abortion and the sanctity of human life

Topics• Sanctity of Life

– Strong Sanctity of Life– Doctrine of Double Effect– Weak Sanctity of Life– Strengths and weaknesses

• Quality of Life– Quality of life calculus– Concerns– Scholarly opinion

• Right to Life– Criteria– Mary Anne Warren– Warnock Committee

Sanctity of Life Question• What makes your life Sacred/Set apart

from other forms of life?

• Think of some examples of how your life is Sacred!

Sanctity of Life• Strong Sanctity of Life

• Doctrine of Double Effect

• Weak Sanctity of Life

• Strengths and weaknesses

Pro-Life• Pro-Life groups support

the notion that all life is sacred from natural conception to natural death.

• God gives life.

• Man has no right to create or destroy life.

Supporting scripture:Old and New Testament

• So God created humankind in his image (imago dei).– Genesis 1:27

• God breathed life into Adam’s nostrils.– Genesis 2:7– Divine Spark

Supporting Scripture:Old Testament

• God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.– Genesis 1:28

Supporting Scripture:Old Testament

• He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’– Job 1:21

• You shall not murder.– Exodus 20:13

Supporting Scripture:New Testament

• Christ’s incarnation reaffirms the sanctity of human life – we are set apart– John 1:14.

• And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

Double Effect…• A scenario where the

pregnancy will result in the death of mother and child.

• The intention is to save the mother’s life.

• A consequence is the death of the child.

• E.G. Foetus begins to develop in the fallopian tube.

Criticisms• Some think that

this is the same as aborting a child intentionally if the mother’s life is in danger.

• How do you gage intentions?

Ethical Disticntions• Extraordinary

means is a justification for killing.

• Consider the Christian principle of love and compassion.

Church of England (1965)Abortion: An Ethical Discussion

• This document expressed the overriding compassion for the needs of the mother, especially where there is a threat to her mental or physical health.

Church of England (1993)Abortion and the Church

• We do not believe that the right to life, as a right pertaining to persons, admits of no exceptions whatever; but the right of the innocent to life admits surely of few exceptions indeed.


• Circumstances exist where the character or location of the pregnancy renders the foetus a serious threat to the life and health of the mother, in such circumstances the foetus could be regarded as an ‘aggressor’ on the mother.


• The mother would be entitled to seek protection against the threat to her life and health which the foetal life represented.

Strengths• All human life equal

value.– Race, gender etc

• Killing is always wrong.– All have a future.

• Equal dignity.– Irrespective of disability.

• Avoids too much group pressure and power– E.g. taboos on disability.

Weaknesses:Charles Darwin

• The theory of Natural Selection challenges the notion of imago dei.

• If life is not in the ‘image of God’ then we are no different from other animals.

Weaknesses:Immanuel Kant

• No reason to link vital signs to valuing life.– It is not the

development of the body that makes you human.

• He linked the possession of reason to valuing life.– It is the development

of reason that makes you human.

Weaknesses:Peter Singer

• To threat the human life as having a special priority over animal life is ‘speciesisms’.

• He did a lot of work on Animal Rights.– See booklet on

extracts from Moral Problems.

Weaknesses:Other

• Value all life, not just human foetuses.– Mother and child –

see Thomson.

• Conflicts of duty are not dealt with.– Which life is more

sacred: mother or child?

Quality of Life Question• What gives your life value?

• What actions, abilities do you consider vital to your life?

Quality of Life• Quality of Life

Calculus

• Concerns

• Scholarly opinions

Quality of life calculus• The value of life to vary

by its quality:– The immanence of death– Constancy of pain– Ability to think– Ability to enjoy life– Ability to make rational

choices

• Who benefits and whose quality of life is being judged?– Foetus, parents, society?


Calculus

• Concerns


Quality of Life Concerns• When considering

‘Quality of Life’…

– Is there a danger of ‘playing God’?

– Are we treating the foetus with dignity?

– Consider the slippery slop to actions like the Holocaust!


Calculus

• Concerns


Peter Singer and Helga Kuhse• It would be better

to drop the Sanctity of Life Ethic and work out a Quality of Life Ethic instead.

abortion and the sanctity of human life

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