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Sanctity of Life

Birth and Death

Introduction

The Sanctity of Life touches upon all of the issues in this section. Some forms of contraception prevent a fertilised blastocyst from implanting in the womb. There is great debate around how this blastocyst should be valued, the starting point of a process that would, if not prevented in some way, unarguably lead to human life.

This debate naturally leads on to a debate about abortion. How do you balance the respect for the foetus against respect for the mother? It also leads to questions about what the most loving thing to do would be. Does the principle of the sanctity of life actually conflict with the command to love your neighbour as yourself?

Debates about abortion and the value of the foetus overlap with questions about infertilty. In particular, many forms of Sanctity of Life treatment require experimentation on embryos. What is a Christian response to these treatments?

The issue of suicide is an emotive one, and ties in very closely with the eithanasia debate. The belief that human life is sacred leads many Christians to believe that it is always wrong to help someone to die.

There are specific cases, such as that of Jodie and Mary, that force us to decide between the practical response (killing Mary to save Jodie) and the belief that it is always wrong to kill an innocent human being.

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