Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Religion and Medicine: Euthanasia and
Abortion
- Abortion
- Muslim attitude
- Only Allah gives and takes lives
- Life should be treated with great respect
- No Muslim likes the idea of abortion
- It involves taking a life given by Allah so it is wrong
- A foetus is a life from the moment of conception
- Ensoulment
- Allah puts a soul into the foetus at 17 weeks
- Before ensoulment a mother has greater rights to her unborn child
- Abortion permitted before ensoulment if there is a compelling reason
- If the mother's life is in danger
- Abortion seen as lesser of two evils
- This is because the woman is already alive and has responsibilities within her family
- If she dies the foetus would die anyway
- Liberal Muslims might permit abortion if...
- The baby is likely to be born physically disabled
- The baby is likely to be mentally disabled
- The baby becomes human
- The baby now has human rights
- The Qur'an says that a mother will come face to face with a child they aborted in the afterlife
- That child will ask them why they were
killed
- Therefore abortion is never taken lightly
- Christian attitude
- Christians believe firmly in the sanctity of life
- They are against killing one of God's creations
- Some liberal Protestants believe that sometimes an abortion is the kinder option
- Jesus taught his followers that love is the most important thing
- In some cases it may be more loving to have an abortion
- If the baby will have a short, painful life
- If the mother is at risk
- Roman Catholics believe a person's life begins as soon as an egg is fertilised
- The baby has a right to life
- No one can take this right away from them
- An abortion should be carried out as early as possible
- Pro-life
- People who do not agree
with abortion because
they believe the foetus
has a right to life
- Pro-choice
- People who believe the mother has a choice to an abortion
- Euthanasia
- Muslim attitudes
- Muslims believe euthanasia is
wrong because it contradicts
Allah's teachings about the
sanctity of life
- The soul is always perfect and what matters to Allah
- Life is a test
- Allah is never unfair
- We can't know why a person suffers
- Anyone suffering should be treated with love and compassion
- Until the end of their natural life
- Muslims believe we are
judged in the afterlife on how
we treat those who are
suffering
- It is alright to turn off a life support machine
- If the body would
die naturally
anyway
- Palliative care
- Best option for Muslims
- Involves controlling pain when healing is impossible
- At home surrounded by family
- Christian attitudes
- God made human life higher than animal life
- Humans are made in God's image
- This means no one has the right to take a life
- Most biblical teachings lead Christians to
think that euthanasia is wrong
- Liberal Christians
- For some it is
acceptable to turn off
a life support
machine if the
person is 'brain-dead'
- They believe the person is already dead
- The machine is just performing vital functions
- Some Christians consider
withholding treatment
when a person's quality of
life is already very poor
- What matters most is if people are
loving towards eachother
- Respect their decisions
- Roman Catholics
- Totally against euthanasia
- Hospices provide
an alternative to
euthanasia