“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.
The relentless support of abortion is always contradicting the moral and good teachings of the Church. Through passed laws, pro-choice supporters have made it possible for many women to have abortions. In some countries, including the United States, there does not have to be a reason for a woman to have an abortion early in the pregnancy. The Supreme Court in the United States ruled that the fetus’s ability to live was between about twenty four weeks to twenty-six weeks (Glendon 22). These laws show that supporters of abortion do not believe that life begins at conception. This is contrary to the teachings of the Church. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). God knew us before we were conceived. He made us accord...
... middle of paper ...
...God. No matter how much society tries to lead Catholics astray, we are to reject abortion and abide by God’s laws.
Works Cited
"Abortion: Woman's Choice or Modern Holocaust? – Part 2." Abortion: Woman's Choice or Modern Holocaust? – Part 2. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. .
Catechism of the Catholic Church. Liguori, MO: Liguori Publications, 1994. N. pag. Print.
Evert, Jason, Crystalina Evert, and Brian Butler. Theology of the Body for Teens: Discovering God's Plan for Love and Life: Student Workbook. West Chester, PA: Ascension, 2006. Print.
Glendon, Mary Ann. Abortion and Divorce in Western Law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1987. Print.
New American Bible. Canada: World Pub., 1987. Print.
"ON THE REGULATION OF BIRTH." Humanae Vitae. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. .
Milbauer, Barbara. The Law Giveth: Legal Aspects of the Abortion Controversy. Atheneum, New York: 1983.
Thomson, Judith Jarvis. A defense of abortion. Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1.1 (Fall 1971): 47-66.
Lee, Patrick. Abortion and Unborn Human Life. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 2010.
Abortion has been a political, social, and personal topic for many years now. The woman’s right to choose has become a law that is still debated, argued and fought over, even though it has been passed. This paper will examine a specific example where abortion is encouraged, identify the Christian world views beliefs and resolution as well as the consequences of such, and compare them with another option.
Warren, M. A. (1973) 'On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion', Monist, vol. 57, no. 1.
Up to the time of the Protestant Reformation, the English society inherited its traditional anti-abortion law from the Church practice of 1500 years standing; which belief began even before Christianity as part of the Old Testament Jewish belief. The Old Testament tells us: "Death was not God's doing, he takes no pleasure in the extinction of the living" (Wis. 1:13). What is willed is life, and in the visible universe everything has been made for man, who is the image of God and the world's crowning glory (Gen. 1:26-28). In the Christian tradition, the Early Church Fathers taught in The Didache, perhaps the first Christian catechism from 70-90AD, the following in chapter 2, verses 1-2: "The second commandment of the teaching: You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not seduce boys. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal. You shall not practice magic. You shall not use potions. You shall not procure [an] abortion, nor destroy a newborn child." (Jurgens vol.1,p.2)
In our society, there are many ethical dilemmas that we are faced with that are virtually impossible to solve. One of the most difficult and controversial issues that we are faced with is abortion. There are many strong arguments both for and against the right to have an abortion which are so complicated that it becomes impossible to resolve. The complexity of this issue lies in the different aspects of the argument. The essence of a person, rights, and who is entitled to these rights, are a few of the many aspects which are very difficult to define. There are also issues of what circumstances would justify abortion. Because the issue of abortion is virtually impossible to solve, all one can hope to do is understand the different aspects of the argument so that if he or she is faced with that issue in their own lives, they would be able to make educated and thoughtful decisions in dealing with it.
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.
Imagine…the birth of a human being into the world. 9 months of endless anticipation leading to someone’s first chance at seeing the world for the first time. While some enjoy the result of a pregnancy, leading to a new human being entering life, some are not so fond, or just can’t be in such a situation. Abortion is the supposed “cure” to this problem and is, for the most part, done safely. However, one of the factors stopping someone from committing an abortion is the consideration of moral status on the child.
The permissibility of abortion has been a crucial topic for debates for many years. People have yet to agree upon a stance on whether abortion is morally just. This country is divided into two groups, believers in a woman’s choice to have an abortion and those who stand for the fetus’s right to live. More commonly these stances are labeled as pro-choice and pro-life. The traditional argument for each side is based upon whether a fetus has a right to life. Complications occur because the qualifications of what gives something a right to life is not agreed upon. The pro-choice argument asserts that only people, not fetuses, have a right to life. The pro-life argument claims that fetuses are human beings and therefore they have a right to life. Philosopher, Judith Jarvis Thomson, rejects this traditional reasoning because the right of the mother is not brought into consideration. Thomson prepares two theses to explain her reasoning for being pro-choice; “A right to life does not entail the right to use your body to stay alive” and “In the majority of cases it is not morally required that you carry a fetus to term.”
Abortion is the ending of pregnancy before the birth and the Roman Catholic Church would say that this is morally wrong. An Abortion results in the death of an embryo or fetus. Abortion, the Church says destroys the lives of helpless, innocent children. By aborting these unborn infants, humans are hurting themselves; they are not allowing themselves to meet these new identities and unique personalities. The Church teaches the human life begins at the moment of conception. During the past quarter century, abortion has joined race and war as one of the most debatable subjects of controversy in the United States. It discusses human interaction where ethics, emotions and law come together. Abortion poses a moral, social and medical dilemma that faces many individuals, which can create an intensely emotional and sometimes even violent atmosphere.
Gehrmann, Elaine Gallagher. Sermon delivered on February 15, 1998 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Urbana-Champaign, Illinois.
" this appeals to the ethics of the Catholic Church that influences people's lives. It it seen to be ethical to follow your religion and their views. The Catholic Church is appose to the right of abortion.
Abortion “is an issue that raises questions about life and death, about what a person is and when one becomes a person, about the meaning of life, about the rights of women, and about the duties of men”(Velasquez 485). Abortion is an unresolved ethical issue that has been in doubt for many years because one can argue that you are killing an innocent person/fetus but many argue that is not person because they don’t have a conscious or the characteristics that defines a “person”. John Stuart Mill in a way justifies abortion, Mill is known to be openly speak about women’s rights and about human rights. Although, it might be immortal to end someone’s life one might argued that the individual has the right to choose and have the option. But in