Ch. 9 Respect for Life (Courtney)

Notes: 2/6/17

Order of the Commandments:

1. First group (1-3): deals with ultimate source of life, our relationship with God.
2. Second group (4-10):  remind us to honor all our human relationships, since we get our daily life from them.

• The commandments are NOT RANDOM!
• They are in a specific order of importance

The Fifth Commandment: You Shall Not Kill

1. " Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God and it remains forever in a relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end."
2. Creative action of God:  each person who has or have ever existed is resulted from God's creative action and is the most creative thing that can be done.
3. Every single person is unique and not random selection of genes, God creates like we create
4. We create for specific reasons and a purpose, mostly deliberate
5. God created us like we are for a specific reason, purpose, time, and interactions
6. Murder, abortion, suicide, capital punishment, euthanasia, unjust warfare are all assaults on human existence.

• Murder: maliciously (or with criminal intent) taking human life
• Killing (righteous/justified taking of human life)-
• Fifth commandment would say now: thou shall not murder

• What is "abortion"?

Definition: deliberate killing of an unborn person by means of medical or surgical procedure.

• Basic Principle of the Catholic Church: all human life is SACRED- from conception to natural death

Notes: 2/8/17

• One of the first objections people say for pro-abortion is: what if women are raped?
• No human life can occur without presence of God
• Baby is a sign of hope, that is why it is a blessing
• "Even though you can't see or hear them at all, a person's a person, no matter how small."- Dr. Seuss

Notes: 2/9/17

• Abortion is a DIRECT VIOLATION of the 5th Commandment- objectively a GRAVE MORAL EVIL!
• OBJECTIVELY  SPEAKING: object, end, circumstance
• Hierarchy of truth: preservation of human life
• Human embryos share the SAME protection as other persons, including abortion, stem cell research, and genetic modification
• We need to understand the different values of truth and how it interacts with human law
• If we know and accept truth, no matter what the odds are, people will not resort to abortion
• POWERFUL THOUGHT: IF A SINGLE LIVING CELL WAS FOUND ON A DISTNAT PLANET, SCIENTISTS WOULD EXCLAIM THAT  WE HAVE FOUND LIFE ELSEWHERE IN THE UNIVERSE, SO WHY IS A SINGLE LIVING CELL FOUND IN THE WOMB OF A PREGNANT WOMAN NOT CONSIDERED LIFE?
• Abortion methods:
1. Aspiration "Vacuum Aspiration"
2. The Abortion "Pill"
3. Dilation and Evacuation

• Who has Abortions?
1. Eighteen percent of U.S. women obtaining abortions are teenagers; those aged 15-17 obtain 6% of all abortions, 18-19 year olds obtain 11%, and teens younger than 15 obtain 0.4%
2. Women in their 20s account for more than half of all abortions: women aged 20-24 obtain 33% of all abortions, and women aged 25-29 obtain 24%
• Age group most vulnerable is the group in the 20s!!!
3. Women who have never married are not cohabiting account for 45% of all abortions.
4. About 61% of abortions are obtained by women who have one or more children
5. Forty-two percent of women obtaining abortions have incomes below 100% of the federal poverty level ($10,830 for a single woman with no children).
6. The reasons women give for having an abortion underscore their understanding of the responsibilities of parenthood and family life. Three-fourths of women cite concern for or responsibility to other individuals; three-fourths say they cannot afford a child; three-fourths say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or the ability to care for dependents; and half say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband  or partner.
7. 51% of women who have abortions had used a contraceptive method in the month they got pregnant, most commonly condoms (27%) or a hormonal method (17%)

Evangelium Vitae:

" precisely in an age when the inviolable rights of the person are solemnly proclaimed and the value of life is publically affirmed, the very right to life is being denied… especially at the more significant moments of existence: the moment of birth and death" (18).

" when freedom, out of desire to emancipate itself from all forms of tradition and authority, shuts out even the most obvious evidence of an objective and universal truth.. then the person (uses)…. Only his subjective and changeable opinion, or, indeed, his selfish interest and whim" (19).

" To claim the right to abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia, and to recognize that right in law, means to attribute to human freedom a perverse and evil significance that of an absolute power over  others against others. This is the death of true freedom" (20).

Underneath the Arguments:

1. Actions do not have consequences.
2. Citizens are "less free" is the "choice" is removed.
3. When is an organism considered a "human being"?

When is an Organism considered a human being?

• A certain standard of life must be important for life to occur
• When do the concept of baby become separate from the sexual act?
• Freedom allows us to fully choose God and specifically for love and justice
• If there are steps along the way,