Dr. Pothana's Teaching

2. Lesson 5- ABORTION
• Reviw - How should a Christian relate to
culture?
– The Separational Model
– The Identificational Model
– The Transformational Model
– The Incarnational Model

3. The Abortion Crisis in America
• Some call it a Modern Holocaust! An
Exaggeration
• Alan Guttmacher Institute-Some 1.3 million
abortions occur each year in US.
• Only 2% say they are seeking an abortion because
of rape, incest or anticipated birth defects.
• ¾ of the women interviewed say the abortion
would interfer with their work, school or other
responsibilities; 2/3 say they cannot afford another
child.
• There about 247,000 teenage abortions yearly and
150,000 abortions are in the second trimester of
pregnancy.

4. History of Abortion
1. Abortion was common in Ancient world.
2. Abortion was common in China(2727-2696 BC)
3. In his REPUBLIC Plato wrote that “ill concieved
embryros should not be brought to birth.”
4. The Hippocrates oath forbid abortions.
5. The Code of Hammurabi had prohibitions
against abortions.
6. Tertullian in 2nd Century said “it is not lawful to
destroy what is in the womb.”
7. Augustine condemned abortion in no uncertain
terms
8. In 1803 a part of the British law said abortion
was illegal

5. The History of Abortion In U.S.
• On January 22, 1973 the Supreme Court handed
down a ruling in the ROE vs Wade case that gave the
United States abortion on demand. (Jane Roe is now a
Christian and protests against abortion)
• There was nothing in the Constitution that established
the right of abortion, so the court set a precedent that
did not deal with the Constitution instead declared
that there is a right of privacy of women to have an
abortion.

6. History of Abortion In U.S.-
Other Cases
• July 1, 1976 - Planned Parenthood vs Danforth -
Parents or the father are not allowed to veto an
abortion.
• June 30, 1980- Harris vs McRae- States may cut off
funds for “medically necessary” abortions.
• June 15, 1983 – The court struck down an array of
local ordinances designed to place restrictions on
abortions.
• 1992- the Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood vs.
Casey upheld a PA. That required informed consent, a
24 hr waiting period and parental consent for minors.

7. Abortion
Roe v. Wade, 1973, U.S. Supreme Court
• Implied right of privacy
• Point of viability of the fetus
• Health of the mother
• When does life begin?

8. Four Types of Abortion- U.S.
1. Therapeutic Abortion -For sake of
Mother’s health
2. Psychiatric Abortion -For sake of
Mother’s mental health
3. Social Abortion - For economic reasons
4. Ethical Abortion - In case of rape, incest.

9. Methods of Abortion
1. Dilation and cutterage -The developing child is cut to
pieces with a sharp curette
2. Suction method -Skull and bones crushed by physician
before removing them by suction.
3. Saline method – Surgeon injects a salt solution and then
removes baby in 24 hrs.
4. Chemical method - (RU486)-Causes the women to abort
a recent fertilized egg.
5. Partial birth abortion – The physician partially delivers
a living fetus before killing the fetus and completing the
delivery

10. Serious Abortion Complications
1. Some Clinics concerned more about money
than health of Mother. Chicago Sun-Times reporters
2. Some women were not pregnant
3. Record Keeping was shoddy.
4. The greatest complication in clinics-a live
baby
5. Example: Dr. Waddill in Ca.- Was seen
choking a 2.5 lb baby after it was born alive.

11. Why is Abortion Wrong?
1. Unborn life is of great value to God
Exodus 21:22-24
2. Messiah was called by God from the womb
Isaiah 49:1,5
3. Jeremiah was called from the womb
Jeremiah 1:5
4. John the Baptist was called from the womb
Luke 1:15
5. Life begins at conception
Psalm 139

12. Ethical Questions Relating
to Abortion
• Is the fetus a human being?
• Is the fetus a person?
• How do the rights of the fetus
relate to the rights of the mother?

13. 5 Euthanasia
From two Greek words meaning
“good death”

14. Euthanasia
a.k.a. “mercy killing” which is
taking a person’s life or allowing
a person to end his/her own life to
end pain/suffering from a disease
or other physical condition.

15. Pressures for Euthanasia
• Quote: Gov. Richard Lamb of Colorado- In the
1980s he argued that the elderly must die,
embracing euthanasia to make way for the
young.
• The cost of medical care is about 14% of our
gross national product.
• Advances in medical technology make it possible
to sustain life even in terminal cases.
• The public’s seemingly insatiable demand for
health, including highly expensive forms of
cardiac transplants presses the issues of the
“rationing of life and death” more than just
academic talk.

16. DEFINITIONS OF DEATH
• In the 1960’s a mortality ill patient was one who
stopped breathing and continued in such a
state.
• With the advances in Medical technology the
question now is raised as to what is “alive” and
what is “dead.”
• The Presidential Commission on Ethical Problems
in Medicine(1981) defined death:
– 1)Irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functions
– 2)Irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the
brain stem.
This definition provides a check against euthanasia and the premature
“harvesting of the dead” for body parts.

17. Secular Definitions of Death
• Harvard School of Medicine
Unreceptivity and unresponsivity to external
applied stimuli and inner need
Absence of spontaneous muscular movements and
spontaneous respiration
No elicitable reflexes

18. Types of Euthanasia
• Voluntary or involuntary?
• Active or passive?
• Direct or indirect?

19. Types of Euthanasia
• Voluntary and Involuntary Euthanasia -defines
whether the patient requests or has taken an
active role in deciding upon the death.*
• Active and Passive -determines the method used
– Passive allows for the natural means of body to bring
death(not hooking up to a ventilator or heart machine)
– Active means the taking of ones’ life by removing life
sustaining equipment
• Direct and Indirect- Stresses the role of the patient-
Doctor-assisted suicide is direct euthanasia. (Jack Kevorkian)

20. The “Quality of Life” Ethic
• This ethic seeks to replace the Judeo-Christian ethic
• This ethic is relative, not absolute
• Joseph Fletcher infanticide and euthanasia are
acceptable “because human beings have the moral
obligation to increase well-being wherever possible.”
• Fletcher says “objective moral norms are irrelevant.”
• Fletcher says “human happiness and well-being are
the highest good….therefore any ends or purposes
which that ideal or standard validates are just, right,
good.”
• Suicide and mercy killing (euthanasia) are acceptable
to Fletcher because “a morally good end can justify a
relatively bad means.” SITUATIOJNAL ETHICS-
Philadelphia: Westminster,1966.

21. Fletcher’s –Criteria for being truly
Human
• Possess minimal intelligence (such as
below 40 IQ is questionable; below 20
not human)
• A capacity to relate to others
• A sense of future and the past
• A balance between rationality and
feelings

22. Arguments Against Euthanasia
1. Euthanasia would not only be for people who are i
“terminally” ill. Who defines terminal? Jack Kevorkian says
it is any illness “that curtails life even for a day.”
2. Euthanasia can become a means of health care cost
containment.
3. Euthanasia will become non-voluntary
1. Example1:Elder person who can barely read signs a consent form
2. Example2:A woman suffering from depression wants to die
4. Euthanasia is a rejection of the importance and value of
human life.

23. HISTORY OF EUTHANASIA
• 14TH- 20TH Century-For 700 yrs the Anglo-
American law tradition has punished or
disapproved of both suicide or assisting
suicide.” Chief Justice Rehnquist
• 1828-Earliest American statute explicitly
outlaws assisting suicide.Chief Justice Rehnquist-1997
• 1920- Book published “Permitting the
Destruction of Life not Worthy of life”-
Dr.Alfred Hoche and Karl Binding- This book helped support
involuntary euthanasia in Nazi Germany.
• 1935- The Euthanasia Society of England
was formed.

24. HISTORY OF EUTHANASIA-continued
• 1939- Nazi Germany – Hitler ordered widespread
“mercy killing” of the sick and disabled and to
eliminate “life unworthy of life.”
• 1995-Australia’s Northern Territory approved a
euthanasia bill.
• 1998- Oregon legalized assisted suicide.
• 1999- Dr. Jack Kevorkian sentenced to 10-25 years
for giving a lethal
Injection to a Thomas Youk-video-taped. Assisted
in 100 others.
• 2000- The Netherlands legalizes euthanasia-alresdy
being practiced by many doctors there.
• 2002- Belgium legalizes euthanasia.

25. Ambiguity of Terms
• “Terminal Illness”- whose definition
• “Reasonable hope of recovery”
• “Artificial means”
• “Extraordinary Measures” as opposes to
Ordinary Measures
• Quality of Life-who determines, and will the
government come into picture to define “quality of
life” for economic reasons
• Make sure you understand the meaning behind
the supposed meaning.

26. The Living Will
• Make sure you understand what prolongs life and
what does not.
• It is just as cruel to die of withdrawal of food and
water as to do active euthanasia.
• A heart-lung machine that indefinitely prolongs life is
not the same as just oxygen support.
• Make sure you define carefully what you want and
what you don’t want.
• “Durable power of attorney” has a person to act on
your behalf and is recognized in 41 states and avoids
legal difficulties. Must be a person who absolutely
knows your wishes-who you trust with your life and
death.

27. Death for the
Christian
“Absent from the body, present with the
Lord.” II Cor. 5:8
Jesus defeated death. John 11:25-26
Jesus comes to receive us unto Himself at
death. John 14:1-6
We receive a resurrected body like Jesus
and enter into the resurrection.
I Cor 15:47-57.

28. The Christian View of Death & Life
• Death is the door Christians go through to be
with Christ
• Death remains in the sovereign hand of God
• Always proper and ethical to fight for life:
a) Man created in the image of God. Gen.1:26-27
b) Human life is sacred. Gen.9:1-6
c) No one should be demeaned or cursed. James
3:9-10

29. The Sanctity of Life
• Human beings are created in God’s image
– Genesis 1:26,27
• Human life is sacred
– Genesis 9:1-6
• No person should be demeaned or cursed
– James 3:9,10
• Human life has intrinsic value regardless of stage or condition

30. Implications of
a High View of Life
• Termination of life only in exceptional cases
• Personhood is defined in biological terms
• Life begins at conception