Religion And Medical Ethics

Revision Cards specifically on:

  • Cloning
  • Suicide + Euthanasia
  • Abortion
  • Fertility Treatment
?
  • Created by: Samantha
  • Created on: 13-05-12 15:36

What Is Cloning?

Cloning is making an exact genetic replica of a living being

Reasons to clone:

  • Get Stem Cells
  • To Treat illnesses

Muslims Believe:

  • Danger to human personality
  • Danger to human dignity + honour
  • Allah is the creator
  • Clone doesnt have a mother or father
  • Harmful to the society
  • Causes disruption to nature
  • Unnatural

Some Muslims Believe:

  • Cloning is a form of creation they're creating from things that already exist
  • Islam encourages research
  • Most will accept cloning of plants + animals but not humans

Christians Believe:

  • Similar believes as muslims
  • Roman Catholics are agains it because it uses spare embryos.
  • Its also taking over God's creation.
1 of 4

What Is Fertility Treatment?

When a couple can't concieve a baby, fertility treatment can help them do so.

IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) = egg + sperm put together in a labrotary. Becomes an embryo. The embryo gets implanted into the womans womb.

Issues raised by IVF:

  • 'Spare Embryos' = which are destroyed
  • Man/Woman infertile = use a donor - some people object because the child wouldnt be of the parents.
  • People see it as unfaithful and the child would be illegitimate.

Surgessy = implant womans egg into another woman so she has to go through pregnancy instead.

AID = artificial insemination donor

AIH = artificial insemination husband

Muslims believe:

  • pregnancy is Allah's will
  • Quran tells stories of Sara (wife of Ibrahim) who couldnt get pregnant but eventually did.
  • Muslim men can have more than one wife + that is a way around infertility.
  • It is bringing another person into the relationship.
  • The child will be illegitmate
  • Infertility is a disease and it is muslims duty to find treatments for any disease
  • That embryos arent human beings so you can destroy 'spare embryos'.

Christians Believe:

  • Fertility treatment should be encouraged
  • Jesus was a healer + would want to heal infertility

Other Christians (Roman Catholics) believe:

  • If you are infertile it is because of Gods will
  • Life begins at the point of conception + if you destroy 'spare' embryos you are murdering a human being
  • Using donor brings another person into the relationship
  • the child will be illegitimate
2 of 4

What is Abortion?

When someone makes the choice to end a pregnancy.

Reasons why a woman would want an abortion:

  • shes very young
  • result of ****
  • child may have serious health disabilities when born

Abortion is only legal in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Issues raised by abortion:

  • when conception happens a foetus is human, If aborted some people believe its murder.
  • Some people believe the foetus is not human until its born.
  • Some people believe the rights of a woman is greater than a foetus'.

Muslims believe:

  • abortion not generally accepted.
  • is a crime against a living human being.
  • Imam Al-Ghazzali (1058-1111) said: as the foetus develops it becomes a bigger sin to abort it.
  • Surah 17:31 : "kill not your children for fear of want: we will provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Verify the killing of them is a sin."
  • A pregnant woman can't be executed until the birth of the child.
  • Soul is in place within the first 42 days
  • Others believe - 120 days after conception
  • acceptable if mothers health at risk or in cases of ****.
  • Against Allahs will

Christians believe:

  • foetus: boy - 40 days, Girl - 80 days (ensoulment)
  • infanticide
  • Methodist = kinder to abort foetus if it would be born with disabilities or into awful poverty.
  • Aborion acceptable in some circumstances.
  • Roman Catholics dont allow abortion even if the child is a result of ****. Only time allowed if the life of the mother needs to be saved.
  • Roman Catholics: all life is sacred + shouldnt be delibrately destroyed.
  • Against gods will.
3 of 4

What is Suicide + Euthanasia?

Suicide - someone chooses to end their own life.

Euthanasia - 'assisted suicide' someone helps someone else to end their life.

Moral Issues:

  • Suicide - Selfish way out, family has to deal with the consequences.
  • Euthanasia - remove rights to choose (involuntary), against religious beliefs, if it becomes legal people would stop wanting to be burdens + relatives use this as an option to avoid the hassle of caring for them.

What is Passive Euthanasia? : Withdrawal of treatment. Doctors are not actively taking a life, they are simply stopping the treatment. Passive Euthanasia is legal in the U.K.

What is Voluntary Euthanasia? : someone who asks for it.

What is Involuntary Euthanasia? : Someone chooses to end someones life without their permission... e.g that person is in coma so a relative shall make the decision.

Muslims believe:

  • Euthanasia + Suicide is wrong
  • every soul is important + sacred.
  • suffering of pain is the test of faith
  • Allah is the one to decide your death
  • Very few muslims would argue that suicide is acceptable in the fight against evil.

Christians believe:

  • All life is sacred
  • God decides when a person should die
  • God gives the gift of life
  • Euthanasia + suicide are not acceptable
  • Some christians belive that passive euthanasia is allowed
  • A few think that suicde + euthanasia should be allowed.
4 of 4

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Religious Studies resources:

See all Religious Studies resources »See all Morality resources »