RS GCSE EXAM REVISION: EARLY LIFE
Key words and meanings:
Sanctity of life: life is God-given
Pro life: a foetus has the right to live
Quality of life: how able a person is to live life
Pro-choice: the mother has the right to choose
Conception: moment life begins
Adoption: a child is raised by another family
Viable: moment a foetus can live outside the womb
Abortion: deliberate removal of a foetus from a womb
Compassion: showing understanding
Blessing: God has given a couple a child
The British LAW on Abortion:
Some facts about Abortion in the UK:
Legal up to 24 weeks if 2 doctors agree on 1 of the following:
Each year around 185,000 abortions take place
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2.
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The women might die if the pregnancy continued
Baby might be born mentally or physically disabled
Women’s mental or physical health at risk
Existing children’s mental or physical health at risk
90% of abortions are carried out less than 13 weeks
Fewer than 200 abortions a year happen after 24 weeks
The NHS provides or pays for 90% of all abortions
Alternatives to abortion:
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Keeping the baby and bringing it up yourself.
Adoption - when a child given up and is legally raised by another family.
Fostering - when a child is looked after by a family for a certain period of time.
Having protected sex.
Not having sex.
A QUICK GLANCE AT WHAT THE RELIGIONS SAY ABOUT ABORTION
THE RELIGION
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
CHURCH OF ENGLAND
HINDUISM
ISLAM
WHAT IT SAYS
Sacred life begins at the moment of conception. Abortion is not allowed
except for the doctrine of “double effect”.
Abortion is sometimes a ‘necessary evil’ if there is a serious risk to the
health of the mother.
Only allows abortion to save a woman’s life.
The actual life of the woman is more important than the probable life of
the fetus. Abortion is acceptable to prevent harm to the woman’s health
up to 120 days (before ensoulment).
WHEN DOES LIFE BEGIN CAN YOU DECIDE?
Conception: the moment the sperm & egg meet?
Implantation: when the fertilised egg implants
into the womb lining?
First heart beat: at 3 weeks after conception?
8 weeks: all organs have developed. Brain
activity starts?
16 weeks: sex organs developed. Head has
human features?
Viability: any time after 24 weeks when the
foetus can survive outside the womb?
At birth: when the baby is independent from its
mother?
QUOTES PAGE
CHRISTIAN QUOTES
AGAINST ABORTION: ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
“You created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
“The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit”.
“He will come again to judge the living and the dead.”
“Do not kill.”
“There’s a time for everything.... a time to be born and a time to die.”
TOLERATES ABORTION UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES: CHURCH OF ENGLAND (PROTESTANT)
“Love thy neighbour.”
“He who is without sin, cast the first stone.”
“Forgive us our sins.”
HINDU QUOTES: AGAINST ABORTION
“He is God, hidden in all things, the inmost soul who is all. He watches the work of creation, lives in
all things, watches all things.”
“From him all things originate.”
MUSLIM QUOTES: ALLOWS AN ABORTION UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS
AGAINST ABORTION:
“No severer of womb-relationship ties will ever enter paradise.”
“You shall not kill your children for fear of want. We will provide for them and for you. To kill is a sin.”
EXPLAIN CHRISTIAN VIEWS ABOUT ABORTION
All Christians believe in the Sanctity of Life. This is the belief that all life is sacred and a gift from God
as it says in the Bible, “The body is a temple of the Holy Spirit”. For this reason many Christians
believe that abortion is unacceptable because all life should be treated with respect and dignity and
only God can decide when life begins or ends as it says in the Bible, “He will come again to judge the
living and the dead.”
Many Christians, particularly Catholics, believe that abortion is unacceptable because they believe
that life starts at conception. Therefore abortion is murder and morally wrong as it says in the Bible,
“You shall not kill”. These Christians think abortion is always wrong because it challenges the will of
God. Only God has the right to decide when life should begin and end. In the Bible it says: “there’s
a time for everything.... a time to be born and a time to die.”
There is one exception to this. Catholics believe that aborting a foetus as a result of “double effect”
is an unintentional and unfortunate secondary consequence of saving a mother’s life. For example,
in the rare case of when a mother has cancer of the uterus and it has to be removed along with the
foetus, this situation is considered to be the lesser of two evils.
The Church of England believes that occasionally abortion is necessary, for compassionate reasons,
and looks at each case individually. If the mother’s life is at risk or the baby will be born severally
mentally or physically disabled or if the pregnancy is a result of rape, abortion may be acceptable, as
it says in the Bible, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
In conclusion, most Christians would discourage abortion many churches would advise alternative
options, such as adoption. However, in extreme cases it may be permitted.
EXPLAIN WHY SOME RELIGIOUS BELIEVERS ARE AGAINST ABORTION.
Many religious believers support the pro-life campaign. This means they believe life begins at
conception. A foetus should be protected by law because it is separate from its mother and should
have the same rights as a newly born child. Religious believers think that life is sacred because it is
God-given. Therefore only God has the right to decide when someone lives or dies. Religious
believers think abortion is wrong because no one has the right to end a life. One of the Ten
Commandments in the Bible says: “Thou shall not kill”.
Religious believers would say God made every human unique and that everyone has something to
offer in their life. Some people choose to have an abortion if they find out their child may be born
with a disability. Religious believers would argue that even someone with a disability can have a
good quality of life. For example, Eleanor Simmonds, the Gold-medal winner in the Paralympics in
2008, was born with dwarfism but lives a happy and fulfilling life.
Many Christians think abortion is wrong because God has a plan for everyone. In the Bible it states:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” It also says: “There’s a time for everything.... a
time to be born and a time to die.”
Christians believe life is a gift from God and abortion is disrespecting God. Hindus agree that
abortion is wrong because they believe in Samsara where all living things are connected. They
believe God exists in every living thing. To abort a foetus is to kill God.
Muslims are also against abortion because in the Qur’an it says “No severer of womb-relationship
ties will ever enter paradise”. Muslims also believe that if a person chooses to have an abortion
because of financial problems this is wrong. In the Qur’an it says: “You shall not kill your children
for fear of want. We will provide for them and you. To kill is a sin.”
IT IS RIGHT TO ABORT AN UNWANTED BABY.
Yes, I agree it is right to abort an unwanted baby because it will have a poor quality of life if its
parents do not want it or cannot afford to have a family. An unloved and unwanted child may grow
up with psychological problems as a result. A baby may be unwanted because the mother was
raped and she does not want to be reminded of the awful trauma she went though. Christians
would say that it is the most “loving thing to do” to allow the women to have an abortion in this
situation. In the Bible it says “Love thy neighbour” and “forgive us our sins”. Some Christians would
allow abortions under compassionate grounds.
The pro choice campaign would agree. It believes that women should have the right to choose
whether or not she keeps the baby as it is her body and ultimately her life. The baby could be
unwanted because it poses a risk to the mother’s mental or physical health therefore abortion is the
best outcome. The UK law states that a woman can have an abortion, if 2 doctors agree, up to 24
weeks. Muslims, despite it being forbidden in Islam, will allow a woman to have an abortion if it is
to save the mother’s life up to 120 days. It is seen as the lesser of 2 evils. After 120 days the foetus
has developed its soul and has its own rights.
On the other hand it is wrong to abort an unwanted baby because life begins at conception. So
abortion is always wrong because it is ending a life. Life is God-given and sacred and no one has the
right to take it away. In the Bible it says: “There’s a time for everything.... a time to be born and a
time to die.” God decides our fate. Christians also follow the commandment, “thou shall not kill”.
Muslims also believe that abortion is wrong. In the Qur’an it says: “No severer of wombrelationship ties will ever enter paradise.” Muslims believe that poverty is not a good enough
reason to want an abortion. In the Qur’an it says: “You shall not kill your children for fear of want.
We will provide for them and for you. To kill is a sin.”
Hindus are totally against abortion because they believe that God is in every living thing. To have an
abortion is to destroy God. In the Vedas it says “He is God, hidden in all things, the inmost soul who
is all. He watches the work of creation, lives in all things, watches all things.” They believe in
samsara and we are all connected through God. In the scriptures it says: “From him all things
originate.”
EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENT VIEWS WHEN HUMAN LIFE BEGINS
Some Christians, for example Catholics, believe that life begins at conception when the sperm meets
the egg and that the DNA is fixed from this moment. The egg has been fertilised and has begun to
develop into a separate and unique human being. In the Bible it says: “For you created my inmost
being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.”
For other Christians, such as Methodists, there is a debate about when life starts. Some say it is at
the first heart beat (3 weeks after conception), or a stage called quickening (16 weeks) or viability
(24 weeks). For years Christians said that life began when the foetus received its soul – which varied
40 days for males and 90 days for females. This is an outdated idea and rejected by most Christians.
Muslims believe that potential life exists at conception but that a foetus does not receive its soul
until 120 days old (17 weeks/3 months) and that it when life really starts. A hadith (a saying from the
Prophet Muhammad) said “Every one of you is collected in the womb of his mother for the first
forty days, and then he becomes a clot for another forty days, and then a piece of flesh for another
forty days. Then Allah sends an angel to write four words: He writes his deeds, time of his death,
means of his livelihood, and whether he will be wretched or blessed (in religion). Then the soul is
breathed into his body..."
Hindus believe that life begins at conception as it is at that moment the soul is reborn into another
life. Hindus believe in Samsara – the continuous flow of life and rebirth through reincarnation.
FATHERS SHOULD HAVE RIGHTS WHEN ABORTION IS BEING CONSIDERED
Yes I agree that fathers should have rights when abortions are considered as the baby is half his and
it took 2 people to make it so both parents should decide together. Although the UK law says that
fathers do not have any rights when it comes to abortion I think they should be consulted when the
mother is making the decision.
Some Christians would argue that you should only be having sex with your husband and be open to
having children as it says “go forth and multiply” in the Bible. It also says that “The head of every
man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man” which suggests that men should be part of the
decision as to whether she has an abortion or not.
In 2002 a new Chinese law put a man's right to have a child on an equal footing with the right of his
wife, and a man has sued his wife for infringing that right by having an abortion.
However I disagree that fathers should have any rights when it comes to abortion – in either saying
the mother should keep the baby or not. In the UK 1987 and 2001 two fathers took the mothers of
their unborn children to court to prevent them from having abortions, both cases lost.
I believe that a woman should be able to choose what happens to her body. She is the one who has
to carry to child and it will be her life and freedom that changes dramatically when the baby is born.
Abortion is legal in the UK up to 24 weeks if 2 doctors agree that the mother’s mental or physical
health is at risk, if it will harm existing children’s quality of life or if the child has a disability. The
mother should be the one to decide as she will be its main carer.
The Church of England would say that although they think abortions are wrong that if under certain
situations, like rape or the child being born with a serious disability which will seriously affect both
the mother’s and child’s quality of life then, having an abortion is the most “loving thing to do”.
Jesus taught that God forgives people for their sins if they are truly sorry.
Catholics would say that neither parent nor a doctor has the right to end a life as it goes against the
Sanctity of Life. That only God decides a person’s fate. “There is a time for everything… a time to
be born and a time to die.” They believe life begins at conception and from that moment a
potential life is present. Abortion is considered to be murder which goes against one of the 10
commandments “Do not kill”.