This document provides an overview of abortion including terminology, statistics, development of human life from conception through the stages of pregnancy, methods of abortion, Christian views, and references to human life in the Bible. It discusses key topics in the abortion debate such as when human life begins, the morality of ending unborn life, exceptions for health risks or disabilities, and views from different religions. The document aims to present factual information on abortion without taking a stance on the issues.

1. Abortion
A brief overview

2. Abortion: some terminology
(procured) abortion
spontaneous abortion
human foetus
human embryo
abortion on demand
Intentional ending of unborn human
life
A miscarriage
Commonly used to refer to unborn
human life after first weeks
Commonly used to refer to unborn
human life during first weeks
Abortion available without the need
for reasons

3. Abortion: some statistics
 Worldwide estimates between
45 to 55 million annually
 Typically 175 000 to 180 000
annually in England and Wales
 Of these…
 Around 3.5% are for females
under 16
 Around 80% for females
aged 16-24
 About 85% of abortions are in
the first trimester
 About 80% of abortions are NHS
funded
Unborn human life at
the end of the first
trimester

4. Development of human life
 Fertilization: the sperm
and egg join in the
fallopian tube
 Biologically complete
human
 Needs are human needs:
food, water, nurture…
 Forty-six chromosomes
combine, which pre-determine
all of a
person's physical
characteristics.
 Smaller than a pinhead
Fertilisation (Conception)

5. Development of human life
 Early embryonic human
life contains stem cells
 Stem cells are pluripotent
 They may become any
tissue in the human body
 Process of rapid cell
division occurs over the
next hours, days and
weeks
 This is the main feature of
the first trimester of
pregnancy Rapid cell division as the human
blueprint carries itself out

6. Development of human life
 At six weeks recognisably
human characteristics are
starting to become visible
 Human embryo about
size of a raisin
 The spine and spinal cord
grows faster than the rest
of the body at this stage
and give the appearance
of a tail
 The tiny heart has been
beating for weeks
 Own distinct blood type Six weeks after conception

7. Development of human life
 At eight weeks unborn
human life usually called
a human foetus (rather
than embryo)
 About half an inch (just
over a centimetre) long
 Tiny human life protected
by the amniotic sac, filled
with fluid.
 Human foetus swims and
moves
 Brain waves measurable
Eight weeks after conception

8. Development of human life
 At fourteen weeks
muscles lengthen and
become organized
 The mother will soon
start feeling the first
signs of the unborn
child kicking and
moving within
 Typically 10% to 12%
of UK abortions occur
in the period of 13 to 19
weeks
Fourteen weeks after conception

9. Development of human life
 At eighteen weeks the
unborn human foetus
has well developed
limbs
 Grasping, kicking
(somersaulting?) …
 Less than a foot long
and less than three
quarters of a pound
 Fine eyebrows and
eyelashes
 Sex of child identifiable
with ultrasound Eighteen weeks after conception

10. Development of human life
 At five months the unborn
human foetus begins to practise
breathing by inhaling amniotic
fluid into developing lungs
 For several months, the
umbilical cord has been the
developing baby's lifeline to the
mother
 If the mother takes in any toxic
substances, drugs or alcohol,
there is a chance these will
pass into the baby’s
bloodstream
 In the UK only 1% to 1.5% of
abortions are after 20 weeks Five months after conception

11. Development of human life
 At present, UK law
allows abortion of a
healthy unborn life
up to the 25th week of
pregnancy
 This limit was
brought down from a
previous limit of 28
weeks
 This ‘viability’ marker
depends on the
quality of pre-natal
medical care 24 weeks after conception

12. Development of human life
A child born prematurely

13. Abortion: the crux of the debate
Years ago, while giving an anesthetic for a
ruptured tubal pregnancy (at two months) I was
handed what I believed to be the smallest
human being ever seen. The embryo sac was
intact and transparent. Within the sac was a tiny
human male, swimming extremely vigorously in
the amniotic fluid, while attached to the wall by
the umbilical cord. The tiny human was perfectly
developed, with long, tapering fingers, feet and
toes. The baby was extremely alive and did not
look at all like the photos and drawings of
'embryos' which I have seen. When the sac was
opened, the tiny human immediately lost its
life… Paul E. Rockwell, M.D.

14. Abortion: some methods
Vacuum
aspiration
Curettage
Late-term
surgical
methods
Abortifacients
Under anaesthetic the cervix is gradually
widened by probes, suction tubes rupture the
amniotic sac and suck the unborn human life
out a piece at a time.
Instead of a suction tube, a curette (scraping
tool) removes the unborn human foetus
piecemeal
For late-second trimester abortions onward,
D&E (Dilation and Evacuation) and, for very
late abortions, D&X (Dilation and Extraction)
methods are sometimes used
Various chemical methods that prevent the
pregnancy continuing e.g. the morning
after pill or chemically induced miscarriage

15. Abortion: the hard cases
He was a healthy little boy and Mirveta had
produced him. But birth, the fifth in her short lifetime,
had not brought joy, only dread. As he was pulled
from her loins, the young Albanian mother took the
child and prepared to do the deed.
She cradled him to her chest, she looked into her
boy's eyes, she stroked his face and she snapped
his neck. They say it was a fairly clean business.
Mirveta had used her bare hands. It is said that, in
tears, she handed her baby back to the nurses,
holding his snapped, limp neck. In Pristina, in her
psychiatric detention cell, she has been weeping
ever since. 'Who knows? She may have looked into
the baby's face and seen the eyes of the Serb who
raped her.’ Observer newspaper, 16/05/2000

16. Different reactions…
"When I gave birth to her, I didn't
want to see her...but on the second
day, when I took her to my breast, I
realised that she was the only
beauty remaining in this world and
so I kept her."
With these words Esma, a Bosnian
waitress, explains what made her
keep her daughter Sara, 13.
Esma, former medical student,
became pregnant in war-torn
Sarajevo in 1992 after being raped
by Serb soldiers in her Grbavica
home.
Victims of mass rapes are being
shunned by family and friends.
Most of them are stigmatised and
excluded from society if people
around them come to know the
truth.
The children conceived in rapes
were mostly pushed into
orphanages in Bosnia or
neighbouring Croatia, and in rare
cases given for adoption. They
grow up knowing nothing about
their parents.
Source: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32406

17. Some issues and responses
Backstreet Abortions?
• Numbers admitted to
hospital after botched
abortions was on the way
down years before 1967.
• Many so-called ‘backstreet’
abortions before 1967 were
done in ‘front’ streets by
private practice doctors.
• Backstreet abortions were
almost always performed
early in pregnancy.
• Those who think abortion is
wrong reject backstreet
abortions along with all other
abortions.
• Wherever or however they
are performed, at least one
life is ended, sometimes
two.
• They would argue that If
people are being beaten up
in the back streets should
we establish clinics where
they can be attacked in
hygienic conditions?

18. Some issues and responses
Pregnant after rape/abuse?
• Because of the severe
body trauma, pregnancy
after rape is extremely rare.
• However, it does happen.
Mass rape was part of the
Serbian terror tactics in the
Balkan war over a decade
ago. This produced a
number of rape children.
• Proponents argue that the
continuing pregnancy can
only be an terrible reminder
of a terrible ordeal.
• Those who think abortion is
wrong would argue that the
violence of abortion will
only add to the trauma of
rape.
• As it is, post-abortion
trauma/depression is a
common occurrence. It
could get far worse.
• They would also argue that
the developing child should
not be punished for the
crime of his or her father.

19. Some issues and responses
Health risk or disability?
• Proponents argue that a
woman should have access
to abortion when her health
is threatened by the
pregnancy.
• They also argue that
severely disabled unborn
human lives should be
terminated.
• In 2004, 1% of abortions
were because of risk of
handicap; 1% because of a
health threat to the woman.
• Those who think abortion is
wrong would say that for
health threats, inducing a
birth is safer than abortion.
• They would also argue that
we are showing a vicious
prejudice against disabled
people.
• It makes the womb by far
the most dangerous place
for disabled people in the
western world.

20. Christian views
 Catholic Church
 “Human life must be respected
and protected absolutely from
the moment of conception. From
the first moment of his existence,
a human being must be
recognized as having the rights
of a person - among which is the
inviolable right of every innocent
being to life.” Catechism of the
Catholic Church
 The Catholic Church takes an
absolute stance against abortion
Pope Benedict
XVI
Spiritual Leader
of Catholics
St Peter’s Church, Vatican

21. Christian views
 Anglican Church
 "All human life, including life
developing in the womb, is
created by God in his own image
and is therefore to be nurtured,
supported and protected”
 However, the Anglican Church
sometimes sees abortion as a
less evil alternative in certain
grave circumstances
 Other Christians, for example,
Methodists, have similar views
on this issue
Rowan Williams
Archbishop of
Canterbury
He is not a ‘pope’ of
the Anglican Church

22. The Bible
 The Bible
 No passage
which says:
“Though shall
not commit
abortion”…
 However, there
are references
that get across
the belief that
human life exists
from the earliest
moment of a
pregnancy…
 "You created my inmost being,
you knit me together in my
mother's womb" Psalm 139
 The word of the LORD came to
me, saying, “Before I formed
you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you
apart; I appointed you as a
prophet to the nations”.
Jeremiah 1:4,5
 Now as soon as Elizabeth heard
Mary's greeting, the child leaped
in her womb and Elizabeth was
filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke
1:41