Thinking about Abortion - Part 3 - The Sanctity of Life

Abortion opponents rely on the idea of the Sanctity of Life to justify taking away a woman's right to control her life.

As a country we drop bombs relatively indiscriminately in order to not put our troops at risk in war, killing and injuring civilians regularly.  We spend lots of money on gear so we can hunt animals for sport.  We farm animals jammed together in tiny spaces, animals with more ability to experience fear and pain than a fetus, then matter-a-factly kill them and eat them.  Our most popular species of pets eat meat and are unabashed about killing smaller creatures - they are carnivores after all.  Sanctity of Life is not a concern in these circumstances for most Americans.  We recognize death is a part of life that may often leave us with regrets but must be accepted.

Why is a fetus so special it justifies allowing government to take control of a pregnant woman's body and life to protect the fetus?   Abortion opponents often answer that humans are God's special creation because we have a soul.

1.  Does a fetus have a soul?

Genesis (2:7) says that God forms man and then breathes in the breath of life.  This would suggest that a fetus becomes a being separate from the mother, so gains a soul, at birth.  That certainly makes sense with the physical process of birth - cutting the cord is a physical act that serves as a marker in our minds.   

Nonetheless abortion opponents have taken to providing legislative definitions, in the extreme case that life as a separate being with a soul begins at conception.  Suppose we accept that assumption that life begins at conception and examine the questions that raises?

2.  Does an aborted fetus go to Heaven?  Or Hell?

Christian belief is rooted in the notions of the afterlife - live a Godly life and you go to heaven, and a life of sin (without redemption) sends you to hell.  

So if a unborn fetus has a soul, and the fetus is aborted, does that soul go to heaven or hell?

How can a fetus commit sin?  So would not an aborted fetus go to heaven?  If God judges the abortion as a sin, isn't the sin the mother's?  

So what exactly is government intervention accomplishing?  Creating an opportunity for the fetus to go to hell?  

Perhaps an example of why the 10 Commandments don't say "..thou shalt not let others.."? 

Part 4 will look at the ethics of abortion outside the context of religion.