Religion and Medical Ethics

GCSE RE ETHICS PAPER 1

Christian attitudes towards abortion

Abortion is the deliberate ending of a pregnancy by removal and destruction of the foetus.
The problem of abortion arises because of the issue of when life begins: The two main views is that this is: 1. When the foetus is conceived 2. When the baby is born

In principle all Christians are against abortion. They believe that life is a gift and that it has sanctity. It is precious and sacred and therefore should be preserved. There are many teachings from the Bible that support this idea.

Life is a gift from God you shall not murder Everyone has a special purpose in life Humans are made in Gods image.

Christian attitudes towards abortion continued

Church of England The Church of England does not agree with abortion generally but it sets out conditions under which abortion could be allowed.
It should be allowed if the

The Roman Catholic Church They have an absolute teaching, which says that abortion is wrong except if the mother's life is at risk. (This is known as the double effect, i.e. it is accepted that the foetus may die when saving the mothers life.)

mothers life is at risk If a scan shows that the baby will be born with severe disablities. A woman who is preganat because she was raped

They believe that all humans are made in the image of God, so therefore everyone has the right to be treated the same; so everyone is valued, including a foetus.

Christian attitudes towards fertility treatment

There are two main Christian views on the use of fertility treatment:

View One
People should be allowed to go through any treatment to conceive. It is the most loving thing to do. This would also be fulfiling Gods order for humans, to procreate. Most Christians agree that AIH is acceptable but not AID.

View Two If you cant have children then that is Gods decision, he has a different plan for you. Some fertility treatments are not acceptable. E.g. is it right to throw away the spare embyos when you have IVF treatment? Roman Catholics believe that marriage is a sacrament where two people are joined by God, it is not right to accept a donor from a third person. Also anonymous donors deny a child the right to know who their biological father is.

Hannah had no children.because the Lord had closed her womb

Christian responses to issues raised by Cloning

Cloning is defined as the process of making of copy of any organism and in which the genotypic and phenotypic character of the new organism remained exactly same as that of parental organism is called cloning.
There are 3 types of cloning: 1.DNA cloning: 2.Reproductive cloning: e.g. for the large scale The production of a new production of proteins animal from the cell of another animal e.g. Dolly the sheep 1996 3.Therapeutic cloning: The use of stem cells from human embryos to produce replacement cells to treat heart disease, cancer, Alzheimers and other serious illnesses. In 2008 New York scientists cured mice with Parkinsons disease

Christian responses to issues raised by Cloning continued

The Church of England They suggests that therapeutic cloning may be considered ethical as it does not result in the creation of another human being. A briefing paper in 2000 argues that an embryos ethical status (as a potential human being) develops as the embryo develops, and as use of embryos is only allowed in the first 14 days, the development (and therefore the ethical status) is very limited. The Roman Catholic Church They believe that research on cloned human embryos is both immoral and unnecessary. They believe that the embryo is the beginning of a new life and should not be treated as a commodity.

UK law currently allows therapeutic cloning under license (since Aug 2004). Reproductive cloning has been banned in the UK since 2001

Christian attitudes to Euthanasia and suicide

According to Christian belief God decides on how long people will live before they are even born. Therefore, to choose when you want to end your life is wrong. Christians believe that life is sacred and is a gift from God (sanctity of life) and God knows best about when should end your life. People should trust Gods judgement. Christian views will vary depending on which type of euthanasia is being discussed.

Types of Euthanasia

Christian attitudes to Euthanasia and suicide

The Church of England They don't generally agree with euthanasia, although though examples of passive euthanasia may be acceptable. Roman Cathoilcs They speak of the double effect they believe that euthanasia is allowed if it is a side effect of a treatment, e.g. a very strong pain killer like morphine

Christian beliefs about the use of animals in medical research

In Genesis God tells humans to rule over all creatures. Christians believe that there are some fundamaental differences between humans and animals. Humans are Gods special creation. Animals on the other hand dont have a soul, and are not capable of having a relationship with God. However Christians believe that animals should be treated with care and respect it is a persons responsibility as a steward to ensure that this is always the case. The Roman Catholic and Church of England both agree that medical research is important so it should be allowed, but care should be taken that the animal endures minimum pain both during and after the testing.

Continued
However, Roman Catholics believe that is wrong to treat animals too well when there are people in the worlwhd o are dying because of poverty.

Quakers show a loving consideration for all Gods creatures. They were pioneer vegetarians of the 19th century. Quakers oppose hunting. They unite in condeming cruel exploitation of animals including testing on animals.