Euthanasia, Abortion and the Church
The Catholic Church has consistently taught that respect for human
life is one of the most essential aspects of our faith. Life includes
love, respect, community, and family. Each person is entitled their
right to life, a responsibility to God, to live out their life from
natural birth to natural death. Unfortunately, there have been
horrifying incidents where people commit murders, assault and
manipulate other people. One of the Ten Commandments clearly states
"Thou shall not Kill." The act of killing is not only illegal; it is
unjustifiable. Abortion, euthanasia, and suicide are all acts of
murder. In each circumstance, a life is being terminated intentionally
and the people involved are refusing to acknowledge God's intentions
for human life. Our society has been intensely corrupted to the point
where each person acts for his or her benefit without thinking about
the repercussions. In any case, abortion, euthanasia, and suicide are
not solutions to an unhappy or unwanted lifestyle; it is only a
cowardly escape.
Initially, life begins at the moment of conception and the Church
recognizes this important stage of life forbidding any methods to
terminate the embryo. Abortion is the procedure to terminate a
pregnancy before the foetus can be fully developed. Many women have
different excuses to choose to have an abortion. Most commonly, women
feel they are not financially secure to raise a child, while others
fear that their life would dramatically change or that they are not
ready for the responsibility of looking after a child. Many teenage
girls choose to have the procedure done mainly fearin...
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... of anyone else. Abortion, euthanasia, and suicide all reflect
this type of selfishness. By aborting a foetus, an innocent life has
been perished and events like this occur every single day all across
the world. Whether it has been done legally in some countries or
illegally in other, killing a recognized form of life is morally
wrong. The same applies to euthanasia, as well as, suicide. Abortion
is terminating life when it is jus beginning, and euthanasia is
destroying the chances of natural death for the sick or the old. Death
occurs each and every day, but we cannot decide when we should leave
our place on earth. With our faith, we believe in God and trust that
he will call for us and in the meantime, we live life reflecting his
image. Living each day with compassion, love, and understanding. It is
a simple request.
For as long as there has been recorded history, there have been recordings of the procedure now known as abortion. The Bible appears to be silent on the topic, which is of no support to Christian groups, especially Catholics, who believe that abortion is a mortal sin. In his book, “The Morality of Abortion: Legal and Historical Perspectives,” John T. Noonan (1970) states that “The Old Testament has nothing to say on abortion” (6). John Connery (1977) agrees with Noonan in his book “Abortion: The development of the Roman Catholic Perspective” where he writes, “If anyone expects to find an explicit condemnation of abortion in the New Testament, he will be disappointed. The silence of the New Testament regarding abortion surpasses even that of the Old Testament” (34). This is a difficult silence to understand when one considers the fact that abortions were widely practiced during the New Testament era in the Middle East. There were few recorded legal prohibitions against abortion in antiquity, and even fewer ancient laws protecting the practice (Gilbert 1).
“Any American born after 1973 is a survivor of legalized abortion” (“Abortion”). This quote struck me because of its frankness. After it was legalized, many women had an option to abort their pregnancy against the Catholic Church’s wishes. Any child that was born after that year could have been aborted. This shows that many of the people that are living today could have been killed simply because the mother did not want them and they were considered to not be living in the womb. Being here today, many people survived the mass murder that is abortion and still continues today. The Church urges every mother to think about the morals and laws that God has sent to us. “You shall not kill” (Exodus 20:13). This includes the fetus in the womb that has been alive since conception. The views of the Church and the views of society fight against each other constantly. Abortion is the killing of a human being and is accepted by modern society despite it being against the teachings of the Church and moral good.
"People are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to them" (Vaticana, 550). To decide if euthanasia is wrong, one must first decide whom life belongs to. The Bible says, "In God's hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:10). Life belongs to God and since God gave life to the human race, God should decide when it is time to take life. Also, the fifth commandment says, "Thou shall not kill." Assisted suicide and euthanasia disobey this commandment.
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I
The Catholic view of euthanasia is that euthanasia is morally wrong. it has always been taught the importance of the commandment "you shall not kill". The church has said that "nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent person, whether a foetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease. disease, or a person who is dying. " The church says any law permitting euthanasia is unjust.
Activist say that abortion is murder, having scientist to prove human life becomes real as soon as the fermentation process beings. One of God’s commandments states “you shall not kill”, which is extended to unborn children. Church continues to teach the results or procreation from the moment of the child’s existence including body and spirit as well. Women are apparently conflicted when choosing to get an abortion, feeling psychologically forced to have an abortion, that the people who are responsible for the peer pressure fall on people who encourage the spread their attitude toward sexual permissiveness and their lack of esteem towards motherhood, and not only is the mother of the child being aborted responsible but the father as
Euthanasia is debated globally about whether or not it should be illegal or become legalized. Some will say that it is wrong, that it is taking the life of a human being; however, others will say that it is just taking the life of a human who is already terminally ill, and suffering. Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Columbia, and Luxemburg. Assisted suicide; which is another form of euthanasia is legal in Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Canada, and in some parts of the U.S: Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Montana, and California. Despite many beliefs of euthanasia being morally wrong, it provides terminally ill patients an alternative to the painful suffering they are to experience before their death.
Being a mother is a lifelong job that requires copious time, energy, and money. There are myriad different reasons in which a woman would consider getting an abortion. The decision is often tragic and painful for the mother. It is one of the biggest choices a woman will make. Many people have strong beliefs about abortion, and if a mother makes a decision that they do not agree with they sometimes turn against the mother, and enkindle egregious feelings about their decision for the rest of their life. Indeed a woman may not get an abortion for selfish reasons or out of convenience, but out of a desire to protect certain important values such as her own health or a decent standard of living for the other members of the family. Additional intentions for having abortion include rape, financial difficulties, obligation by family members, or danger to the baby’s health (Roleff
The decision to abort a pregnancy improves the lives of women across the world everyday. Abortion should remain an option because many deaths are caused by unsafe abortions, individual morality should not govern society as a whole, and no scientific evidence has been presented to confirm that human life begins at conception. Moralists promote the belief that legal abortions are dangerous and that human life begins at conception, however both of these claims have been refuted. When performed legally, abortions are one of the safest surgical procedures. Women should continue to possess the right to terminate their pregnancy for any reason.
For many years, the morality of abortion has been questioned by two perspectives: pro-choice and pro-life. While modern culture explains that abortion is a woman’s free choice if she does not want the unborn baby, the Catholic Church teaches the world that from the moment of conception there is a child with a soul within the womb, and to abort it would be to murder an innocent being.
Many people have their own opinions on abortion, that a fetus is a human being with a right to live so abortion is similar to murder. While other groups argue that a woman has certain rights, especially the choice whether to bring another life into the world. The groups that are for it think that abortion gives women the control over their own bodies, which it is their choice when and whether to have children or giving an option to choose to bring or not to bring a child with abnormalities to the world. Some children are born with severe disorders and some parents, being unable to care for their disabled child seek abortion as their one and only option because taking care of a child, especially born with abnormalities is tough work to do as a parent, so they decide whether bring a life into the world. They look ahead on what is best for them, and it is selfish. Or even having in mind that some do not want to become a single parent taking up two roles; a mother and father and they feel like every child should come into the world feeling wanted, loved and cared for. Another reason some women have an abortion is because they do not want to stop work or schooling, and these reasons are consistent across many countries, including America. Other reasons are because of societal pressures, women get little to no social support. But
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by destruction of a fertilized egg, embryo or fetus before birth, prior to the time when the fetus attains viability, or capacity for life outside the uterus (Encyclopedia, 1995, p.43). Currently almost twenty-five percent of pregnancies in the United States are aborted. About one forth of people who abort are teenagers, fifty-seven percent are younger than 25, and almost eighty percent are unmarried. During the first trimester is when most of the abortions take place. Only about ten percent are performed later in the pregnancy (Slife, 1998, p.329). Abortions go back as far as Ancient Greece where it was used as a type of population control. Then in the Roman Times men had total control over the procedure. “Man could give law-enforced command that his wife have an abortion, or he could punish or divorce his wife for having one without his consent” (Encyclopedia, 1995, p.43).
Euthanasia had become a big debate in our society and the world. Many people ask, what is Euthanasia? “Euthanasia is a deliberate intervention or omission with the express intention of hastening or ending and individual’s life, to relieve intractable pain or suffering” (Sanders & Chaloner, 2007, p. 41). Thus the meaning of euthanasia is having the right to die if you are terminally ill, suffering and/or suffering a great amount of pain. Many people do not agree with the use of euthanasia, but if humans can put down animals why cannot we use euthanasia on humans? Back in ancient Greek and Roman times, the word euthanasia meant “good death”. Also it was allowed because many people did not live to long ages. When the times began to change so did people’s views on euthanasia, due to the new religion of Judeo-Christian Belief. Because life and death were giving to us by God, euthanasia goes against his wishes. If they practice in the act of euthanasia because of their beliefs they would be committing a sin and end up going to hell. (Yip,2009,p.1)
Euthanasia, the painless taking of life for a human who is suffering from an incurable or painful sickness, is an issue that raises multiply levels of controversy amongst different denominations ( Incrediblereporter. 2007) . The two faiths of Christianity and Orthodox take the same view, as they both believe Euthanasia is against their principal beliefs and sacred texts and writings. These churches believe this killing is against the word and will of God as it weakens society’s respect for life ( BBC. 2014) . They believe that every human being is the creation of God, and that this imposes certain limits ( Clarke. 2013). These views can be exemplified in the scared texts and writings. “Thou shall not kill “, written in the ten commandments, has been the strongest source of evidence for believers. Other evidence has also been found in the bible as many extracts prove assisted death is against Christian morals and the omnisciency of God. As written in Ecclesiastes 8:8, “No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death.” (Unknown. 2012
Abortions have always been a very controversial topic. Over the years we continue to fight for or against it. One can say that is one of the most talked and argued topic in the United States. An abortion is when a woman terminates her pregnancy before the fetus is viable using various of methods. Some argue that abortions should be illegal and considered murder, while others, from a religious point of view, say that no one has the right to take away the life of a person, in this case the fetus. However, others insist, that abortions are a basic women’s right.