Life and death issues

• Ethics


  Moral principles that guide a person's behaviour
• Ways of making moral decisions


  • To follow the Bible's key principles
  • To listen to religious leaders
  • To use your own conscience
  • To consider the discoveries of science and psychology
• Sanctity of Life


  The belief that all life is sacred, holy, special and should be protected
• Biblical Ethics


  Moral guidelines that are in the Bible or follow the Bible's teaching
• Genesis 1:27: 'So God created mankind in his own image'
• Psalms 139:13: 'You knit me together in my mother's womb'
• Jeremiah 1:5: 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart'
• Exodus 20:13: 'You shall not murder'
• All life has value to God as he made it. Even an unborn baby is special to God
• Each person has a purpose in God's plan
• Taking a person's life is never permissible (under normal circumstances)
• Other Biblical teaching which influences Christian Morality


  • The 10 Commandments
  • Teachings of Jesus
• After the 2nd World War the nations of the world agreed on a charter of human rights for all people. In Article 3 of their declaration it states: Everyone has the right to life, liberty (freedom) and security of person (being safe)
• Human right


  A legal entitlement to have or to do something
• Absolute Ethics


  When something is always right or wrong no matter the circumstances
• Relative Ethics


  When circumstances are taken into consideration when deciding something is right or wrong
• Rape is always wrong
• Sometimes it's okay to steal, e.g. a homeless person stealing food
• Abortion


  Deliberately ending a pregnancy before normal child birth
• Reasons a woman may want an abortion


  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • The baby will have a disability
  • Financially unstable
  • Risk to mother's health
  • Young for school/university
  • Mental health
  • Relationship problems
  • Pressured to have an abortion, isn't willing to be a single mom
  • Family disapproval
• Pro-choice


  Groups of people who support abortion
• Pro-life


  Groups of people who are against abortion
• The baby has a right to life from the moment of conception
• Arguments against allowing abortion


  • Many single parents manage well - you don't have to abort
  • The baby is a precious gift from God
  • The child could find the cure for cancer
  • Baby could be adopted which lets childless couples have a family
• Euthanasia


  A gentle and easy death, sometimes called 'mercy killing', involving killing a person who is terminally ill
• Arguments for Euthanasia


  • People have the right to decide if they want to die, it's their life & death
  • Euthanasia can prevent more pain and suffering for the patient
  • A person should have control over their own life and be able to die with dignity
  • Family don't have to watch their loved ones suffer for a long time
• Arguments against Euthanasia


  • Only God has the right to decide when a person should die, the command from God is "Do not murder"
  • Euthanasia devalues human life and everyone is sacred and has value "made in the image of God"
  • Suffering can bring benefits, people can grow in their faith and rely on God for strength
  • The elderly or ill may feel a burden on their families and feel pressure to die if it was legal
  • Elderly people may lose trust in their doctors as they may think they no longer care about keeping them alive and wasting resources
  • It's a slippery slope, if we allow euthanasia we may start to take the lives of people who are not terminally ill
• Palliative Care


  An alternative to Euthanasia, involving giving medical, emotional or spiritual care to a person who is terminally ill which aims to ease their suffering and pain to make them comfortable
• Ashleigh Topley from N.I. was pregnant with a baby that was not going to survive after birth. She was not permitted an abortion and then campaigned for the law to be changed
• Geoff Whaley had motor neurone disease and chose to travel to Switzerland for euthanasia because it is illegal in the UK
• Diane suffered from Motor Neurone disease. She took the government to court to have the law changed to allow euthanasia in the UK, but her case was unsuccessful