WHAT IS ABORTION v Abortion defined Any premature

WHAT IS ABORTION? v. Abortion defined: § Any premature expulsion of a human fetus, whether naturally spontaneous, or artificially induced.

Pro-Choice Argument • • A fetus is not a person or individual human being – but rather a disposable part of a woman’s body & therefore subject to a woman’s right to control her own body Abortion is a matter of individual choice because no one can say with certainty when a fetus becomes a person Every woman has the right to control her own body. A fetus is a part of a woman’s body because it is dependent on her for survival in the womb Government shouldn’t interfere in this highly personal issue Personal circumstances making it impossible to care for a child Abortion is used only as a last resort, frequently because of rape, incest or danger to mother’s life Abortion should be available for severely disabled children If abortion is made illegal, women will be forced to dangerous “backalley” abortions

Pro-Life Argument • Pro-Life: – A fetus is a human being/person with an inherent right to life

The Problem of “Personhood” • Are all humans persons? • Criteria for personhood – Trait: persons possess a conscious mind with plans, goals, desires, hopes, fears, etc…

Some Facts About Abortion • • Half of all pregnancies to American women are unintended; half of these end in abortion. In 2002, 1. 29 million abortions occurred. At current rates, about one in three American women will have had an abortion by the time she reaches age 45. 88% of abortions occur in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. A broad cross section of U. S. women have abortions. 56% of women having abortions are in their 20 s; 61% have one or more children; 67% have never married; 57% are economically disadvantaged; 88% live in a metropolitan area; and 78% report a religious affiliation. "The United States has one of the highest abortion rates in the developed world, with women from every socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, religious and age group obtaining abortions, " says Lawrence Finer, associate director for domestic research at the Guttmacher Institute.

Why Do Women Have Abortions? a statistical breakdown Responses listed as primary reason Social Reasons • Feels unready for responsibility 21% • Feels she can't afford baby 21% • Concern for how baby would change her life 16% • Relationship problem 12% • Feels she isn't mature enough 11% • Has all the children she wants 8% • Other reasons 4 -5% TOTAL: 93% "Hard Cases" • Mother's Health 3% • Baby may have health problem 3% • Rape or Incest 1% TOTAL: 7%

ABORTION PROCEDURES – RU 486 – Methotrexate – Dilatation & Curettage (D&C) – Suction Aspiration – Dilitation & Evacuation (D&E) – Salt Poisoning – Partial Birth Abortion

ROE VS. WADE • • The Argument The Constitutional Question The Conclusion Opinion Date

Pre-Natal Developmental Stages v. Fertilization Zygote (conception-5 days) Blastocyte (5 days – 2 wks) Embryo (15 days – 8 th wk) Fetus (9 weeks – Birth)

First Trimester Conception-12 weeks

Second Trimester 13 -27 Weeks

Third Trimester 28 -40 Weeks

The Roman Catholic Church’s Position http: //www. nrlc. org/abortion/ • Why should we respect all living things? • Why is the right to life the most basic human right? • The two convictions at the heart of the Catholic approach to issues about human life. • Is abortion ever permissible? • Vatican II – The Church in the Modern World • #27 • #29 • Cathechism of the Catholic Church – CCC #2258…. . CCC#2270………. . CCC#2273 • Consistent Ethic of Life/Seamless Garment

www. scborromeo. org/ccc/p 3 s 2 c 2 a 5. htm

The Need For Justice?

LET’S LOOK AT THE FACTS n n http: //www. deathpenaltyinfo. org/Fact. Shee t. pdf http: //www. deathpenaltyinfo. org

n n n 12/4/01 - Alabama Triple killer serving life without parole kills another inmate; finally gets death sentence 11/27/01 - Oklahoma Man found guilty in 12 -year-old murder of teen boy - also killed two children as a teenager 12/6/00 - Texas Gonzales deputy slain; paroled killer charged San Antonio Express-News

Revenge is not the goal of punishment

A Flawed Punishment? u. Blacks are four times more likely than whites to be sentenced to death for similar crimes u 90% of death row inmates could not afford to hire a lawyer when they were tried

Innocent people are sentenced to die n Over 100 innocent Americans have been exonerated from death row in just the last two decades

The death penalty costs more than life in prison n Various state governments estimate that a single death penalty case from arrest to execution ranges from n $1 million n up to $7 million Cases resulting in life imprisonment average around $500, 000 each, including incarceration cost

The Death Penalty is Racially Inequitable n n Over 82% of those on death row were convicted of killing a white person, though people of color make up more than 50% of all homicide victims 43% of those on death row are black, though only 12% of the U. S. population is black

It is poor people who are chosen for death n The American Bar Association has reported that 90% of those on death row couldn’t afford their own attorney at trial and were appointed counsel.

The Death Penalty Does not Deter Crime n States that do not have the death penalty have an average murder rate that is actually lower than states that do

n n n The United States is the only western democracy that continues to use the death penalty. The U. S. stands with countries like China, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan in its continued use of the death penalty We are third only to China and the Republic of the Congo in total number of executions since 1998

The United States leads the world in killing juveniles n The U. S. is one of six countries since 1990 that have executed people for crimes they committed before the age of 18

u “The antidote to violence is love, not more violence” (US Catholic Bishops, Living the Gospel of Life, p 22) u God never stops loving us, even when we reject that love through sin (The Gospel of Life, 9) u Although we harm our own dignity when we sin, that dignity and the right to life that goes with it, is not taken away (The Gospel of Life, 9)

u The primary aim of punishment is to heal the harm that was done through the sin or criminal action (Adapted from The Catechism, 2266) u Punishment also serves to protect society from harmful behavior and to help the guilty person correct their behavior (Adapted from The Catechism, 2266)

Are there any Exceptions? u. Catholic Social Teaching has allowed for the execution of violent criminals “if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor” (From The Catechism, 2267)

n http: //deathpenaltyinfo. msu. edu/c/states/ compare/bystate. htm

The Right to Die?

Euthanasia • Literal meaning • General Definition – the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured persons in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy called also mercy killing Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam. Webster, Inc. • • Voluntary Euthanasia Non-Voluntary Euthanasia By Action Euthanasia By Omission

These are NOT euthanasia: 1. Not commencing treatment that would not provide a benefit to the patient. 2. Withdrawing treatment that has been shown to be ineffective, too burdensome or is unwanted. 3. The giving of high doses of pain-killers that may endanger life, when they have been shown to be necessary. Euthanasia. com

Suicide • Assisted Suicide Defined • Physician Assisted Suicide Defined

Reasons Proposed for Euthanasia • Unbearable pain • Right to commit suicide • People should not be forced to stay alive

Arguments Against Euthanasia • Euthanasia would not only be for people who are "terminally ill. • Euthanasia can become a means of health care cost containment • Euthanasia will become nonvoluntary • Euthanasia is a rejection of the importance and value of human life.

Euthanasia would not only be for people who are "terminally ill. There are two problems here -- the definition of "terminal" and the changes that have already taken place to extend euthanasia to those who aren't "terminally ill. " There are many definitions for the word "terminal. " 1. 2. 3. 4. When he spoke to the National Press Club in 1992, Jack Kevorkian said that a terminal illness was "any disease that curtails life even for a day. " The co-founder of the Hemlock Society often refers to "terminal old age. " Some laws define "terminal" condition as one from which death will occur in a "relatively short time. “ Others state that "terminal" means that death is expected within six months or less. Euthanasia. com

Euthanasia would not only be for people who are "terminally ill. Even where a specific life expectancy (like six months) is referred to, medical experts acknowledge that it is virtually impossible to predict the life expectancy of a particular patient. Some people diagnosed as terminally ill don't die for years, if at all, from the diagnosed condition. Euthanasia. com

Euthanasia would not only be for people who are "terminally ill. Increasingly, however, euthanasia activists have dropped references to terminal illness, replacing them with such phrases as: "hopelessly ill, " "desperately ill, " "incurably ill, " "hopeless condition, “ "meaningless life. " Euthanasia. com

Euthanasia would not only be for people who are "terminally ill. An article in the journal, Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, described assisted suicide guidelines for those with a hopeless condition. "Hopeless condition" was defined to include: • terminal illness • severe physical or psychological pain • physical or mental debilitation or deterioration or • a quality of life that is no longer acceptable to the individual That means just about anybody who has a suicidal impulse. Euthanasia. com

Euthanasia can become a means of health care cost containment Perhaps one of the most important developments in recent years is the increasing emphasis placed on health care providers to contain costs. In such a climate, euthanasia certainly could become a means of cost containment. Euthanasia. com Much of these answers are taken from the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide's "Frequently Asked Questions" web page.

Euthanasia will become non-voluntary • Emotional and psychological pressures could become overpowering for depressed or dependent people. If the choice of euthanasia is considered as good as a decision to receive care, many people will feel guilty for not choosing death. Financial considerations, added to the concern about "being a burden, " could serve as powerful forces that would lead a person to "choose" euthanasia or assisted suicide. • People for euthanasia say that voluntary euthanasia will not lead to involuntary euthanasia. They look at things as simply black and white. In real life there would be millions of situations each year where cases would not fall clearly into either category. Euthanasia. com

Euthanasia will become non-voluntary The movement from voluntary to involuntary euthanasia would be like the movement of abortion from "only for the life or health of the mother" as was proclaimed by advocates 30 years ago to today's "abortion on demand even if the baby is half born". Euthanasia people state that abortion is something people choose - it is not forced on them and that voluntary euthanasia will not be forced on them either. They are missing the main point - it is not an issue of force - it is an issue of the way laws against an action can be broadened and expanded once something is declared legal. You don't need to be against abortion to appreciate the way the laws on abortion have changed and to see how it could well happen the same way with euthanasia/assisted suicide as soon as the door is opened to make it legal. Euthanasia. com

Euthanasia is a rejection of the importance and value of human life. People who support euthanasia often say that it is already considered permissible to take human life under some circumstances such as self defense - but they miss the point that when one kills for self defense they are saving innocent life - either their own or someone else's. With euthanasia no one's life is being saved - life is only taken. Euthanasia. com

History of Euthanasia • About 400 B. C. - The Hippocratic Oath – (By the "Father of Medicine' Greek physician Hippocrates)

19 th Century United States • 1828 - Earliest American statute explicitly outlawing assisted suicide

20 th Century United States • 1920 - The book "Permitting the Destruction of Life not Worthy of Life" was published. • 1935 - The Euthanasia Society of England • 1939 - Nazi Germany • 1995 - Australia's Northern Territory

• 1997 – Oregon • 1999 - Dr. Jack Kevorkian sentenced to a 10 -25 year prison term for giving a lethal injection to Thomas Youk whose death was shown on the "60 Minutes" television program. – http: //www. tvrundown. com/cases/caskevor. html • 2000/2002 - The Netherlands legalizes euthanasia. • 2002 - Belgium legalizes euthanasia.

A study of terminally ill patients published in The American Journal of Psychiatry in 1986 concluded: • The striking feature of [our] results is that all of the patients who had either desired premature death or contemplated suicide were judged to be suffering from clinical depressive illness; that is, none of those patients who did not have clinical depression had thoughts of suicide or wished that death would come early • USA Today has reported that among older people suffering from terminal illnesses who attempt suicide, the number suffering from depression reaches almost 90%

But what Kevorkian and others who argue in favor of physician-assisted suicide ignore is… Even though the disease itself may be untreatable, the depression is treatable, and it is the depression, not the disease, which makes such persons suicidal.

• Doctor Kathleen Foley, Chief of Pain Services at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, explained in the July 1991 Journal of Pain and Symptom Management how proper pain management has mitigated patient wishes for assisted suicide – We frequently see patients referred to our Pain Clinic who request physician-assisted suicide because of uncontrolled pain. We commonly see such ideation and requests dissolve with adequate control of pain and other symptoms, using combinations of pharmacologic, neurosurgical, anesthetic, or psychological approaches.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross says… “Lots of my dying patients say they grow in bounds and leaps, and finish all the unfinished business. But assisting a suicide is cheating them of these lessons, like taking a student out of school before final exams. That's not love, it's projecting your own unfinished business. ”

This "unfinished business" • Considering the ultimate meaning of one's life • Resolving old disputes and mending relationships • Coming to a final recognition and appreciation of all the good things that have been a part of one's life • This process of dying is short-circuited by those who, overcome by depression, give up too soon in the process and kill themselves

". . . we must be wary of those who are too willing to end the lives of the elderly and the ill… If we ever decide that a poor quality of life justifies ending that life, we have taken a step down a slippery slope that places all of us in danger. There is a difference between allowing nature to take its course and actively assisting death. The call for euthanasia surfaces in our society periodically, as it is doing now under the guise of "death with dignity" or assisted suicide. Euthanasia is a concept, it seems to me, that is in direct conflict with a religious and ethical tradition in which the human race is presented with " a blessing and a curse, life and death, " and we are instructed '. . . therefore, to choose life. " I believe 'euthanasia' lies outside the commonly held life-centered values of the West and cannot be allowed without incurring great social and personal tragedy. This is not merely an intellectual conundrum. This issue involves actual human beings at risk. . . " (- C. Everett Koop, M. D. * *taken from the book KOOP, The Memoirs of America's Family Doctor by C. Everett Koop, M. D. , Random House, 1991. )

EUTHANASIA and the RCC John Paul II says… “Euthanasia must be called a false mercy, and indeed a disturbing ‘perversion’ of mercy” (John Paul II from The Gospel of Life)

The RCC Distinguishes Between – Proportionate and Disproportionate means of treatment • In other words: ordinary and extraordinary means

THE RIGHT TO DIE According to the RCC • • We do not have a right to die A right is a moral claim Death claims us, we do not claim death No one is in total control of his/her own life • Only God has absolute control • We do have the right to proper care when we are sick and that does not include euthanasia or suicide

Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect (Catechism, 2276) • "Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable • Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. Catechism, 2277 • Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. Catechism, 2279)

• Italy On Line. Special service by AGI on behalf of the Italian Prime Minister's office • SIRCHIA: EUTHANASIA LEADS TO DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES(AGI) - Rome, Italy, Sept. 18 - "If we accept the concept that life is not an untouchable value, we'll be heading for disastrous consequences". That's what Health Minister Girolamo Sirchia said about euthanasia at the Azione Giovani meeting. "These debates often allow us to understand what we would be heading for in a society which accepts euthanasia, that is, tragedy". According to the minister euthanasia is "terrible". He mentions the law enforced in Holland: "they now found out that 2/3 of the people are killed without the monitoring authorities even knowing. In this case, the principle of individual freedom of choice didn't work out well. When touching the right to live, one never knows where he will end up". (AGI)

People should not be forced to stay alive • Neither the law nor medical ethics requires that "everything be done" to keep a person alive. Insistence, against the patient's wishes, that death be postponed by every means available is contrary to law and practice. It would also be cruel and inhumane. • There comes a time when continued attempts to cure are not compassionate, wise, or medically sound. That's where hospice, including in-home hospice care, can be of such help. • That is the time when all efforts should be placed on making the patient's remaining time comfortable. Then, all interventions should be directed to alleviating pain and other symptoms as well as to the provision of emotional and spiritual support for both the patient and the patient's loved ones.