| Bioethics - Defending Life |
| Bioethics can be used to defend life to those who don't believe that God has anything to do with it. As Catholics we believe life begins at conception and should be respected from womb to tomb. God is the author of life. He is the only one with the ability to deposit a soul and the only one with the authority to take it back. We are created in the image and likeness of God. We are the only creatures given such an honor. Each person deserves respect and the time to fulfill the mission God has prepared for him on this Earth. Unfortunately, some do not believe God is the author of life. Sadly, some do not believe there is a God. So how do we defend life to those individuals? |
Using the acronym SLED, we can help all understand that life has value from conception. Below are the four major differences between a child within the womb and one outside of the womb. |
| S - SIZE : If we choose to end life based on the size of an individual, what size shall we choose and why? |
| L - Level of Development: A child within the womb is only at the beginning stages of development. Once the child is born, it is not fully developed. In fact, a child continues to go to a pediatrician until he/she is 18 years old. There's a lot of development that occurs during the teen years. |
| E - Environment: A person entering a room should not all of a sudden become worthy of life. Where is the logic in that? |
| D - Dependency: Not one of us can claim we are not dependent on another. Of course an unborn child is 100% dependant, but an infant is 100% dependant. In fact for the first few years of life, a child could not survive without another's help. So at what stage of dependency does one become worthy of life? |
Two important facts about the issue of respecting life:
1. Leading thinkers in the pro-abortion movement agree with the above concepts. They understand that abortion prior to birth is an arbitrary time. As a result, some of them advocate a parent's right to "terminate" a child months after the child is born.
2. Many people believe that abortion is acceptable because the unborn child is not human. The actual debate is not about the child being human. Doctors, lawyers, and politicians agree, the child is a human being. The reason abortion is legal is because the child does not have the legal status of "person" and is therefore not protected by our laws. Legally the child has the same status as a black man had during the time of slavery - property. Our government was wrong about the value of life then. It is wrong now.