roman Catholic Church would argue with this because they would say that a child is a gift from God and so that child should not be blamed for the ‘crime’ of its father and may be the option the mother should take to get herself out of the situation is to have her baby adopted immediately after the birth. Women have terminations for many reasons. But for a woman to legally have an abortion their reasons have to fit into the legal guidelines. The 1967 Abortion Act permitted an abortion legally to be carried out if there is a risk to the life or health (physical or mental) of the pregnant woman, or if there is substantial risk of a child being born with physical or mental abnormalities. However in 1991 a clause in the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act lowered the time limit for an abortion from 28 weeks to 24, except for severely abnormal foetuses or when the life of the mother is threatened, where there is no time limit. Women have to keep to these guidelines and their requirements have to meet the law. The most common reason given for abortion in Britain is ‘risk of injury to the woman’s mental or physical health’. I can see how this is the most common reason because it seems a very flexible guideline. For example any woman could say that she would become very stressed if she was to have the child, this is claiming that it will effect her mentally because she would be too stressed to cope with a child. Also this is a reason that may be used in the case of teenage pregnancies when a girl realises that she is too young to cope with a child so therefore an easy way to guarantee an abortion is to say that it will affect her ‘mental health’. I think that if it was not as easy to have a reason for an abortion these days then maybe the statistics of teenage pregnancies would drop. I think this because then girls may worry a little more about having sex because they would be afraid of pregnancy. And if they did decide to go ahead with it then they may be a lot more cautious about precautions and contraception because they are aware of the consequences that it is not easy to guarantee an abortion. On the other extreme we can look at countries such as the USA, France and the Republic of Ireland. The USA allows abortion on request up to twelve weeks, though each state has the right to decide on this, so it is more difficult in some states than others. In France abortion is available on request up to 10 weeks. In contrast, the Republic of Ireland, all abortions are illegal, and so is giving women advice about it. I personally think that the above facts give Great Britain a bad image because we seem to offer abortion freely regardless of the situation. The Law would argue that there are guidelines such as ‘a risk to the life or health (physical or mental) of the pregnant woman, or if there is substantial risk of a child being born with physical or mental abnormalities’. These guidelines are left very open for a woman to give her reasons for her child to be terminated. If the law is against abortion then they should make the guidelines a lot stricter because at the moment it is very easy for a woman to come up with reasons for an abortion. However I do think that the USA and France are a little apprehensive with their abortion limits as 12 and 10 weeks gives the woman very little time to realise she is pregnant, to decide what to do, arrange it and have it terminated. The republic of Ireland’s laws I think are a little too wishful thinking because women are bound to get pregnant by mistake occasionally so therefore I think that their laws need to be changed otherwise the numbers of unwanted children surely would increase which would surely give them a bad image. In brief, the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England have differing views on the matter. The Roman Catholic Church have an absolute view on abortion and believe that it is wrong to destroy a gift from God that has all the rights of a living human being from the moment of conception. A typical Roman Catholic opinion would be this from The Second Vatican Council, 1963, ‘Human life is sacred. All men must recognise this fact.’ On the other hand the Church of England have a relative view and they believe that an abortion can take place if the circumstances for a child to be born are not right. The Didache which is the oldest surviving Christian document written in about 70CE, state: ‘You shall not kill the fruit of the womb and you shall not murder the infant already born.’ This is similarly saying that you shouldn’t kill the foetus in the womb but then again should not put a born child at risk so therefore it would be better if the child was not born. However they both believe that life is a gift from God, shown in ‘you created every part of me; you put me together in my mothers womb.’ (Psalm 139:13). The Church of England encourages its members to think through an issue themselves in the light of the Christian faith and with help from the Christian community. The Church of England combines strong opposition to abortion with recognition that there can be strictly limited conditions to which it may be morally preferable to any available alternative. The 1983 Synod put it, ‘All human life, including life developing in the womb, is created by God in his own image and is, therefore, to be nurtured, supported and protected’, which shows that if the child that is about to be born is not going to be ‘nurtured, supported and protected’ then the child should not be brought into the world. The Church of England believes that the mother of the unborn child needs all possible understanding and help, especially if factors with the pregnancy are difficult. The Church of England say that the successive resolutions have urged the need for compassion for the mother and have emphasised that she has interests which need to be taken into account. It is the mother who is pregnant, it is she who will have to agree to an abortion if that proves necessary, it is she who will give birth if the pregnancy goes ahead and probably she who will bear the major responsibility of the future child’s upbringing. Her feelings and wishes are to be the father’s main concern in decision-making concerning the child. The 1980 statement of the board of Social Responsibility said, ‘in the light of our conviction that the foetus has the right to live and develop as a member of the human family, we see abortion, the termination of that life by the act of man, as a great moral evil. We do not believe that the right to life, as a right pertaining to persons, admits no exceptions whatever: but the right of the innocent to life admits surely of no exceptions in deed.’ This statement makes it clear that the moral legitimacy of abortion under some circumstances is recognised but not necessarily supported. However in 1983 it was recognised that the number of abortions had gone up considerably and the Board of Social Responsibility reconsidered. They said, ‘in situations where the continuance of a pregnancy threatens the life of the mother a termination of pregnancy may be justified and that there must be adequate and safe provision in our society for such situations.’ On a final point the Church of England believe that the abortion law needs to be applied more strictly and the number of abortions carried out drastically reduced because an abortion may becoming an alternative to contraception. To consider in detail, The Roman Catholic Church teaches that every human being has a right to life from the moment of conception. The church believes that every abortion is the wilful killing of a foetus or embryo and is a grave moral evil. The Roman Catholic Church believe that abortion is wrong because it is an act that runs counter to natural, eternal, and divine law. That is, abortion is wrong for the same reason many sins are wrong. Catholics believe that abortion violates one of the Ten Commandments, ‘thou shalt do no murder’. The pope has never proclaimed infallible teaching on abortion, although the Pope and most bishops believe it is morally wrong. There is also no church teaching about when ensoulment and personhood occur. The church does not teach that the conscience of a person is the final guide to action. In practise, the Catholic Church is officially against abortion and in countries where it is the dominant religion it has held out against abortion being legalised, not always successfully, for example France, Spain and Italy. The option that the Roman Catholic Church would give to its people would be adoption. The Roman Catholic Church are very for adoption because it is not taking the life away from the child and it is still giving the child the opportunities that God wanted it to have. The official Canon law of the church states that anyone who commits the sin of abortion automatically excommunicates herself from the church. This means that the person who decides to have an abortion has to think that her particular abortion, taking into accounts all the circumstances of her life and pregnancy, is a sin against God, and yet still decide to go ahead. If she does not believe it is a sin against God, because of her circumstances, it does not need to be confessed and is not a sin. The better option for the woman here would be to have the child and put it up for adoption once born. However if the woman’s life is at risk then the circumstances may change but the Roman Catholic Church would say that adoption is the best option for an unwanted child. The official church is also opposed to contraception and the current Pope has stated that all acts of sex must be ‘open contraception’ and this has been understood to mean that even the use of the ‘safe period’ is not allowed, and that indeed the only purpose of sexual intercourse is to conceive a child. I personal...