Life is sacred from conception

The Bible clearly teaches that human life is precious and that murder is wrong (Genesis 9:6). Uniquely among all creatures, only man has the capacity for a relationship with God. Only man has a soul. Only man was made in God’s image, God’s likeness (Genesis 1:26). Our significance, and so the claim to protection, derives not from our ‘quality of life’ or gifts and abilities, but from our status as being made in God’s image.

The Bible talks of God establishing and sustaining a relationship with an individual from conception (Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13). It follows that the human soul must be present from conception. Body and soul cannot be separated until death.

The incarnation of Christ also has important implications for medical ethics. Jesus Christ reveals not only the nature of deity but also the nature of what is human. The incarnation of the divine Son of God began with the conception, not the manger in Bethlehem – “he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary” (Apostles’ Creed, see also Matthew 1:20). Since Jesus shared our humanity and was made like us in every way (Hebrews 2:14,17), our own human life must also have begun at conception.

The Christian Institute therefore affirms that human personhood begins at conception and that the human embryo is precisely that – a human embryo. There are enormous practical implications that flow from this belief. The early Church was at the forefront of ending the practice of abortion in the Roman Empire. Not only is abortion wrong, but also any practice which deliberately destroys human embryos. This includes human cloning and embryo experimentation, as well as the use of drugs intended to prevent the implantation of an embryo.

The unique value and worth of every human life also means assisted suicide (often misleadingly called ‘assisted dying’) and euthanasia must be wholly rejected. The Bible is clear that God is our creator, to whom we owe worship and thanks (Romans 1:21). In that sense, our lives are not our own. Human life is not our ‘property’; we may not just ‘dispense’ with it. As Job said: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away” (Job 1:21). Our lives are meant for the service of God. It is not for us to take life, even our own. Moreover, death is not the end. For those who do not know God, neither euthanasia nor assisted suicide are a ‘merciful release’.

The law must not affirm the belief that some lives are not worth living. Any change in the law would undoubtedly place pressure on vulnerable people who would feel a burden on their family or carers. This would especially affect people who are elderly, sick or disabled – analogous to the widow and the orphan for whom Christians, imitating our Father in heaven, should have particular concern (Exodus 22:22-24).

Upholding the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death does not mean making every possible medical intervention that could extend life. There is a clear distinction in medicine between acting with the specific intention of shortening life and withholding medical treatment because it is of no further benefit or is burdensome to the patient.

It is also acceptable to administer pain-relieving drugs when the primary desired effect is to relieve the pain, but where there may be the undesirable ‘double effect’ of shortening life.

The Bible strongly encourages mankind to care for one another. We are to love our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). Jesus also taught that a stranger in trouble was our neighbour (Luke 10:25-37). More should be done to support the provision of hospice and palliative care services.