Life and Death

The Founding Fathers of the United States of America, contrary to what has been taught in schools, did not establish the country under Christian values (Dawkins 40). Today, however, eighty-seven percent of Americans call themselves religious, many being Christian (Religious). With the majority of a country believing in God, their culture will be influenced by the people who think that way. Life is particularly sacred to various religions because it is believed that every person is here for a purpose, and when it comes to euthanasia and abortion, even the thought of it is looked down upon because of what the Bible says. The religious beliefs of Americans have shaped their society and caused those who are for abortion and euthanasia to go through many hardships.
Abortion has been an ongoing debate in the United States since it was made legal by the Supreme Court in 1973 with the court case, Roe v Wade (Abortion). Religious people believe that abortion is killing and goes against the Bible. However, some argue that until a child is born, it is not human life. A pro-life website, Abort73.com, stresses how wrong abortion is and gives various facts and proverbs from the Bible, one being, "Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter" (Abort73). They believe that “God is absolutely sovereign, and could end abortion today with a thought, if He so chose, but with rare exceptions, God is pleased to work through human means, fragile and sinful though we be” (Abort73).
Religious groups continue to fight for life by protesting outside of abortion clinics, and in some instances, the fetus isn’t the only life being lost. On March 10, 1993 Dr. David Gunn was shot as he stepped out of his car in the parking lot of Pensacola Women's Medical Services clinic in Florida by a man protesting who had “prayed for the physicians soul” (Booth). The shooter, Michael Frederick Griffin, asked his congregation to “agree with him that Dr. Gunn would give his life to Jesus Christ” because he wanted the doctor to “start doing what the Bible says was right” (Booth). Abortion continues to be debated for laws in America by religious pro-life organizations because of what the Bible says, but it is a “woman’s rights issue,” and those who are pro-choice believe that “religious faith” shouldn’t be “the sole legal justification for seeking laws to protect the unborn, the handicapped, and the elderly” (Willke).
Just as abortion deals with death, so does euthanasia, also known as “assisted suicide.” It is another practice that is thought to go against the Bible, because it is believed that another person’s life should not be taken away by anyone else but God, and it goes against one of the Ten Commandments, “Thou Shalt Not Kill.” Although euthanasia is illegal in the United States, there have been various instances where husbands, wives, or family members have been allowed by the courts to take their loved one off of machines that are essentially keeping them alive. However, in 2005,the case of Terri Schiavo was covered in the news when the Florida courts, U.S. Supreme Court, and Congress granted her husband, Michael Schiavo, the right to remove her feeding tube, against her parents wishes, because she was in a vegetative state since 1990 and had very little brain function (Robinson). This caused a religious uproar, and before the feeding tube was removed Patrick Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition, rushed to Washington D.C. in hopes of getting Congress to enforce a congressional subpoena, but the subpoena did not pass (Robinson). This again has to do with life, and the rights a spouse or family has to make the decision of ending life support, aside from what the Bible says, when a loved one is no longer able to. In other instances, terminally ill, mentally ill, handicapped, and senile patients want to “die with dignity” and not suffer anymore. Dr. Koop, who wrote The Memoirs of America’s Family Doctor, stated, “There is a difference between allowing nature to take its course and actively assisting death.” He believes that it is in “direct conflict” with “religious and ethical tradition” (Koop).
Abortion and euthanasia will always be an ongoing battle in an American Society that is eighty-seven percent religious, because they have to do with life, death, God, and what the Bible says. The question will continue to be, whose right is it to decide whether or not to keep a child or to assist in ending someone’s life that is essentially not living anymore? Perhaps if the United States was not a majority of religious individuals, the two would not be a continuing issue.