Beginning of Life Ethics

Beginning of Life Ethics

Few ethical debates are as emotionally charged or as philosophically complex as those surrounding the beginning of human life. Questions about abortion, embryo research, and the moral status of the unborn touch on the deepest convictions of religious believers and secular ethicists alike. This lesson examines the key ethical, philosophical, and theological arguments concerning the beginning of life, with particular attention to the concept of the sanctity of life, the debate over personhood, and the perspectives of major religious traditions.

The Sanctity of Life

The principle of the sanctity of life holds that human life is sacred, inviolable, and possesses intrinsic value from the moment of conception. This principle is foundational to most religious approaches to beginning-of-life ethics.

• Christian basis: The sanctity of life is grounded in the doctrine of the Imago Dei — the belief that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26–27). Because every human life bears the divine image, it possesses inherent dignity and worth that cannot be diminished by disability, stage of development, or social utility.
• Biblical support: Psalm 139:13–16 declares, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother\'s womb." Jeremiah 1:5 states, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." These passages are frequently cited to support the view that God is actively involved in the creation of each individual from the earliest moments of life.
• Roman Catholic teaching: The Catholic Church teaches that life begins at conception and must be protected from that moment. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (2270) states: "Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception." Pope John Paul II\'s encyclical Evangelium Vitae (1995) condemned abortion as a grave moral evil and warned against a "culture of death."
• Islamic perspective: Islam also affirms the sanctity of life, though there is debate about when ensoulment occurs. Many Islamic scholars, drawing on a hadith in Sahih Muslim, hold that the soul is breathed into the foetus at 120 days (approximately 17 weeks), though some place ensoulment at 40 days. Before ensoulment, some scholars permit abortion in cases of extreme necessity.

Personhood Debates

The question of when personhood begins is central to the ethics of abortion and embryo research. If the embryo or foetus is a person from conception, then it possesses full moral rights, including the right to life. If personhood begins later, then the moral status of the early embryo is less clear.

• Conception: The Roman Catholic Church and many evangelical Christians hold that personhood begins at the moment of fertilisation, when a genetically unique human organism comes into existence. This view grounds the absolute prohibition on abortion and destructive embryo research.
• Implantation (around day 14): Some ethicists argue that personhood cannot begin before implantation, since before this point the embryo may split to form identical twins. If one entity can become two, it is difficult to claim that a single individual person existed before the split. The 14-day rule is enshrined in UK law (Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, amended 2008), which permits embryo research up to 14 days.
• Sentience: Utilitarian philosophers such as Peter Singer (b. 1946) argue that moral status depends on the capacity to feel pain and pleasure (sentience), not on species membership or genetic humanity. Since early embryos lack a nervous system, they cannot suffer and therefore have no morally relevant interests. Singer controversially argues that a late-term foetus has less claim to moral consideration than many adult non-human animals.
• Viability: Some argue that personhood should be tied to viability — the point at which the foetus can survive outside the womb (currently around 22–24 weeks with intensive medical support). This is the basis of the UK Abortion Act 1967 (amended 1990), which permits abortion up to 24 weeks.
• Birth: Some philosophers, including Mary Anne Warren (1946–2010), have argued that full personhood requires consciousness, reasoning, self-motivated activity, communication, and self-awareness — capacities that only emerge after birth. On this view, the foetus is not a person, and abortion is morally permissible.
• Gradualism: Many moderate positions hold that the moral status of the foetus increases gradually throughout pregnancy. The embryo deserves some respect from the outset, but its moral claims strengthen as it develops. This "gradualist" view underpins much of UK law.

Abortion: Key Arguments

Arguments against abortion:

• The foetus is a person from conception and has an inviolable right to life (sanctity of life, natural law).
• Aquinas\'s natural law holds that the primary precept to "preserve innocent life" prohibits the direct killing of the unborn.
• The Didache (c. 100 CE), one of the earliest Christian texts, explicitly states: "You shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born."
• Adoption is always an alternative to abortion.
• Allowing abortion devalues human life and creates a "slippery slope" toward infanticide and euthanasia.

Arguments in favour of permitting abortion:

• Judith Jarvis Thomson\'s (1929–2020) famous "violinist analogy" (1971): even if the foetus is a person, a woman is not morally required to sustain its life at the cost of her own bodily autonomy, just as you would not be required to remain connected to an unconscious violinist who needs your kidneys to survive.
• Situation ethics (Joseph Fletcher, 1905–1991) argues that the most loving action in a particular situation may be to permit abortion — for example, in cases of rape, incest, severe foetal abnormality, or risk to the mother\'s life.
• The Church of England and many Protestant denominations take a more nuanced view, holding that while abortion is a "great moral evil," it may be justified in certain grave circumstances.
• A utilitarian analysis weighs the suffering caused by continuing the pregnancy against the suffering caused by termination, and may conclude that abortion produces the greatest good for the greatest number in some cases.

Embryo Research

The use of human embryos in scientific research — particularly for stem cell research — raises profound ethical questions. Embryonic stem cells are pluripotent: they can develop into any cell type in the body, offering potential treatments for conditions such as Parkinson\'s disease, spinal cord injuries, and diabetes.

• In favour: The potential to relieve enormous human suffering justifies the use of early embryos (before 14 days) that would otherwise be discarded after IVF treatment. The embryo at this stage has no nervous system, no sentience, and no capacity for suffering.
• Against: If the embryo is a person from conception, then destroying it for research is morally equivalent to killing a human being for the benefit of others — a violation of Kant\'s categorical imperative ("treat humanity never merely as a means, but always also as an end").
• The 14-day rule: The Warnock Committee (1984), chaired by Baroness Mary Warnock, recommended that embryo research should be permitted up to 14 days — the point at which the primitive streak appears, marking the beginning of individual development. This was enacted in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.

IVF and Reproductive Technologies

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) raises additional ethical issues. The process typically involves the creation of multiple embryos, only some of which are implanted. Surplus embryos may be frozen, donated, used for research, or destroyed.

• Catholic opposition: The Catholic Church opposes IVF because it separates procreation from the conjugal act, involves the creation and destruction of surplus embryos, and treats human life as a commodity. The encyclical Donum Vitae (1987) condemned IVF as morally illicit.
• Protestant and liberal views: Many Protestant denominations accept IVF as a means of fulfilling the desire for children, provided surplus embryos are treated with respect. The Church of England has cautiously accepted IVF while expressing concern about the fate of surplus embryos.
• Islamic views: Most Islamic scholars permit IVF between married couples using their own gametes, but prohibit the use of donor eggs or sperm, as this would be considered analogous to adultery (zina).

The Doctrine of Double Effect

The Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE), developed from Aquinas\'s thought, holds that an action with both a good and a bad effect may be morally permissible if: (1) the action itself is not intrinsically wrong; (2) the good effect is intended and the bad effect is merely foreseen; (3) the bad effect is not the means to the good effect; (4) there is a proportionate reason for permitting the bad effect.

The DDE is applied in cases such as ectopic pregnancy, where removing the fallopian tube (to save the mother\'s life) results in the death of the embryo. Catholic moral theology holds that this is permissible because the death of the embryo is foreseen but not intended — the intention is to save the mother\'s life.

Evaluation

• The sanctity of life principle provides a clear, absolute moral framework but may be too rigid to deal with complex real-world cases (rape, severe disability, risk to the mother).
• Personhood debates remain unresolved — there is no philosophical consensus on when a human being becomes a person with full moral rights.
• Thomson\'s violinist analogy is powerful but has been criticised for ignoring the unique biological relationship between mother and foetus.
• The 14-day rule is a pragmatic compromise, but its philosophical foundations are contested — why should the primitive streak be morally decisive?
• Religious perspectives are diverse: the Catholic Church\'s absolute prohibition contrasts with the more nuanced positions of Anglicanism, Islam, and Judaism.

Exam Tip: AQA examiners reward students who can distinguish between different concepts of personhood (conception, implantation, sentience, viability, birth) and evaluate each one critically. The strongest answers will engage with specific scholars (Singer, Thomson, Warren, Warnock) and specific religious teachings (Evangelium Vitae, Donum Vitae, Didache). Avoid stating that "Christians believe abortion is wrong" without qualification — Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant positions differ significantly.