The Sanctity of Human Life

The Sanctity of Human Life • Abortion • Euthanasia • Suicide • Capital Punishment • Serving in Military, Police • Human Engineering

Sanctity of Life • Address questions that people of the 21st century are faced with due to the accomplishments of modern science: • Does abortion end the life of a human being? • Is suicide an acceptable way to terminate one’s life? • Is euthanasia a merciful way of preventing suffering?

Sanctity of Life • Foundational principles that must be understood : • Man is not the product of organic evolution, but a creation of God (Gen. 2:7; Acts 17:25; 1 Tim. 6:13)

Sanctity of Life • Foundational principles that must be understood : • Gen. 9:6 - Here we see the distinctive sanctity of human life. • Man is more than higher form of animal - he is created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27). • God has authorized man to use animals for food (v. 3) – without its blood (Lev. 17:11)

Sanctity of Life • Foundational principles that must be understood : • Gen. 9:6 – (cont.) • Man’s blood more sacred, neither man nor animal may shed it (Gen. 9:3-6) • Distinction between animal and human life • Willful destruction of human life is sin (Ex. 20:30)

Sanctity of Life • Foundational principles that must be understood : • Only the Creator has the right to authorize the termination of the life of a human being (Gen. 9:6; Ex. 20:13; 21:12; Lev. 24:21) Except when God specifically delegates that right to men (e.g. Rom. 13:14; 1 Pet. 2:14; Acts 24:11)

The Sanctity of Human Life • Abortion • Euthanasia • Suicide • Capital Punishment • Serving in Military, Police • Human Engineering

Sanctity of Life Abortion Violates the Sanctify of Life

Abortion Violates the Sanctify of Life • If abortion is an act of killing a human being, then abortion is murder and sin against God • It would be, without doubt, the shedding of innocent blood (Isa. 9:6) • Facts show abortion is the killing of a human being

SecularArgumentsAgainstAbortion? • Libertarians for Life (L4L.org) – atheists • A Secular Case Against Abortion by Jennifer Roth – secular humanist (www.infidels.org/library/modern/debates/secularisst/abortion/oth1.html) • Feminists for Life (feministsforlife .org) – non-sectarian

Secular Abortion Arguments • Scientific considerations • Human Embryology 101 • When does human life begin? • Legal Issues • Is the unborn a person? • Are the laws logically consistent? • Moral Issues • When does a person begin to exist?

Scientific Arguments • When does human life begin? • Medical textbooks • Statements of doctors • When does abortion occur? • “Products of conception” – just a “blob of tissue”

Medical Embryology Textbooks The Developing Human: Clinically Oriented Embryology "Zygote: this cell results from the union of an oocyte and a sperm. A zygote is the beginning of a new human being (i.e., an embryo). Human development begins at fertilization… This highly specialized, totipotent cell marks the beginning of each of us as a unique individual.”

Medical Embryology Textbooks Essentials of Human Embryology “In this text, we begin our description of the developing human with the formation and differentiation of the male and female sex cells or gametes, which will unite at fertilization to initiate the embryonic development of a new individual.”

Medical Embryology Textbooks Human Embryology & Teratology “Fertilization is an important landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed…”

What Do Medical Doctors Say? • Dr. Alfred Bongioanni (University of Pennsylvania): • “I have learned from my earliest medical education that human life begins at the time of conception.” • Dr. Jerome LeJeune (University of Descartes): • “after fertilization has taken place a new human being has come into being.”

What Do Medical Doctors Say? • Dr. Hymie Gordon (Mayo Clinic): • “By all criteria of modern molecular biology, life is present from the moment of conception.” • Dr. Micheline Matthews-Roth (Harvard University Medical School): • “It is scientifically correct to say that an individual human life begins at conception”

Measurable heart beat 21-24 days after conception Human Embryology • Fetal heart beginsto form 18 days after conception

Brain waves produced by 6 weeks Human Embryology • Fetal brain begins to form on day 23

Abortion Statistics by Weeks of Gestation Elam-Evans, L.D., et al. 2002. Abortion Surveillance -- United States, 1999. Surveillance Summaries 51(SS09) 1-28. (Center for Disease Control and Prevention)

Fetus – Just a “Blob of Tissue”? “I opened the sock up and I put it on the towel and there were parts in there of a person. I’d taken anatomy; I was a medical student. I knew what I was looking at. There was a little scapula and there was an arm, and I saw some ribs and a chest, and I saw a little tiny head, and I saw a piece of a leg, and I saw a tiny hand. ... I checked it out and there were two arms and two legs and one head, etc., and I turned and said, I guess you got it all ... It was pretty awful that first time... it was like somebody put a hot poker into me.” (Dr. David Brewer, in training)

Fetus – Just a “Blob of Tissue”? “I watched as the contents of the woman’s womb came through a suctioning device and into a stainless-steel pail sitting at his feet. I stepped back and wiped the perspiration from my brow. “This is kind of gruesome,” I said…. The doctor said, “At this point in a pregnancy, the products of conception aren’t much.” I stepped forward and peered into the pail. This time I broke out in a cold sweat. I backed up and leaned against the wall, my eyes closed. Dear Jesus! I thought. I just saw someone murdered! And I just stood and watched! (Nurse Don Haines, in training)

Fetus – Just a “Blob of Tissue”? “I had a quick sonogram and then received a shot of methrotrexate. After the shot, I came home... I went to bed that evening around 9 p.m… I continued contracting and bleeding most of the night. Around three in the morning, I went to the bathroom. When I stood up, I noticed that the pain and the pressure was not from clots, but from passing the placenta. When I looked in the commode, I saw laying in the center of the placenta my baby. I saw the baby's perfectly formed hands, the little fingers. I remember the scream that came from my mouth... [from a 7 week abortion] (Char, “I used to be Pro-choice...But…”)

Scientific Conclusions • Human life begins at conception • Human development proceeds rapidly (all organs and systems are in place by week 8) • Abortion stops a beating heart • Most abortions occur after the fetus exhibits measurable brain waves

Legal Arguments ConsiderThesePoints: • Right to life • Supreme Court decision • Legal definition of murder • Definition of murder – exceptions • Personhood issues

Right to Life The Declaration of Independence of the United States guarantees “certain unalienable Rights, that among those are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”

Right to Life "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among those are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” The Declaration of Independence of the United States guarantees “certain unalienable Rights, that among those are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”

Supreme Court Decision • The Supreme Court held that the “right to privacy,” assured the freedom of a person to abort unless the state had a “compelling interest” in preventing the abortion. • The Court then held that, though the state had an interest in protecting fetal life, this interest did not become “compelling” until “fetal viability” occurred in the third trimester of pregnancy.

Legal Allowances for Killing an Unborn Child Texas Penal Code, Title 5.Offenses Against the Person Chapter 19.Criminal Homicide § 19.01. TYPES OF CRIMINAL HOMICIDE. (a) A person commits criminal homicide if he intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence causes the death of an individual. (b) Criminal homicide is murder, capital murder, manslaughter, or criminally negligent homicide.1

Texas Penal Code, Title 5.Chapter 19.Criminal Homicide • § 19.06. APPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN CONDUCT. This chapter does not apply to the death of an unborn child if the conduct charged is: • conduct committed by the mother of the unborn child; • a lawful medical procedure performed by a physician or other licensed health care provider with the requisite consent, if the death of the unborn child was the intended result of the procedure; 1

Texas Penal Code, Title 5.Chapter 19.Criminal Homicide § 19.06. APPLICABILITY TO CERTAIN CONDUCT. This chapter does not apply to the death of an unborn child if the conduct charged is: (cont.) (3) a lawful medical procedure performed by a physician or other licensed health care provider with the requisite consent as part of an assisted reproduction as defined by Section 160.102, Family Code;

Texas Penal Code, Title 5.Chapter 19.Criminal Homicide • Implications of this law: • A unborn baby is a “person” • Certain people are legally allowed to kill that innocent “person”

Legal Personhood Issues • The fetus is granted personhood if wanted by the mother • The fetus can become a non-person at the discretion of the mother • However, a mother may not choose to kill her born child • How can the personhood of a human being be decided by another person?

Moral Arguments • “Benefit” to women • “Benefit to child (every child “wanted”) • “Right” to control their own body • Population control • Fetus is not a person – personality argument

“Benefit” to Women • Prevention of deaths from “coat hanger” or “back alley” abortions • Cases of rape or incest, fetal abnormalities or threats to mother’s life or health • Abortion alleviates economic and social problems

Abortion Must Remain Legal to Prevent Abortion Deaths

The “Hard” Cases Abortion must be available for: • cases of rape or incest • Represent only 1% of all cases • cases of fetal abnormalities • Represent only 1% of all cases • mother’s health is at risk • Represents only 3% of all cases The Alan Guttmacher Institute (http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html)

Abortion Alleviates Economic and Social Problems • Pregnancy subjugates women, interferes with career and educational choices • For most women, pregnancy does not interfere with the ability to work or attend school, except after birth • Laws prevent employers from firing or discriminating against pregnant women

Abortion Alleviates Economic and Social Problems (cont.) • Women are not forced to keep their children -- adoption is always an option • The existence of social problems is not justification for another evil

Not true Every Child Should Be Wanted • Being wanted is not a condition of the child, but of the adult • Is it fair to kill a child because of the attitude of an adult? • Wanted children are less likely to suffer abuse

Every Child Should Be Wanted(Wanted Children Are Less Likely to Be Abused) U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, National Center of Child Abuse & Neglect; National Analysis of Official Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting

Women Have a “Right” to Control Their Own Body • Is the fetus part their body? • Separate circulatory system • Unique DNA • Do we have rights to do anything with our bodies? • Assault • Illegal drugs • Use of drugs/alcohol during pregnancy

Population Control – Rebuttal • Those countries that outlaw abortion have an overcrowding problem • This does not indicated cause and effect – these countries also have little or no access to birth-control, poor education, etc. • War, disease and famine also curb population growth. Should we condone them?

Fetus Is Not a Person “Persons . . . are members of a social community that shapes and values them, and personhood must be defined in terms of interactions and relationships with others.” Susan Sherwin. 1999. Ethical Issues: Perspectives for Canadians. Ed. Soifer, Eldon. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, p. 267

Fetus Is Not a Person – Rebuttal • Personality definition problems • Does a human non-person exist? • What traits define personhood? • Who makes the definition? • Society has excluded certain humans from personhood before (e.g., African slaves, Chinese, etc.) Should we make a new list of human non-persons?

Next slide Fetus Is Not a Person – Rebuttal • The lack of certain personality traits would remove from personhood: • Those who are in a coma • Elderly with degenerative disorders (Alzheimer's, etc.) • Mentally deficient

Fetus Is Not a Person – Rebuttal • The lack of certain personality traits would remove from personhood: • Mentally deficient (cont.) • Genetic • Neurological disease • Mental illness • Is is okay to consider these human beings as non-persons?

Definition of Personhood • One who is consciously performing personal acts – eliminates those who are sleeping • One with a present capacity to perform personal acts – eliminates those who are in a coma

Definition of Personhood • One who has a history of performing personal acts – eliminates one who was in a coma from birth, but wakes up • One with a future capacity for performing personal acts – makes those who are dying as non-persons

The Sanctity of Human Life