Abortion Ethics

• When was abortion legalised?

  Abortion was legalised in 1967 by the Abortion Act. However, certain criteria had to be met before a woman could have an abortion.
• In 2021, over 200,000 abortions took place in the UK. This was a record high.
• Secular arguments for abortion include:

  1. A woman's right to choose.
  2. The embryo does not have equal rights to the mother.
  3. Legal abortions are safer than illegal abortions.
  4. The woman's health is more important.
• Catholics believe that life starts at conception, therefore abortion is not permissible unless a consequence of the Doctrine of Double Effect.
• For Protestants, there is less uniformity over their beliefs in abortion. The majority are against abortion but there is no set belief, unlike Catholicism.
• In the Church of England, it is taught that abortion is wrong due to the Sanctity of Life Principle.
• In CoE, abortion may be permitted if it is the 'lesser of two evils'.
• Situation Ethics would judge it based on the most agapeic thing to do. If abortion is the better option, it may be permitted.
• Natural Moral Law aligns with Catholicism so takes a similar position abortion and other matters.
• Natural Moral Law believes that the purpose of humans is to reproduce and preserve life. Abortion goes against this.
• Pope John Paul III declared abortion to be wrong as it is the 'deliberate killing of a human being'.