Topics
• Sanctity of Life
• Quality of Life
Quality of life calculus
– Strong Sanctity of Life
–
– Doctrine of Double Effect
– Concerns
– Weak Sanctity of Life
–
Scholarly opinion
– Strengths and weaknesses
• Right to Life
– Criteria
–
Mary Anne Warren
–
Warnock Committee
Sanctity of Life Question
• What makes your life Sacred/Set
apart from other forms of life?
• Think of some examples of how your
life is Sacred!
Sanctity of Life
• Strong Sanctity of
Life
• Doctrine of Double
Effect
• Weak Sanctity of Life
• Strengths and
weaknesses
Pro-Life
• Pro-Life groups support
the notion that all life is
sacred from natural
conception to natural
death.
• God gives life.
• Man has no right to
create or destroy life.
Supporting scripture:
Old and New Testament
• So God created
humankind in his
image (imago dei).
– Genesis 1:27
• God breathed life
into Adam’s
nostrils.
– Genesis 2:7
– Divine Spark
Supporting Scripture:
Old Testament
• God blessed them, and
God said to them, ‘Be
fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth and
subdue it; and have
dominion over the fish
of the sea and over the
birds of the air and
over every living thing
that moves upon the
earth.
– Genesis 1:28
Supporting Scripture:
Old Testament
• He said, ‘Naked I came
from my mother’s
womb, and naked shall
I return there; the Lord
gave, and the Lord has
taken away; blessed be
the name of the Lord.’
– Job 1:21
• You shall not murder.
– Exodus 20:13
Supporting Scripture:
New Testament
• Christ’s incarnation
reaffirms the sanctity
of human life – we are
set apart
– John 1:14.
• And the Word became
flesh and lived among
us, and we have seen
his glory, the glory as
of a father’s only son,
full of grace and truth.
Sanctity of Life
• Strong Sanctity of Life
• Doctrine of Double
Effect
• Weak Sanctity of Life
• Strengths and
weaknesses
Double Effect…
• A scenario where the
pregnancy will result in
the death of mother
and child.
• The intention is to save
the mother’s life.
• A consequence is the
death of the child.
• E.G. Foetus begins to
develop in the fallopian
tube.
Criticisms
• Some think that
this is the same as
aborting a child
intentionally if the
mother’s life is in
danger.
• How do you gage
intentions?
Sanctity of Life
• Strong Sanctity of Life
• Doctrine of Double
Effect
• Weak Sanctity of Life
• Strengths and
weaknesses
Ethical Disticntions
• Extraordinary
means is a
justification for
killing.
• Consider the
Christian principle
of love and
compassion.
Church of England (1965)
Abortion: An Ethical Discussion
• This document
expressed the
overriding
compassion for
the needs of the
mother, especially
where there is a
threat to her
mental or
physical health.
Church of England (1993)
Abortion and the Church
• We do not believe
that the right to
life, as a right
pertaining to
persons, admits of
no exceptions
whatever; but the
right of the
innocent to life
admits surely of
few exceptions
indeed.
Church of England (1993)
Abortion and the Church
• Circumstances exist
where the character
or location of the
pregnancy renders the
foetus a serious
threat to the life and
health of the mother, in
such circumstances the
foetus could be
regarded as an
‘aggressor’ on the
mother.
Church of England (1993)
Abortion and the Church
• The mother would
be entitled to seek
protection against
the threat to her
life and health
which the foetal life
represented.
Sanctity of Life
• Strong Sanctity of Life
• Doctrine of Double
Effect
• Weak Sanctity of Life
• Strengths and
weaknesses
Strengths
• All human life equal
value.
– Race, gender etc
• Killing is always wrong.
– All have a future.
• Equal dignity.
– Irrespective of disability.
• Avoids too much group
pressure and power
– E.g. taboos on disability.
Weaknesses:
Charles Darwin
• The theory of
Natural Selection
challenges the
notion of imago dei.
• If life is not in the
‘image of God’ then
we are no
different from
other animals.
Weaknesses:
Immanuel Kant
• No reason to link vital
signs to valuing life.
– It is not the
development of the
body that makes you
human.
• He linked the
possession of reason
to valuing life.
– It is the development
of reason that makes
you human.
Weaknesses:
Peter Singer
• To threat the
human life as
having a special
priority over animal
life is
‘speciesisms’.
• He did a lot of work
on Animal Rights.
– See booklet on
extracts from Moral
Problems.
Weaknesses:
Other
• Value all life, not
just human
foetuses.
– Mother and child –
see Thomson.
• Conflicts of duty
are not dealt with.
– Which life is more
sacred: mother or
child?
Quality of Life Question
• What gives your life value?
• What actions, abilities do you consider
vital to your life?
Quality of Life
• Quality of Life
Calculus
• Concerns
• Scholarly opinions
Quality of life calculus
• The value of life to vary
by its quality:
–
–
–
–
–
The immanence of death
Constancy of pain
Ability to think
Ability to enjoy life
Ability to make rational
choices
• Who benefits and whose
quality of life is being
judged?
– Foetus, parents, society?
Quality of Life
• Quality of Life
Calculus
• Concerns
• Scholarly opinions
Quality of Life Concerns
• When considering
‘Quality of Life’…
– Is there a danger of
‘playing God’?
– Are we treating the
foetus with dignity?
– Consider the
slippery slop to
actions like the
Holocaust!
Quality of Life
• Quality of Life
Calculus
• Concerns
• Scholarly
opinions
Peter Singer and Helga Kuhse
• It would be better
to drop the Sanctity
of Life Ethic and
work out a Quality
of Life Ethic
instead.