Aim: to explore the concept of quality of life Starter: Outline the rights of the foetus in the abortion debate (3 marks)

Quality of life: an individual's emotional, social, and physical well-being. How is this term similar or different to sanctity of life? How might this argument be used to support or reject the idea of abortion?

What type of life could a baby be born into?

What does Eleanor Simmonds teach us about the Quality of Life?

health/disability/hardcore-sitting What do we learn about the quality of life from this film clip?

Task Using the knowledge hunt sheets, you must work out what Roman Catholics, The Church of England and Muslims think about the quality of life and its impact upon early life and abortion.

Is abortion allowed if the quality of life is bad? What is the reason for their attitude? Church of England Roman Catholics Islam

Church of England The Church of England states that all life is created by God in his own image and therefore should be nurtured and protected. They do not agree with abortion however, there maybe some cases where it is acceptable. Christ demonstrated compassion in all situations and therefore if a foetus is at risk of being seriously handicapped or the mother may not love the child because it is a result of rape the foetus can be aborted.

Roman Catholics The Catholic church believes that ‘from the moments of his (her) existence, a human being must be recognised as having the rights of a person.’ They therefore believe that to have an abortion is murder and believe that all life must be protected whatever the circumstances.

Islam The Qur'an makes it clear that a foetus must not be aborted because the family fear that they will not be able to provide for it i.e it will live in poverty - they should trust Allah to look after things. ‘Kill not your offspring for fear of poverty; it is We who provide for them and for you. Surely, killing them is a great sin.’ Qur'an 17:32 If it is confirmed in the early period of pregnancy that a foetus suffers from a defect that can't be treated or that the child will be born with a physical or mental disability that will cause great suffering to the child, a number of Muslims would say that it is acceptable to abort, provided that the pregnancy is less than 120 days old. However, other Muslims disagree and hold that abortion is not allowed in any cases.

Exam Alert What is the difference between the Quality and Sanctity of Life. 3 marks

“Poor people should not have children because their quality of life will be poor”

Exam Alert ‘Children should be aborted if they are going to have a poor quality of life’. 6 marks