Abortion, Pope John Paul II and Peter Singer

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Abortion, Pope John Paul II and Peter Singer

Abortion is one of the most controversial issues today. It has become a question of not only ethics, but morals. In the 1973 case of Roe v Wade the Supreme Court ruled that a woman has the right to terminate a pregnancy by abortion within the first six months of the pregnancy. However, conservative Presidents have changed the legislation enough to allow states to restrict abortion in various ways (Practical Ethics, Peter Singer). In the following paper, I will summarize the views on abortion of Pope John Paul II and philosopher, Peter Singer. These two men have very conflicting opinions about abortion.

Pope John Paul II’s Argument: This argument is very adamantly against abortion. It is also a religiously based argument. He uses exerts from the Bible and other religious documents and quotes many different clergymen and priests to help defend his position. He starts by explaining how you must follow the ten commandments to live a good life and have eternal life. “Jesus replied, ‘If you would enter life, keep the commandments’” (Mt 19:17). The first of these ten commandments is “You shall not kill”. On the contrary, you should ‘love respect and promote life’ (The Gospel of Life, Paul II). In order to do this, one must carry out God’s plan of procreation with love and intentions to multiply. By having an abortion, one is doing the exact opposite. Not only are they killing an innocent human being, but they are killing a child of God. Also, man is not the final judge in matters such as life and death, he is only a ‘minister of God’s plan’ (Humanae Vitae, Paul VI). Paul II goes on to explain how human life is ‘sacred and inviolable’. Life is sacred because it is a gift from God and man was created in the image of God. God overlooks our lives from birth to death, and no one else has the right to destroy an innocent human being, especially one as innocent as an unborn child. Man is suppose to be the defender of the innocent, not the destroyer. He explains how the man who kills the innocent is one who has been deceived by the Devil, because only Satan delights in the death of the living. “You shall not kill” represents the extreme limit which cannot be exceeded. It is meant to encourage man to see life with respect and lead to the promotion of life with love. Along with the teaching that one shall not kill another,...

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...are valuable. Is a fetus a person, or just a member of the homosapien race? If they don’t have these characteristics, in Singer’s view, they are not people. “Since no fetus is a person, no fetus has the same claim to life as a person” (Practical Ethics, Singer). This brings up the question of immoral actions. To commit an immoral action, you must be harming others. Harm to others is either physical or emotional. Emotion, or psychological harm is harm to one’s personhood. If a fetus has no personhood, and cannot feel pain, it cannot be harmed. Therefor, the act of killing a fetus, or having an abortion is not immoral. However, an abortion does take away the fetus’ potential for life. But this ‘potential life’ is different from the actual life. Paul II’s argument against abortion is based completely on religious morals and writings. The first commandment “You shall not kill” has no religious meaning to Singer. His whole argument shows the answer to the question of abortion “within the bounds of non-religious ethics” (Practical Ethics, Singer). Therefor, the arguments of the two men are hard to compare.

Bibliography

Peter Singer, Practical Ethics Paul II, The gospel of life

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