RS13Religion and Life: Human Life, Abortion, Euthanasia and the Afterlife

This section is about where human life came from. The origin of the universe (the Big Bang) is a different part of Theme B.

• Genesis 1:27: God created humans “in his own image”, male and female. Genesis 2:7: God formed the first man from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him.
• The Qur’an teaches that God created Adam, the first human, from clay, and describes the stages of a baby’s growth in the womb, from a drop to a clot to bones clothed with flesh (Qur’an 23:12-14).
• Evolution: Charles Darwin’s theory (On the Origin of Species, 1859) says living things, including humans, developed over millions of years by natural selection. Humans and apes share common ancestors.
• Creationists, including some evangelical Christians, read Genesis literally: God made the first humans directly, so they reject human evolution.
• The Catholic Church and most mainstream churches accept evolution as the way God created. Catholics teach that God gives each person a soul. This view is sometimes called theistic evolution.
• Muslim views vary. Many Muslims accept evolution for other living things but believe Adam was created directly by God. Some accept human evolution too, as long as God is seen as the creator.
• Non-religious views: many atheists and humanists see evolution as a full explanation of human life, with no need for a creator.

Evolution

The theory that living things developed gradually over millions of years from earlier forms.

Natural selection

The process by which living things best suited to their surroundings survive and pass on their features.

Creationist

Someone who believes God created the world and humans directly, as the holy book describes, often taking the text literally.

Two ideas run through every question about abortion and euthanasia.

• Sanctity of life: the belief that life is sacred or holy because it is given by God, so only God has the right to end it.
• Christian sources: humans are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27); God knew Jeremiah before forming him in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5); God “knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13, World English Bible); the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).
• Muslim sources: Pickthall’s translation of the meaning of Qur’an 5:32 says that whoever kills a human being without just cause, “it shall be as if he had killed all mankind”; Qur’an 17:33 forbids taking life which God has made sacred, except by right.
• Quality of life: how good a person’s life is for them: their health, comfort, happiness and ability to make choices.
• Situation ethics (Joseph Fletcher, 1966) says the right action is the most loving one in each situation. Some Christians use it to argue that ending great suffering can sometimes be loving.
• Most humanists judge life by its quality and stress a person’s right to make choices about their own life, while caring about the welfare of everyone affected.
• Many religious believers hold both ideas: life is sacred, and suffering should be relieved, for example through good medical care.

Sanctity of life and quality of life

Sanctity of life

The belief that life is holy because it is God-given, so it should be protected.

Quality of life

The general wellbeing of a person, in terms of health, happiness and the ability to live a fulfilling life.

Situation ethics

The idea that the right action in any situation is the most loving one.

Abortion is the deliberate ending of a pregnancy so that it does not result in the birth of a child. It is one of three Theme B issues on which you must know Christian views.

• The Abortion Act 1967 (England, Wales and Scotland): abortion is legal if two doctors agree it meets one of the legal grounds, such as a risk to the woman’s physical or mental health.
• Time limit: 24 weeks for most grounds (set in 1990). There is no time limit if the woman’s life is at risk, she faces grave permanent injury, or the baby would have a serious disability.
• The 2026 change (England and Wales): since 29 April 2026 (Crime and Policing Act 2026), a woman commits no criminal offence by ending her own pregnancy. Anyone else who carries out an abortion outside the 1967 Act can still be prosecuted, and the rules on doctors and time limits are unchanged.
• Northern Ireland: abortion was decriminalised in 2019. Since 2020 it is available on request up to 12 weeks.
• Older books and videos say women in England and Wales can be prosecuted for ending their own pregnancy. That is now out of date.
• Last checked: November 2026.

Key dates in UK law on abortion and assisted dying

Abortion

The deliberate ending of a pregnancy, so that it does not result in the birth of a child.

Decriminalise

To stop an act being a criminal offence.

Christians agree that life is precious, but they disagree about whether abortion can ever be right, and when.

• The Catholic Church teaches that life begins at conception, so deliberately ending a pregnancy is always gravely wrong. Sources: Exodus 20:13 (“You shall not murder”), Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13.
• When the mother’s life is at risk, Catholic teaching allows treatment to save her, such as removing a cancerous womb, even if the pregnancy ends as a result. This is the principle of double effect: the aim is to save the mother, not to end the pregnancy.
• Orthodox Christians and many evangelical Protestants also oppose abortion as taking a human life, though many accept it when the mother’s life is in danger.
• The Church of England is strongly opposed to abortion in principle, but accepts that it may be the lesser of two evils in some cases, for example when the mother’s life or health is at serious risk.
• Some liberal Christians believe the woman should decide, guided by her conscience. They point to Jesus’ compassion, the command to love your neighbour (Matthew 22:39), and the most loving action in a hard situation (situation ethics).
• Some Christians note that in the Old Testament life is linked to breath (Genesis 2:7), so they see the early foetus as a potential person rather than a full person.

Conception

The moment a sperm fertilises an egg; many Christians believe life begins here.

Principle of double effect

The idea that an action with a good aim (saving the mother) can be right even if it has a foreseen bad side effect (ending the pregnancy).

Lesser of two evils

Choosing the less harmful option when every option involves some harm.

• Most Muslims believe life is a sacred gift from God, so abortion is generally forbidden (Qur’an 17:33). Qur’an 6:151 forbids killing children because of poverty.
• Ensoulment: a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari (3208) describes the stages of growth in the womb, after which an angel breathes the soul into the baby. Many scholars read this as 120 days; some scholars set an earlier limit, such as 40 days.
• So many Muslim scholars allow abortion before ensoulment for serious reasons, such as severe disability, but not for convenience.
• When the mother’s life is at risk, most Muslim scholars allow abortion at any stage as the lesser of two evils: the mother is an existing life with responsibilities to others.
• Judaism teaches that if the mother’s life is in danger, abortion is required, because her life comes first. Most Buddhists see abortion as breaking the first precept (not harming living things), though some accept it out of compassion.
• Humanists generally support a woman’s right to choose, weighing the welfare of the woman, any existing children and the foetus.

Where different views on abortion fall (simplified)

Ensoulment

The moment the soul is believed to enter the developing baby.

Pro-life

The view that the unborn child has a right to life that should be protected.

Pro-choice

The view that a woman should have the right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy.

Euthanasia means ending someone’s life to relieve their suffering, for example when they have an incurable illness. It is the second Theme B issue on which you must know Christian views.

• Active euthanasia: a deliberate act to end life, such as a lethal injection. Passive euthanasia: withholding or withdrawing treatment that is only prolonging life, so that the person dies naturally.
• Voluntary: the person asks to die. Non-voluntary: the person can’t ask, for example because they are in a coma.
• Assisted dying (assisted suicide): a doctor provides the means, but the patient takes the final action themselves. AQA’s word list blurs this with euthanasia; in euthanasia, someone else ends the life.
• The law in the UK: active euthanasia is treated as murder or manslaughter, and assisting suicide is a crime (Suicide Act 1961, England and Wales). Doctors may lawfully stop treatment that can no longer help.
• Attempts to change the law: a Westminster bill on assisted dying for terminally ill adults passed the Commons (314–291, June 2025) but ran out of time in the Lords in April 2026. A new bill was defeated in the Commons (270–286) on 11 September 2026. Scotland’s bill fell (57–69) on 17 March 2026.
• So assisted dying is illegal everywhere in the UK. Some countries, such as the Netherlands (since 2002), Canada (since 2016) and Switzerland, allow forms of assisted dying.
• Last checked: November 2026.

Active and passive, voluntary and non-voluntary

Euthanasia

Ending a person’s life to relieve suffering, for example from an incurable illness.

Active euthanasia

Deliberately ending a life, for example by a lethal injection.

Passive euthanasia

Withholding or withdrawing treatment that is only prolonging life, so the person dies naturally.

Assisted dying (assisted suicide)

Providing the means for a person to end their own life; the person takes the final action.

• Most Christians, including the Catholic Church and the Church of England, oppose active euthanasia and assisted dying. Life is God-given and only God should end it: “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away” (Job 1:21, World English Bible). There is “a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2).
• They also fear that vulnerable people, such as the very old or disabled, could feel pressure to end their lives so as not to be a burden.
• Many Christians accept passive euthanasia in some cases: Catholic teaching allows stopping treatment that is overly burdensome or out of proportion to any benefit, and strong painkillers that may shorten life, if the aim is to relieve pain (double effect).
• Some Christians support assisted dying with safeguards, out of compassion: Christians are told to put on “a heart of compassion” (Colossians 3:12). A former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, has spoken in favour.
• Most Muslims oppose active euthanasia: God decides the length of every life. Pickthall’s translation of the meaning of Qur’an 3:145 says “No soul can ever die except by Allah’s leave and at a term appointed.” Suffering may be part of life’s test (Qur’an 67:2).
• Many Muslim scholars accept passive euthanasia when there is no hope of recovery: stopping treatment that is only prolonging dying lets God’s will take its course.
• Humanists support a legal right to assisted dying for people who are terminally ill or suffering greatly, with strict safeguards, because people should be free to make choices about their own lives and deaths.

Terminal illness

An illness that can’t be cured and is expected to lead to death.

Safeguards

Rules designed to protect people, such as requiring doctors and a judge to agree.

A hospice is a place that cares for people who are dying, and supports their families. Palliative care relieves pain and other symptoms rather than trying to cure the illness.

• Dame Cicely Saunders, a Christian nurse and doctor, founded St Christopher’s Hospice in London in 1967, the first modern hospice. Many hospices in Britain began as Christian projects.
• Hospices aim to help people live well until they die: pain control, comfort, dignity, time with family, and spiritual support of any faith or none.
• Why many Christians support hospices: they protect the sanctity of life while showing love and compassion, as in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:33-34). Every person, however ill, is made in God’s image.
• Why many Muslims support them: they relieve suffering without ending life before the time God has set; caring for the sick is a good deed and a duty to the community (ummah).
• The argument against euthanasia: if pain can be controlled, people need not choose death. The reply: not everyone can get a hospice place, and not all suffering can be relieved.

Hospice

A place that cares for people who are dying, and supports their families.

Palliative care

Care that relieves pain and other symptoms, rather than trying to cure an illness.

• Christians believe in life after death: the resurrection of the dead, God’s judgement, and heaven and hell. Catholics also believe in purgatory, a state of cleansing before heaven. Christians differ about whether hell is a place, a state of being apart from God, or not everlasting.
• Muslims believe in Akhirah (life after death): after death the soul waits in barzakh; on the Day of Judgement everyone is raised and judged on their deeds, and enters paradise or hell.
• Hindus and Buddhists believe in rebirth: a person is reborn many times, and their actions (karma) shape their next life.
• Many atheists and humanists believe death is the end of the person. For them, this one life is precious and should be lived well.
• How this affects the value of life: if God will judge how people treat others, every life matters, including the weak and unborn. Muslims see life as a test (Qur’an 67:2), so its length is for God to set. For humanists, one life makes every moment and every choice count.
• Arguments against an afterlife: there is no scientific evidence for it; the brain stops at death; belief may come from fear of death. Arguments for: religious teaching and revelation, Jesus’ resurrection for Christians, and reported near-death experiences.

Afterlife

Life after death; what some people believe happens to a person after they die.

Resurrection

Rising from the dead; Christians and Muslims believe the dead will be raised for judgement.

Judgement

The belief that God will judge each person on their life and deeds.

Akhirah

The Muslim belief in everlasting life after death.

On Theme B’s three named issues, abortion, euthanasia and animal experimentation, a 4-mark question may say: “In your answer you should refer to the main religious tradition of Great Britain and one or more other religious traditions.”

• The main religious tradition of Great Britain is Christianity: in the 2021 Census, 46.2% of people in England and Wales described themselves as Christian.
• So at least one of your two beliefs must be clearly Christian. If neither is, the answer can’t score more than 2 out of 4.
• The second belief can be another Christian view or a view from another religion, such as Islam.
• For a different beliefs question, the two beliefs must not be the same. They need not be opposites: “always wrong” and “wrong except to save the mother” are different.
• For a similar beliefs question, the two beliefs must agree, for example a Christian and a Muslim who both oppose active euthanasia because life is God-given.
• Non-religious views earn nothing in a question that asks for religious beliefs.

Main religious tradition of Great Britain

Christianity, in AQA’s questions.