When people have a
principle and they will
not differ from it
Relative Morality
When people have
a principle, but they
may change it due
to the situation
Why is Life Special?
Sanctity of life
The concept that God
created life, so life is
special and should
not be destroyed
Value of life
How much a person is
worth in financial terms
Quality of life
Whether the person has a
comfortable and pain free life
Fertility Treatment
IVF
In Vitro Fertilisation
A method of impregnation
that doesn't involve sexual
intercourse, where the
sperm and egg meet outside
the body and as then
inserted into the womb
Allows a couple to
have a child that the
would not have been
able to have otherwise
It isn't natural
The unused fertilised
eggs may be discarded,
for some people this may
be classed as murder
Going against God's plan
God may have given the
technology and the power
AID
Artificial Insemination
by Donor
When the sperm from
an anonymous (until the
child turns 18) donor is
inserted into the vagina
It allows a gay
couple to have a child
in a 'single-sex' home
Which shouldn't even be a
disadvantage because
anybody who thinks gay people
shouldn't have the same rights
as straight people is stupid,
homophobic and prejugisted
The child might be
disappointed when
they find out that their
'dad' is not actually
their real father
AIH
Artificial Insemination
by Husband
When the sperm
from the woman's
husband is inserted
into the vagina
Generally allowed
Catholics and Judaism
see masturbation as
'spilling the seed'
Surragacy
When another woman
carries the child for a
couple where the
woman is infertile or has
an unsuitable womb
May be seen
as adultery
The surrogate mother
could become attached
to the child and not
want to give it up
Transplant Surgery
and Blood Transfusion
Transplants
When organs from a
brain dead donor are
used to replace the
organs of a patient that
do not work properly
Some people are
against being donors
because they don't want
to be buried 'incomplete'
Blood Transfusions
When a patient is given
extra blood from a donor
of the same blood type
Jehovah's witnesses
believe that the life is
carried in the blood,
so completely oppose
blood transfusions
Genetic Engineering
Saviour siblings
A saviour sibling is
sibling born of a
child who is very
ill, specifically to
provide stem cells
for the ill sibling
The sibling may
feel like they are
not loved and
were only born to
save the other
child
Human Genetic
'Tampering with life'
Embryology is the
study of embryos
Could lead to designer
babies, where hair and
eye colour, etc are chosen
It is currently a way of
ensuring that babies are no
born with faulty genes, or
genetic inherited diseases
Playing God
Cloning
Therapeutic
When embryos are
created and used for
experimentation but
must be destroyed
after 14 days
Reprodutive
When an
identical
copy of an
organism is
produced
Cloned people
don't have souls
If someone is cloned and
ginger, does it cancel out,
do they get a soul?
God gave free will
Could help sick
and infertile
people
Experimentation
Hybrids
When
human DNA
is injected
into an egg
from an
animal (e.g.
Cow)
Drugs
Tested on simulation
Tested for poison
on rats or mice
Cleared for
human testing
by ethical
bodies
Tested on healthy
volunteers
Tested on people with
the relevant illness
Tested against other
drugs for side effects
Animal cruelty issues
Religious Views
Christian
Disposing of embryos is murder
Life begins at conception
Cloning makes us, 'a
product of technology,
not a gift of life'
"You shall not kill"
"Love your neighbour
as you love yourself"
Muslim
The foetus does not
receive it's soul until the
120th day of pregnancy
"Do not take life which
Allah has made sacred"
Only allow blood
transfusions in
extreme cases
IVF and AIH are allowed
God gave
us the
technology
Buddhist
Life begins before
conception, because
everyone is suspended
in the Samsara cycle
The deed is not
important, but the
intention of the deed