An interesting 'starter' for a discussion on abortion. It presents views for and against abortion using discussion from my class and teacher input. It opens the proverbial can of worms and will lead to debate.

THE PROS AND CONS OF ABORTION

AGAINST

• The baby has the right to live
• The baby is innocent and did nothing to deserve being killed
• It did not ask to be born
• The foetus is growing and is therefore alive
• He/she has a heartbeat
• Parents should be responsible for this creature they have brought into the world
• Abortions were always declared illegal until 1973 (in the United States) and only legal after that in some places
• The baby is capable of life
• Doctors are here to save lives not take them away
• Adoption is a better option
• Even if a woman is raped she may still love the child since it is also part of her
• Hypocrisy of society - saves premature babies and allows healthy unborn babies to be aborted
• Only a very tiny amount of abortions occur because of rape so this should not decide whether or not the vast majority of abortions should take place
• The foetus can in fact feel - the 'Silent Scream'
• The foetus moves its fingers etc. Even as early as 8 weeks in the mother’s womb
• In-vitro fertilisation proves that a fertilised egg is a human from conception - the sex and other genetic features can be known from the very start because it is human
• The first cell contained DNA that had more than a billion set of instructions
• Being unformed does not mean that the egg or embryo is not human. Are you not human at the age of 15 because your arms aren’t as long as they will become or if your face doesn’t have the wrinkles you are meant to get
• By the time most abortions occur (8 weeks) the foetus is fully formed and just needs to grow
• After birth we go through stages - infant, toddler, teen, adult. So too the stages before birth are to be seen as stages not as nothing or tissue

FOR

• The foetus has no feelings or memories
• It doesn’t look human
• No pain is experienced
• Mother has a right over her own body
• The foetus doesn’t think
• Parents don’t need to be responsible
• Abortion is better than adoption
• Dying is better than growing up confused or feeling rejected or even committing suicide
• Saves mother from post-natal depression
• Teenagers are not old enough to have children
• Parents could be too poor to support their child
• The foetus is not a worthy member of the community
• The world’s cities are over populated
• You might be doing the baby a favour

KEY QUESTIONS

1.  
2. Why would people consider it wrong to kill an adult that is asleep and doesn’t feel being shot but do not think killing a baby inside the mother’s womb is wrong?
3.  
4. What makes it wrong for a disabled person who is not 'fully formed' to be killed but right for a foetus to be killed even though it is not fully formed?
5.  
6. What is similar between the Nazis’ persecution of the Jews, the killing of infants in China and abortion?
7.  
8. The Natural Law helps us to see when certain things are not natural and therefore wrong and not normal. For instance we know drugs are wrong because they have harmful effects, homosexual activity is wrong because no life can come from it (amongst other reasons). So too, abortion is dangerous for the woman. It has been associated with deaths, miscarriages of later pregnancies, cancer, infertility, etc. (Brian Clowes. PhD. The Facts of Life. 1997)
9.  
10. Which of the following deaths is worse and why?

•  
• A 90 year old man who is paralysed in his entire body and would not feel any pain when stabbed
•  
• A 75 year old woman from Africa who has a heart condition
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• A 60 year old man from Australia with epilepsy
•  
• A 35 year old man from America who is deaf and mentally ill
•  
• A 30 year old woman who has no legs, arms and is deaf and blind (obviously not fully formed )
•  
• A 10 year old boy who is disabled
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• A 5 year old girl
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• A 2 year old child
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• A 10 month old baby who doesn’t respond to anything , is deaf and blind but is alive
•  
• A 6 month old baby that is healthy
•  
• A 5 month old baby that is always crying
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• A 3 week old baby that is healthy
•  
• An 8 week premature baby that needs to be kept on a respirator
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• A 7 month old baby still in its mother’s womb that is healthy and is killed by abortion
•  
• A 5 month old baby that is fully formed and is killed by abortion
•  
• A 3 month old baby that is aborted using saline solution and is delivered dead
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• A 3 month old baby aborted by saline solution but is still alive when it comes out - it is then drowned
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• A 2 month old baby that is still in the womb and fully formed
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• A 4 week old baby in the womb who is becoming fully formed
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• A 4 week old baby in the womb who will not be developing an arm because it is deformed
•  
• A 1 day old fertilised egg which is not permitted to implant itself because the mother has taken a morning after pill and the fertilised egg is destroyed

6.  
7. Often, the rights of the mother are taking into account when it comes to abortion. Who else should have their rights considered?
8.  
9. Predict what the Church thinks about the following and which reasons the Church would give.

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• Euthanasia
•  
• Capital punishment
•  
• In-vitro fertilisation of embryos

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