Abortion is a subject matter that is widely regarded as an ethical issue all over the world. Abortion brings both pro-life and pro-choice advocates into debate as to what the right decision and law is in regards to terminating a fetus. Both sides of believers believe in their own stance and passionately think that their beliefs are the way all should live by. The stance on pro-life is one generally taken by Christians and in particular the Catholic Church. They gain this belief from their faith where “being” a Christian means one’s life and views needs to align with God’s therefore following the Holy Scripture and teachings in a strict manner is essential.
The term ‘Ethical’ can be defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “relating to moral principles
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This is because the Church upholds particular sets of values that they believe when followed allow human beings to live a wholesome and flouring life. What determines their views are their set morals of faith which for them is seeing through the Catholic viewpoint to decide what it means to be a good human being and reason in the sense that is what they decide on needs to be in line with God’s teachings. In relation to abortion, Catholics believe that God is the giver and taker of life therefore every human conceived needs to be respected and thought of as a unique blessing given as a gift from God. The point of conception is when human life starts therefore abortion is seen as killing an innocent human. The genetic code is believed to already be made up therefore a potential human is created with a possible life that like anyone who was born, needs to be protected. In the 1983 Canon Law of the Catholic Church which is the legal principles of the Church it states, “A person who actually procures an abortion incurs automatic excommunication.” This means in the Catholic tradition anyone who causes or has an abortion is to immediately be excluded from the Church. In the Didche which translates to ‘teachings’ as it contains the ideas of the twelve Apostles written in the 2nd century CE it writes, “you shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the new born to perish.” This shows that from the early stages of Christianity, abortions were always deemed unacceptable as indicated in one of the earliest pieces of Christian history that still exists. The focal points of the Catholic Church’s beliefs are built off the religious scripture and founding documents which model this attitude therefore for this reason a clear disapproval towards abortion has been undertaken by the religious group. The head of the Catholic Church, the Vatican, proclaim