2.1b Right To Life

1. 2.1b Right To Life

2. The Fifth Commandment • “You shall not kill” • Teaches us that all human life is sacred. • From its beginning, each human life involves the creative action of God and is a relationship with God. • We are called to respect our own life and the lives of others.

3. All human life is valuable • Even if it is weak, we do not have the right to destroy it by abortion or euthanasia. • Abortion – the induced termination of a pregnancy by the destruction of the embryo or fetus. • Euthanasia – the act of killing hopelessly sick or injured individuals for the reasons of mercy.

4. Right To Life • As Catholics, we believe that human life begins at the moment of conception (sperm combining with egg to forming a zygote), NOT birth. • At conception, the person has all their chromosomes and will begin a process of growth that ends at natural death. • Therefore from the moment of conception, we believe life is sacred and should not be harmed or taken unnaturally.

6. 3 week old blastocyst • Rapid cell division and differentiation • Blastocyst will implant in the uterus soon • The blastocyst doesn’t look much like a human but it is most definitely is human – each cell will contain the same human DNA from the zygote.

7. 4 week old embryo • Organs and muscles develop • Early in the embryonic stage most animals look similar • Further in the embryonic stage the baby gradually begins to look more and more like a baby

8. 10 week old fetus • In the fetal stage of development, the baby will continue to grow and develop organs, muscles and bones. • The heart is beating and the baby is moving around • The baby will go from a couple of inches to its eventual birth length and weight

9. 20 weeks old fetus • About the length of a banana and weighs 10.5 oz • Swallowing amniotic fluid to practice for digestion • Moving around and kicking constantly • Baby can hear and recognize mother’s voice

10. 38 week old fetus • The baby is considered full term and labour is expected in the next couple of weeks • A baby born as early as 24 weeks (after conception ) can survive with medical intervention

11. Recall: from last class • The Fifth commandment calls us to show an appreciation of the precious gift of life and health. • It calls us to avoid every kind of excess that will damage our health and life (cigarettes, high fat diet, drinking, drugs, reckless lifestyle). • Our life comes from God and we have been entrusted with its safe keeping.

12. The Church’s Teaching Humanae Vitae – An encyclical letter (letter from the pope to the bishops of the world) of Pope Paul VI published in 1968. • It clarified and restated the Church’s position against artificial birth control, premarital sexual relations, abortion and fornication. • Its teaching about conjugal love, respect for life and the dignity of the human can be extended to our Church’s moral opposition to euthanasia and in vitro fertilization.