1) Read in our course textbook, Ethics and Moral Reasoning, pg 38 [beginning with the paragraph titled “The Ten Commandments,” through page 52.
2) Watch and learn from videos #1 and #2 in the Youtube video portlet #1, regarding The Ten Commandments
3) Download the Handout on the meaning of the Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” as it applies to healthcare decisions in the Handout Portlet below.
4) In our text book, Medical Ethics, read chapter 4, “Abortion,” pages 35 – 44.
5) Watch and learn from all the Youtube videos in the Youtube video portlet #2 on what really occurs from the moment of conception, as regards the development of a new human person in the womb — and as regards abortion & its consequences.
6) Read and consider the attached pdf on the moral arguments often used by those who choose the subjective path of secular humanism, rather than the objective path of the moral law, in making a choice to abort the child in the womb.
https://my.laboure.edu/ICS/icsfs/mm/moral_arguments_used_by_those_in_favor_of_abortion.pdf?target=57dd8ede-a73f-4d72-bc3b-b05b8d95a78b
Question 1: From our assigned reading in Ethics and Moral Reasoning, what insights did you gain about the Ten Commandments and their expectations that were either new for you or helped you understand something you already knew at a deeper level?
Question 2: From watching the Videos #2 and #3 on the 10 Commandments, name and discuss a main point that struck you as very important from each of these videos? Why did you choose these particular points?
Question 3: From reading and reflecting on the downloadable handout on how the commandment “Thou Shalt not Kill” applies to healthcare, discuss two key components of this Commandment, regarding the taking of innocent human life, which really helped you understand more about the objective biblical principles necessary for making good ethical decisions in health care.
Question 4: Using specificallly the assigned reading from Medical Ethics on the procedure of abortion, pages 35 – 44, answer the following questions– be sure and give direct quotes and pages numbers to back-up your answers.
A) Even though our culture is engaged in such impassioned debate over the so-called “rights” of the mother to abort her baby, why is abortion always such a horrendous offense against both Almighty God and the dignity of the human person – according to the biblical viewpoint and objective facts about the reality of human life?
B) Similarly, according to the biblical view, how serious a consequence is there for the spiritual souls of those involved in either having an abortion or being part of a healthcare team that performs abortions? Why is this the case?
C) Finally, according to the biblical view of the sacred dignity of all human life, from the moment of conception, regarding the reading of Document #6 on page 44 of our assigned reading, how serious an offense is it, morally and ethically speaking, to use a medical device or pharmaceutical, which either intercepts or interferes with implantation of the newly conceived child in the uterus of the mother? Why would artificial contraceptives be considered part of this class of pharmaceuticals?
Question 5: In light of the rest of this unit, what additional insights did you gain about the objective evil of abortion, i.e., based upon the reality of what is really going on in this procedure, from watching each of the Videos, #3, #4, #5 & #6, assigned for this unit? Be sure and offer a specific point from each video, making it clear in your answer what you gained from each video. If you watched Video #7, please feel free to discuss what you learned from that video as well!
Question 6: Now, playing the flipside, ethically speaking: Using the pdf in assignment #6 above to help you, how might those who adopt an ethic of materialism, secular humanism and/or moral relativism respond to any aspect of something that you learned from this unit regarding the biblical view of abortion, which considers all human life sacred from the moment of conception?
Video 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1SeFHY6QHk
Video 2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK57RiMqTdk
Video 3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH9ZJu4wRUE
Video 4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf1FVJ6dH5Y
Video 5) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYxNbWQ7Wjs
Video 6) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCnZOvjJgwo
