Means that life is sacred or special.
It usually links back to the idea of God creating life and giving it as a special gift.
Go here for more info on it.

(Sanctity of life/quality of life are two terms which crop up a lot in abortion discussions.)

Means having a life that is healthy with a sense of well-being. Go here for more info on it.

(Sanctity of life/quality of life are two terms which crop up a lot in abortion discussions.)

What happens to the unborn child in the womb (and roughly when)

2 Acts, 2 Docs, 4 Circumstances for 1 Termination
Parliament passed two Acts in 1967 and 1990 which affect all abortions (Higher grade students will know these)

The Abortion Act 1967 - Abortion was legalised until 28 weeks.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 - reduced the time to a 24 week limit.

Two Doctors are required to agree that one of these four circumstances are the case:

1. The Mums life is at risk
2. There is risk of injury to her mental or physical health
3. There is a big chance that if the child is born it will suffer from mental/physical abnormalities
4. There is risk of injury to the mental or physical health of existing children

As with any difficult issue there are usually views on either side. Pro-choice means defending the right to have an abortion and Pro-life means protecting the rights of the unborn child. If you intend to get a higher grade in the GCSE you must be careful not to put people into simple boxes. Often people who are leaning towards either side will be sympathetic of something from the other side.

- the mum has the right to do what she wants with her body
- life doesn't properly start until later in the pregnancy
- mums risks outweigh the risks of the baby
- certain circumstances allow for it: rape (and memories) or career
- 'back street' abortions are wrong and it prevents them
- what about the quality of life

- life is sacred (sanctity...) it is a selfish decision to take a life
- children are a blessing from God
- unique people with a unique destiny
- murder
- science demonstrates evidence that this is life that needs to be protected
- post-abortion guilt is a hard thing to face
- if the child is unwanted allow it to be adopted by childless couples

(These aren't actual weblinks - just downloadable files that I have taken from other websites)



This is a very helpful download that gives some clues about the key questions in the abortion debate. It also provides a few clues about which beliefs groups are more or less likely to budge on the issue.



This download from the Belief.net site has a few hints about different beliefs groups.


Okay, so 13 pages might be a bit of overkill but this pro-choice download provides an interesting response to pro-life arguments. Please note that 'RTL' refers to 'Right to Life' and they also use 'Anti-choice' to talk about the pro-life position.

At the time of producing this webpage (22/9/06) I am confident of being able to get an interview with a post-abortion counsellor. Please come back to download and listen to this excellent resource.

This is an edited skype video call that was conducted in October 2007 when Alveda King was in Northern Ireland promoting 'pro-life' choices. The interview was produced for the GCSE students at Sion. Alveda is the neice of the legendary Martin Luther King Jnr. She mentions him a few times in her discussion and makes connections between the civil rights race struggles in the US with her own 'pro-life' agenda.



(the video above may not work if you are accessing it at school due to youtube restrictions)