HUMA 1951 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Deborah Orr, Fetus
27 Mar 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Source of view that father is true parent of child. Gratien (440) - abortion is murder only after the soul is in the body . St. augustine (4th-5th century) - soul enters the body at a different point for male and female fetus about 40 days. St. thomas aquinas (13th century) soul can only exist in body after 3 months gestation. Pope gregory (1591) - abortion is punished by god only after. Pope pius ix (1869) eliminated distinction between formed and unformed fetus i. e. possession of soul. Thus the church"s current position on abortion only dates from. 1869: fetus is a person because it has a soul and therefore it has a right to life.
