Abortion

1. what is a human being; rights of a us citizen

2. overview of development of fetus
3. pros and cons of abortion

I. what is a human being; rights of a us citizen

II. religious view
a. Christian tradition
i. judeo-christian always valued human life, including
unborn
ii. bible refers to children before birth as simple very
small/young children
iii. luke’s gospel: jesus and john the Baptist visit one
another in the wombs of their mothers. V41 says “it
happened when Elizabeth heard mary’s greeting, the
baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled
with the holy spirit.”
iv. Psalm 139 “for you created my inmost being, you
knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you
because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your
works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame
was not hidden from you when I was made in the
secret place. When I was woven together in the
depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed
body.”
v. Didache or teaching of the 12 apostles states “you
shall not kill the child in the womb or murder a new-
born infant.”
b. Catholic church
i. Life is sacred and inviolable
ii. 1995: pope john pall 2 wrote a letter called
evangelium vitae (gospel of life) – “the sacred value
of human life from its very beginning”and of the
struggle between the culture of life and the culture of
death
c. orthodox churches
i. forbid abortion as going against the commandment
‘Thou shalt not kill.”
d. Protestant denominations
i. Against abortion
ii. Unborn child is alive and created by God
iii. 1993: general synod stated that “the number of
abortions carried out since the passage of the
abortion act 1967 is unacceptably high”
 e. islam
i. life begins at conception and is created by god
ii. unborn child has certain rights such as the right to
care, protection, and life.
iii. Abortion on any grounds is forbidden in the Islamic
holy book al’quran. “do not kill or take a human life
which God has declared to be sacred.” (chapter 6,
verse 151)
f. Judaism
i. Torah or jewish law forbids the taking of innocent life
and stresses that human beings are made in the
image of god.
ii. Maimonides, a twelfth century interpreter of jewish
law declared: “a descendant of noah who kills any
human being, even a fetus in its mother’s womb, is
to be put to death.”

As Doris Gordon, founder of Libertarians for Life, expresses it:

"the purpose of abortion is not merely pregnancy termination; its
purpose is to kill, to take the life of prenatal human offspring.
Under justice, however, there is no such thing as a right to kill
innocent people - no exceptions." Atheists can be passionately
against injustice, violence, murder, the death penalty and war.
They can therefore, just as logically, oppose abortion.

http://www.spuc.org.uk/students/abortion/religion
III. pros and cons of abortion
a. pros
i. woman controls her own body, not the government
ii.
b. cons
i. abortion is a form of murder and demeans the value of
human life
ii. other birth control is readily available
iii. eliminates legal rights of the unborn child
iv. abortions exposes women to various health risks and
the danger of losing fertility.
v. Back alley abortions would increase if it were made
illegal, leading to increased risk of young women dying
or becoming sterile