Christian's Response to the Issues of Abortion and Euthanasia
Abortion is a very controversial subject. It is the termination of
pregnancy through surgery or some other medication. It was first
introduced into Britain in 1967 as a result of the David Steel private
members bill. Since then, there has been over 4 million unborn
children aborted in Britain and over 40 million are being terminated
over the world each year.
Many people believe in Pro-choice. This is a belief that women should
be given free access to abortions if she wishes to terminate a
pregnancy. Other people are Pro-life. These are people who believe
life begins at the instant of conception and that abortions should be
totally unavailable.
There are many reasons both in favour and against abortion. The
Catholic Church is very much against it. They have many reasons for
this. The Catholic Church believes that life starts at the moment of
conception. Therefore, by committing abortion we are breaking the
commandment “thou shall not kill”. All abortions stop a beating heart
and kill a unique individual.
The Catholic Church also believes that abortion is the last form of
contraception. There are other alternatives to abortion including
adoption. Adoption allows the child an opportunity to live. This is a
decision a woman can make for herself or with help from family members
or Pro-life centres. It is possible for both mother and child to live
without purposely harming any of them.
As Catholics we believe that God himself became human through Jesus
Christ and thereby united every human being, including life in the
womb to himself. If we were to carry out abortion and to attack a
human life aren’t we in some way attacking God himself.
Although the Catholic Church presents some very good reasons against
abortion there are some people who believe that abortion is acceptable
in certain cases. They believe that abortion is a personal choice for
a woman and a woman only. What gives other people the right to decide
what might affect the rest of her life?