MORAL CHOICES by Scott Rae - Clover Sites



MORAL CHOICES by Scott Rae

Chapter Six: Abortion

Study Guide

I. THE LEGAL BACKGROUND

II. THE BIBLICAL BACKGROUND

III. THE PRO-CHOICE ARGUMENTS

IV. THE ISSUE OF PERSONHOOD

I. THE LEGAL BACKGROUND

You need to know the

A. Names of the main court cases

B. Court’s decision regarding the legal status of abortion

C. Basis or bases for that decision

In your cell group, complete the table below

|Court case and date |Legal status of abortion |Base(s) |

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|(1973) | | |

|Court case and date |Legal status of abortion |Base(s) |

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|(1973) | | |

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|(1977) | | |

|Court case and date |Legal status of abortion |Base(s) |

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|(1989) | | |

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|(1992) | | |

II. THE BIBLICAL BACKGROUND

You need to know the Biblical case against abortion.

In your cell group, complete the table below.

|Passage |Truth claim |Significance for the issue of abortion |

|Ex. 20:13 |Murder is wrong. |Murdering an unborn human is wrong for the same reason that murdering a born human is wrong. |

|Ge. 4:1 | | |

|Job 3:3 | | |

|Passage |Truth claim |Significance for the issue of abortion |

|Jer. 1:5 | | |

|Isa. 49:1 | | |

|Ps. 139:13-16 | | |

|Passage |Truth claim |Significance for the issue of abortion |

|Ps. 51:5 | | |

|Lu. 1:41-44 & | | |

|Lu. 2:16 | | |

|Ex. 21:22-25 | | |

III. THE PRO-CHOICE ARGUMENTS

You need to know the main arguments historically used by those who support the right to choose to abort a fetus.

Most of the arguments commit the logical fallacy known as begging the question: assuming the conclusion one wishes to reach without offering any evidence for its validity.

In your cell group, complete the table below.

|Argument |Response |Counterexamples (if any) |

|A woman has the right do with her own body | |Prostitution is illegal. |

|whatever she chooses. | |Susan Smith was found guilty of murder when she drowned her two boys (3 |

| | |years old and 14 months old) by pushing them into a lake in a locked |

| | |automobile after her boyfriend rejected her. Her right to do with her body|

| | |whatever she chose was challenged when she used her body to end the lives |

| | |of her children. |

|If abortion becomes legal, we’ll return to | | |

|the dangerous days of the back-alley | | |

|butchers. | | |

|Argument |Response |Counterexamples (if any) |

|Forcing women, especially poor ones, to | | |

|continue their pregnancies will create | | |

|overwhelming financial hardship. | | |

|Society should not force women to bring | |Homeless people are apparently not wanted by a large segment of the |

|unwanted children into the world. | |population, but are not killed for not being wanted. |

|Society should not force women to bring | |Unhappiness does not necessarily accompany disability: consider the many |

|severely handicapped children into the world.| |testimonies of parents of Down’s Syndrome children of the children’s |

| | |angelic, cheerful temperaments. |

|Argument |Response |Counterexamples (if any) |

|Society should not force women who are | | |

|pregnant from rape or incest to continue | | |

|their pregnancies. | | |

|Restrictive abortion laws discriminate | | |

|against poor women. | | |

IV. THE ISSUE OF PERSONHOOD

You need to know the “Decisive Moment Argument” for the non-personhood of the fetus prior to some crucial stage of gestation.

In your cell group, complete the table below.

|“Decisive gestational moment” |Rationale for withholding personhood prior to this moment |Response |

|Viability | | |

|Initial brain function | | |

|Onset of sentience | | |

|“Decisive gestational moment” |Rationale for withholding personhood prior to this moment |Response |

|Quickening | | |

|Appearance of humanness |The human fetus at certain stages looks similar to the fetal stages of non-human | |

| |animals (bird, pig, ape, etc.), and early in gestation appears as a lump of tissue. | |

|Birth | | |

|“Decisive gestational moment” |Rationale for withholding personhood prior to this moment |Response |

|Implantation | | |

Conclusions

• The fetus has full personhood from the moment of conception, created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27).

• An adult human being is the result of the continuous growth and development from conception through birth, infancy, childhood and adolescence. Indeed, personal growth can and does typically continue until the moment of death.

• From conception to adulthood, this development has no break that is relevant to the essential nature of the fetus.

• Abortion is an action taken to end the life of the fetus.

• The fetus is a person.

• Taking action to end the lives of innocent persons is murder, the extinguishing of an image-bearer of God (Gen. 9:6).

• Abortion for any purpose but to save the life of the mother violates basic moral principles.

• Christians need to actively oppose abortion and actively support efforts to assist people facing problem pregnancies.

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