Faith in Action
Programme 4:
The Perfect Baby? – The Right to Birth – Even of the 'Abnormal' (UK)

Aims

This programme aims to introduce students to the following:

To understand the pressures and dilemmas faced by pregnant women when screening reveals abnormalities
To explore whether or not Christians can ever support abortion
To show how children with special needs can be regarded as valuable, not 'abnormal'
To ask questions about the effects of society's quest for perfection on people's expectations of babies
In combination with the classroom notes, to evaluate the significance and effects of the work of people of faith in this area

Screening while a woman is pregnant can now detect many abnormalities in an embryo, which is putting increasing pressure on those women to abort the less than perfect baby. The debate between those who say that where embryos have abnormalities the pregnancy should be terminated, and those who say doctors are intervening too much, is topical. This programme looks at an investigation by a young ordinand, Joanna Jepson, who meets medical experts, parents and campaigners from both sides of the debate. These people include a woman who knew her baby would be born with disabilities but who decided nevertheless to go ahead with the birth, and a spokesperson for the disabled who says that they too have a right to be born. These are personal stories, not just statistics.

Curriculum Relevance

Religious Education is compulsory for all pupils in the 14-16 age range.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, schools can opt for a full GCSE or a half course. While some schools prefer a general programme, the half courses are increasingly the popular option. In Scotland pupils can opt for a short course or the Standard Grade certificate in RE.
Most courses deal with the fundamental questions raised by life and religion and look at religious responses to social and ethical issues.
Some courses offer a study of selected religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. Others offer a thematic study of religious teaching applied to contemporary issues, covering topics such as: suffering and evil, peace, conflict and justice, the environment, medical ethics and human relationships.
Courses generally enable pupils to learn about religion, which includes factual learning, and to learn from religion, which includes reflecting on a personal response to the material. Pupils are expected to demonstrate skills of knowledge, analysis, explanation and application of religion, and evaluation.

Background

Christianity and the Start of Life

Moral authority

Christians look to several sources of authority for guidance when making moral decisions:

The Bible: in particular the teaching and example of Jesus
The teaching of the church: in particular the teaching of their particular denomination
Their own individual conscience: usually guided by a process of discernment through prayer

The teaching of the Bible

The Bible does not explicitly refer to abortion, screening or the kinds of interventions discussed in this programme. In this respect the Bible is a set of historical documents. Christians believe, however, that it is a set of documents that reveal God's will for humanity. There are several passages that may be seen as relevant to these sorts of decisions, although they do not 'tell Christians what to do' and could help to inform a decision about terminating a pregnancy for reasons of abnormalities to go either way:

Matthew 1 18-25 and Luke 1 26-38: The Incarnation. Most Christians believe that Jesus was God incarnate: God in human form. If God can become a human baby, then all humans have the potential to relate to God in a special way. Human life is, therefore, regarded as sacred and special by Christians.
Luke 12 4-7: stresses the value of human life. Christians believe that if people are valuable to God then they should be valuable to each other too.
Jeremiah 1.5: 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you …' and Luke 1.39: both passages suggest unborn children have personalities and awareness.

The teaching of the church

Some denominations are more traditional, or conservative, in their views while others may be more liberal. The Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church are traditional in their view of matters relating to the start of life: the Anglican Church tends to emphasise the guidance of the Bible while the Roman Catholic Church tends to emphasise the teaching of the Pope and Church tradition. The Non-Conformist Churches, for example Methodists, Quakers, are generally more liberal, emphasising the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Roman Catholic Church only permits the termination of a pregnancy if the life of the mother is at risk. Other denominations permit terminations in certain circumstances such as rape and foetal abnormality, but even so argue that the law should be applied strictly and abortion not used as a convenient way out of an unwanted pregnancy. (See also: What the Churches Say, RE Today ISBN 1 85100 141 7 & Contemporary Moral Issues by Joe Jenkins, Heinemann ISBN 0 43530 309 0)

'The human embryo has the right to proper respect. "Test tube babies" are indeed babies, and embryos cannot be manipulated, frozen or simply left to die without bringing into question the whole area of human rights.' The Catholic Truth Society
'Since human life begins at conception … whether or not the human being concerned is wanted or handicapped, it follows that the destruction of unborn life is always wrong.' LIFE
'Circumstances which may often justify an abortion are direct threats to the life of the mother or the probable birth of a severely abnormal child …' The Methodist Church. See also 'The Status of the Unborn Human' 1991.
'Mentally handicapped people have much to give, they share our common humanity and, like us all, are children of God' The Local Church and Mentally Handicapped People: a report by the Church of England's Board for Social Responsibility
'Mentally handicapped people can be an inspiration to others, they can help us understand ourselves and the often inhuman values of the rest of the world' Jean Vanier, founder of L'Arche: a religious community that works with people with learning disabilities
Quaker Faith and Practice (ISBN 0 85245 307 8) contains testimonies from modern Quakers who have faced difficult decisions during pregnancy, with the full spectrum of outcomes: Quakers today use this book as a guide to living and making decisions.

Individual conscience

Quakers (Religious Society of Friends) more than any other denomination place this way of making decisions above looking to scripture or Church teachings. Most Quakers believe that each person has 'that of God', or 'the light of God', within them. Like more traditional views of the incarnation, this suggests that human life is sacred and special, and should be valued as such. Quakers more than most other Christians often take a liberal approach to contemporary issues and would be directed in the main by their own individual consciences, although abortion presents dilemmas because of the possible conflict with the Quaker commitment to pacifism.

Activities

In groups, analyse this issue by exploring these questions:
- What is the problem?
- Who does it affect?
- Where, when and why does it happen?
- How could it be tackled?
- What is the best way forward?
- Who could take action?
- How does religion come into it?
- Does religion make a difference?
Rewrite one encounter from the point of view of each person involved in turn: it could be the scene with the woman having screening with the doctor and Joanna present, or it could be the scene in Joanna's family kitchen, the interview with the parents of the baby who died, or a different one. Focus on what each person's perceptions of what is happening might be, what they are thinking and what they are feeling. What insights does this give you into their experiences
?
Let's jump five years ahead. Joanna is now a vicar in the Church of England. A member of her congregation has come to her for advice because she is pregnant and considering screening. The woman was brought up a Quaker: she doesn't want to have a disabled child, but her partner is Roman Catholic and doesn't agree with abortion. In groups of three, plan how the conversation will go, using the Background Information sheet to help you. Hold your conversation in front of the rest of the class, who will have the final vote on what should happen depending on who they think has been the most convincing.
'Value people, not perfection' or 'Quality of life matters'. What are your responses to each of these statements and which most closely matches your own view?
Using the links below, find out more about abortion and Christianity. In each case try to find out something new that surprises you, something new that makes you angry, and something new that makes you happy.

Links

This web page contains links to other websites that are neither controlled nor maintained by Channel 4 Television. Channel 4 Television is not responsible for the content of these sites and does not necessarily endorse the material on them.

www.pcfre.org.uk
Contains a database of young people's quotes on a wide range of religious topics including, 'how can people live in peace?', 'what is freedom, truth and justice?', and 'what is your vision of a perfect world?'

http://www.reonline.org.uk/
A gateway site to other RE websites, religious organisations and faith communities, this site also contains RE updates and information about resources (including ICT and RE) for teachers.

http://www.arc-uk.org/
The website for Antenatal Results and Choices (ARC), featured in the programme.

Faith in Action Programme 4: The Perfect Baby? – The Right to Birth – Even of the 'Abnormal' (UK)