ABORTION

-Expulsion of a living fetus from the mothers womb before it is viable.

-Dr. Andre E. Hellegers, abortion is defined as termination of pregnancy spontaneously or by
induction (sic), prior to viability, thereafter, termination of pregnancy is called delivery
VIABILITY Childs capability to live independently of its mother after it has left the womb.
TYPES of ABORTION:
Natural Abortion (spontaneous or miscarriage)
-expulsion of the fetus through natural or accidental causes
-abortion of this type is unintentional and involuntary, and hence devoid moral significance
-assumes moral bearing if and when it is voluntary in cause
1. Direct Abortion
deliberately induced expulsion of a living fetus before it has become viable
2. Therapeutic Abortion
deliberately induced expulsion of a living fetus in order to save the mother from the danger of
death brought on by pregnancy
the health and life of the mother are considered paramount in this case
3. Eugenic Abortion
recommended in cases where certain defects are discovered in the developing fetus
Eugenic because it is meant to get rid of abnormal babies ( that is, children with birth defects
and deformities ) and thus prevent them from contaminating the human species.
Likewise known as selective abortion or abortion on fetal indications in the sense that it is only
recommended on a case-to-case basis, depending upon the gravity of fetal indications or
abnormalities.
4. Indirect Abortion
Removal of the fetus occurs as a secondary effect of a legitimate or licit action, which is the
direct and primary object of the intention. This is an instance of the double effect principle
which applies to a situation where a good effect as well as an evil effect will result from a good
cause.
The two instances where the four conditions are fulfilled are the case of a pregnant women
who has a cancerous uterus and of another who has an ectopic pregnancy.
MORAL ISSUE
Immediate Hominization
Contends that a new human person exists immediately upon conception.
St. Gregory of Nyssa, a neoplatonist himself, the brother of St. Basil, and one of the most
learned among the Greek fathers during the Patristic period who became the Bishop of Nyssa,
had taught that the soul is infused at the first moment of conception. This Platonic and
Gregorian view had greatly influenced the teachings of the Magisterium of the Catholic church,
which professes today that from the moment of conception, the spiritual soul of each individual
person is immediately created by God.
Delayed Animation
Upholds the ensoulment occurs at a later time but not from the moment of conception.
Aristotle taught that ensoulment occurs about the 40
th
day for males and the 80
th
day for
females.
Catholic Churchs claim that the rational soul is immediately created by God.
St. Thomas Aquinas however believed that the intellectual soul is directly created by God not
from conception, but subsequently thereafter. This can be inferred from his final works: The
soul is in the embryo, i.e., the nutritive soul, from the beginning, then the sensitive soul, and
lastly, the intellectual soul. He seems to be saying here that when the sperm fertilizes the egg
cell, the newly fertilized ovum or conceptus already possesses the nutritive soul. Then gradually
follows the sensitive soul.
The intellectual principle is received only into the body that is capable of receiving it.
Ensoulment, therefore, or the fusion of the spiritual soul into the embryo (AKA animation)
occurs when the matter (body) is sufficiently organized to sustain the intellectual principle or
the so-called substantial form of man.
TYPES OF INTERPRETATIONS of DELAYED ANIMATION:
Implantation
Nidation or implantation takes place 6 to 7 days after conception.
The time when the embryo goes down to the fallopian tube towards the uterus and burrows
itself in the endometrium or uterine wall.
Unity and Uniqeness
Happens 2 4 weeks after conception.
At this time the fetus has already implanted itself in the endometrium, approximately 28 30
days after conception.
Abortion at this stage of fetal development is no longer permissible.
Looks human
Ensoulment occurs when the fetus already looks human.
Even the four-week old embryo does not look human, whereas the six-week old one is
beginning to.
5
th
6
th
week of fetal development, when the fetus already looks human
And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living soul. It seems that the infusion of the spiritual soul into
the embryo happens when the nostrils of the fetus are complete, which appear from the 6
th

on the 7
th
week of fetal development.
Electrical Activity
Impulses or activities are first detachable from the brain, around the 8
th
week of pregnancy.
Brain activity is the basis of intellectual life; the first sign of brain activity is the time the
intellectual soul is infused into the fetus.
Quickening (stirring of life)
Takes place when the mother can feel the spontaneous movements of the fetus during the 10
th

12
th
week of pregnancy.
Aristotle was against the abortions after quickening.
Viability
Fetus is considered viable during the 38
th
week or seventh month of pregnancy. The reasoning
here is that at this point, the fetus can survive outside the womb, and thus already has an
independent human life.
Once the fetus is capable of living independently of the mother, it must be regarded a human
being and must be protected as such.
Birth
When the child has became biologically independent of his mother.
THREE GENERAL VIEWPOINTS OF ABORITION
Conservative Position
Declares that abortion is never permissible or at most, is permissible if and only if it is required
to save the pregnant womans life, as in the case of the removal of a cancerous uterus or the
removal of the fallopian tube, or a part of it, because of ectopic pregnancy.
Liberal Position
abortion is always permissible, whatever the state of fetal development may be
womans rights, this stand stresses the right of a woman to make decisions which affect her
own body
A woman as the right to control her own body, as her personal property within the context of
the right to self-determination.
Moderate Position
Morally permissible up to a certain stage of fetal development or for some limited set of
reasons sufficient to justify the taking of life in this or that special circumstance.
Fetus attains ontological status at quickening or viability.
Abortion before quickening is morally legitimate.
Justifications for the expulsion of the fetus may be classified into:
PERSONAL
Freedom of choice and once conscience; voice of reason must prevail
Liberates procreation decisions
Safeguards the mother from a pregnancy that would threaten her life by possibly resulting in
cancerous uterus, therapeutic abortion or ectopic pregnancy.
Protects the reputation of woman in cases of pregnancy due to rape and incest.
SOCIAL REASONS
Helps provide adaptation to a world that no longer needs nor can afford unlimited childbearing.
It alleviates economic, sociological or demographic problems.
It anticipates the social costs.
Checks overpopulation and reduces unwanted pregnancy.
FETAL REASONS
It prevents the births of terribly malformed or defective children.
Child deformity will cause the family to incur staggering financial and psychological costs.
Abortion is a post-natal method of eliminating a couples offspring if its sex is found to be
undersirable.
Artificial Insemination
The process by which sperm is placed into the reproductive tract of a female for the purpose of
impregnating the female by using means other than sexual intercourse
Either sperm from the woman's male partner or sperm from a sperm donor
insemination was originally developed as a means of helping couples to conceive where there
were 'male factor' problems of a physical or psychological nature affecting the male partner
which prevented or impeded conception
Preparations:
Sperm provided through sperm donation by a sperm donor may be used if, for example, the
woman's partner produces too few motile sperm, or if he carries a genetic disorder, or if the
woman has no male partner.
The man providing the sperm is usually advised not to ejaculate for two to three days before
providing the sample in order to increase the sperm count.
A woman's menstrual cycle is closely observed, by tracking basal body temperature (BBT) and
changes in vaginal mucus, or using ovulation kits, ultrasounds or blood tests.
When using intrauterine insemination (IUI), the sperm must have been washed in a
laboratory and concentrated in Hams F10 media without L-glutamine, warmed to 37C.
[1]
The
process of washing the sperm increases the chances of fertilization and removes any mucus
and non-motile sperm in the semen.
A chemical known as a cryoprotectant is added to the sperm to aid the freezing and thawing
process.
Procedure:
In the case of vaginal artificial insemination, semen is usually placed in the vagina by way of a
needleless syringe. A longer tube, known as a 'tom cat' may be attached to the end of the
syringe to facilitate deposit of the semen deeper into the vagina.
The woman is generally advised to lie still for a half hour or so after the insemination to prevent
seepage and to allow fertilization to take place.
A more efficient method of artificial insemination is to insert semen directly into the woman's
uterus by the use of catheter
If the procedure is successful, the woman will conceive and carry to term a baby. A pregnancy
resulting from artificial insemination will be no different from a pregnancy achieved by sexual
intercourse
2 kinds of AI donors
Artificial insemination by husband (AIH)
Artificial insemination by donor (AID)
Techniques of Artificial Insemination
Intracervical Insemination (ICI)
This involves the deposit of raw fresh or frozen semen (which has been thawed) by injecting it
high into the cervix with a needle-less syringe
Easiest way
Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)
injected directly into a woman's uterus
washed semen are used to prevent uterine cramping due to content of prostaglandins.
(Prostaglandins are also the compounds responsible for causing the myometrium to contract
and expel the menses from the uterus, during menstruation.)
the female should be under 30 years of age, and the man should have a TMS (Total Motile
Sperm) of more than 5 million per ml
Benefits of AI:
The AI technique creates an avenue to pregnancy for couples faced with male infertility or
female infertility.
AI by donor allows sperm to be tested and screened prior to insemination, reducing the
likelihood of passing a genetic disorder
allows same-sex couples to conceive a child (for same sex couples)
Hospital n the Philippines that offer AI
Asian Hospital and Medical Center
St. Lukes Medical Center
Manila Doctors Hospital
Ethical Issue in AI
In Judaism, donor insemination is forbidden and a child is considered to be the offspring of the
biological father. Artificial insemination using husband's sperm and IVF are accepted when
there is need to heal the illness of infertility.
Many people believe that embryos should not be used for research because they have the
potential to become human beings and, in fact, embryo research is banned in Germany by law.
In catholic religion, AI is considered unnatural method of fertilization and is against GOD.
In conclusion, it is very important to give written consent to agreements, permissions, parental
responsibilities for raising the child and other concerns before pursuing artificial insemination
or external fertilization.

In-Vitro Fertilization
in vitro, from the Latin root meaning in glass
Term for babies conceived as the result of IVF, "test tube babies",
Fertilizing an ovum in a laboratory dish and then transferring the embryo to a woman's uterus.
IVF treatment is an assisted reproductive technology (ART) method suitable for couples with
any one of various causes of infertility, including tubal factor infertility, endometriosis, and
certain types of male factor infertility.
removing ova (eggs) from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm fertilized them in a fluid
medium. The fertilized egg (zygote) is then transferred to the patient's uterus with the intent to
establish a successful pregnancy
IVF Cost and Financing
The cost of in vitro fertilization (IVF) is generally about $12,000 per cycle. However, the
treatment does not always work the first time it is performed
Procedure
In IVF treatment, eggs from a woman's ovary are surgically removed and placed in a
Petri dish, where they are united with sperm from a male.
Indications
Women that has fallopian tube defects or problems
Defect sperm quality
Menopause women
Ethical Issue
Reproductive rights
Welfare of offspring
Nondiscrimination against unmarried individuals
In Roman Catholic, it separates the procreative purpose of the marriage act from its unitive
purpose which is established by GOD.
IVF establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person.
Such a relationship of domination is in itself contrary to the dignity and equality that must be
common to parents and children
Issue of multipregnancy that causes mother in physical and emotional problems
Multiple pregnancies also present a threat to the well-being

of the offspring.
Surrogate Parenting
Surrogate came from the Latin word surrogates meaning substitute or in place of another
surrogacy a biomedical technique where a fertilized ovum is implanted into the uterus of
another woman who will carry the baby to term either as a favor or for a fee.
womb for hire rent a womb uterus for rent financial arrangement
Organ and Tissue Transplantation
the moving of an organ or tissue from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's
own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ or tissue
Types of Donor
Living
the donor remains alive and donates a renewable tissue, cell, or fluid (e.g. blood, skin), or
donates an organ or part of an organ in which the remaining organ can regenerate or take on
the workload of the rest of the organ
Deceased
Deceased (formerly cadaveric) are donors who have been declared brain-dead and whose
organs are kept viable by ventilators or other mechanical mechanisms until they can be excised
for transplantation
Ethical Issues
Violation of human rights and exploitation of poor to have unintended health consequences
Principle of Totality
The Judeo-Christian perspective affirms the great dignity of each human person created in the
image of God (cf. Gen 1:26-31). The various aspects, parts and functions of a human person
participate in this dignity
The donation of organs should, in all circumstances, respect the last will of the donor, or the
consent of the family present
EUTHANASIA
From Greek word EU- easy and THANATOS- death, in short, it means easy death.
It means painless, peaceful death; it is the deliberate putting to death, in an easy, painless way,
of an individual suffering from incurable and agonizing disease.
MERCY KILLING
Art or practice of painless putting to death a person suffering from a marked deformity or from
an unbearable and distressing disease.
It is a theory which affirms an individuals right to die in a painless and peaceful manner when
he is confronted with a horrible disease and the quality of his life deteriorates.
It is group into two:
SELF-ADMINISTERED - may be:
Active (positive) Euthanasia it is an act of commission insofar as it is voluntary and deliberate.
Passive (negative) Euthanasia it is an act of omission insofar as one simply refuses to take
anything to sustain life.
OTHER-ADMINISTERED may be classified in four ways:
Active and voluntary euthanasia- one in which either a physician, spouse, or a friend of the
patient will terminate the latters life upon the latters request.
Passive and voluntary euthanasia- one in which a terminally ill patient is simply allowed to die
by the physician, spouse or an immediate relative, upon the patients request.
Active and non-voluntary euthanasia occurs when it is the physician, spouse, close friend or
relative who decides that the life of the terminally ill patient should be terminated.
Passive and non-voluntary euthanasia- one in which a terminally ill patient is simply allowed to
die, as requested by immediate family members, or the attending physician.

The moral issue of euthanasia revolves around the preservation of human dignity in death to
the individuals last breath.
It has positive side euthanasia aims to preserve human dignity until death. To die with dignity
means that one should be able to make decision to die when dying would be better than to go
on living with an incurable and distressing sickness. Insists mercy killing preserves human
dignity.
And it also has negative side euthanasia erodes human dignity. Oppose the positive because
the act hastens the death of an individual.
Natural law ethics condemns mercy killing. Euthanasia is intrinsically wrong because it implies
the direct, deliberate killing or an individual, then it is murder.
Suicide
Suicide as an act of self-destruction indicates that an individual no longer regards life as worth
living.
Suicide is a direct, willful destruction of ones own life.
It is direct insofar as the primary object of the act itself is the killing of oneself;
It is the willful insofar it is deliberate, voluntary and intentionally;
It is destructive insofar as the means off terminating ones own life is violent, brutal or very
harsh.
Assisted Suicide or being put to death by another for humanitarian reasons through merciful,
painless means upon the patients request.
Three Reasons of Suicide
Personal reasons include misfortune and frustrations in love or marriage; parental
indifference or apathy towards ones boyfriend/girlfriend; in-laww problems; failure in an
examination; loss of honor and integrity; and nervous breakdown due to ones inability to cope
with lifes problems.
Financial causes include poverty and impoverishment; and great loss of money or collapse in
business venture.
Social and political reasons include failed coup d etat and protest against mans inhumanity
to man.
Pros and Cons of Suicide
Pros of Suicide
Michel de Montaigne
A French essayist and skeptical philosopher
First to explicitly question the views of Augustine and Aquinas.
Argued: if and when an individual reaches a point where all that he feels is terrible pain, agony
and misery, then suicide becomes excusable, permissible.
His view: ones fear is suffering that is worse than death itself is the most excusable incitement
to self-killing.
John Donne
A British clergyman and a religious writer
Criticized the Christian prohibition of suicide as self-serving for capitalists and Christian
authorities who exploit and oppress their laborers.
Explained: the proscription of the Church is merely a part of the economic enslavement of
laborers.
His view: suicide is a means of liberating oneself from exploitation and oppression.
Baron de Montesquieu
A philosopher and political theorist
Justified suicide by saying: it is just to compel a person to labor for a society he no longer
consents to be a member of; the act of suicide does not disturb the order of the Providence,
nor does any other human act alter the modifications of the matter; and though the soul is
separated from the body, the order or regularity in the universe never changes.
David Hume
A Scottish philosopher
Defended suicide: the removal of misery makes suicide morally justifiable and permissible;
moral duty is reciprocal; and there is no such thing as order designed by God.
Cons of Suicide
Flavius Josephus
a famous soldier, statesman and historian
Argued against his soldiers wishes to kill themselves: suicide is a crime which is contrary to the
common nature of all animals; the soul is a depositum received from God.
St. Augustine
Likewise contented: suicide is itself a greater sin than any and all sins that could be allegedly
avoided by committing it; self-murder is against the fifth commandment; suicide deprives one
of the opportunity to repent; and it is an ignoble act through which one attempts to escape the
ills of life.
St. Thomas Aquinas
Gave three arguments:
Suicide is against the natural law
Being a member of a society, a person who kills himself will deprive the community
Suicide is a usurpation of Gods function.