🌟 Quality of life
Some non-religious people say what matters is not just being alive but how well a person lives. A life with great pain or very little freedom may seem less good than a healthy one.
Life and Death: Key Ideas » The Sanctity of Life and Abortion
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 2.3
- What the sanctity of life means, and how religious and non-religious people value human life
- What abortion is, and the terms pro-life and pro-choice
- How the law on abortion works in the United Kingdom
- Why people hold different attitudes to abortion, inside and outside religion
🔒 Unlock Full Course Content
Sign up to access the complete lesson and track your progress!
Unlock This CourseThe sanctity of life
Most people agree that human life matters. The big question is why it matters, and how much. This lesson looks at the answers, and then at one of the most debated issues that follows from them: abortion. The topic is sensitive, so we keep to calm facts and the reasons people give.
Key terms:
- Sanctity of life: the idea that human life is sacred (holy) and must be protected.
- Quality of life: how good a life is, for example how healthy, free and happy a person is.
- Autonomy: the right to make decisions about your own life and body.
- Abortion: the deliberate ending of a pregnancy.
- Pro-life: a label for people who oppose abortion, or want it limited, because they value the life of the unborn child.
- Pro-choice: a label for people who support a woman's right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy.
- Personhood: the point at which a human being is thought to count fully as a person with rights.
Why is human life valuable?
Many religions teach that life is sacred because it comes from God, or belongs to God, or has ultimate worth. If life is a gift, people are not free to treat it as their own property. It must be protected from the moment it begins to the moment it naturally ends.
Non-religious people can also value life very highly, but for different reasons.
✍️ Personal autonomy
Others stress that people should be free to make their own choices about their own lives and bodies, as long as they do not harm others.
Humanists believe that this is the only life we have. They say that is exactly why life is precious and should be lived well and fairly. So both religious and non-religious people give human life a special value, even when they explain it differently.
Why it matters for the rest of the lesson
If life is sacred, abortion looks very serious. If quality of life and autonomy matter most, the woman's choice looks very important. Most arguments about abortion grow out of these starting points.
What is abortion?
Abortion is the deliberate ending of a pregnancy. (A miscarriage is different: it happens naturally.) The most debated question is when a developing baby counts as a person with the right to life. People give different answers:
- At conception, when a sperm fertilises an egg. Some believe that a new human life begins here.
- As the baby develops, for example when a heartbeat starts, or when the baby could survive outside the womb with medical help. The UK limit of 24 weeks is linked to this idea.
- At birth, when the baby is a separate person.
People who are pro-life usually say the unborn child has a right to life that should be protected. People who are pro-choice usually say the woman has the right to decide what happens to her own body. Many people sit somewhere between the two labels.
The law in the United Kingdom
Laws on abortion differ from country to country. In the United Kingdom, abortion is regulated by law.
⚖️ England, Scotland and Wales
The Abortion Act 1967, as later amended, makes abortion lawful if two registered doctors agree, in good faith, that one of the legal grounds applies. In an emergency one doctor can decide.
🏥 Northern Ireland
Since 2020, abortion there has been allowed up to 12 weeks of pregnancy without needing a reason. After that, only certain conditions allow it.
Under the 1967 Act, the most commonly used ground is that continuing the pregnancy would risk the physical or mental health of the woman or her existing children more than ending it. This ground applies up to 24 weeks. After 24 weeks, abortion is allowed only in the exceptions: to save the woman's life, to prevent grave permanent injury to her health, or where there is a substantial risk that the child would be born with a serious disability.
The law has also been changing. In 2026, the Crime and Policing Act removed the risk of a criminal case for a woman who ends her own pregnancy in England and Wales. The 24-week limit and the need for two doctors stay as they are. Laws can change again, so always check gov.uk or nhs.uk for the latest position.
Other countries differ. For example, the Republic of Ireland changed its law in 2018 to allow abortion up to 12 weeks.
Different attitudes to abortion
Attitudes range along a line, and religious and non-religious people can be found at every point on it.
🚫 Always wrong
Some believers teach that abortion is always wrong, because life is sacred from conception and only God gives and takes life. For them, the unborn child is a person with rights.
⚠️ Allowed in limited cases
Some people accept abortion only in serious cases, such as when the mother's life is at risk or after rape. They try to balance the life of the child against the suffering of the woman.
🙌 The woman's choice
Some people argue that the woman must decide, because it is her body and her life. They often point to quality of life, autonomy, and the harm of unsafe, illegal abortions.
Opinion does not split neatly into religious and non-religious. Some religious people support a woman's right to choose, often because they stress compassion and individual conscience. Some non-religious people oppose abortion, because they believe that every human life has value.
Common mistakes
- Saying that all religious people are pro-life and all non-religious people are pro-choice. There are many exceptions.
- Saying that abortion is illegal in the UK. It is lawful when the rules of the law are followed.
- Confusing abortion with a miscarriage, or with euthanasia, which is covered in a later lesson.
- Forgetting the reason behind a view. Marks go for explaining why, not only saying what.
Exam-style question
Paper 1, AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three terms or ideas linked to the value of human life. [3 marks]
Model answer (a)
1. Sanctity of life (1) 2. Quality of life (1) 3. Personal autonomy (1)
(b) Outline two different attitudes to abortion. [4 marks]
Model answer (b)
Some people think abortion is always wrong (1), because they believe life is sacred from conception and the unborn child has a right to life (1). Others believe that it is the woman's choice (1), because she has the right to make decisions about her own body (1).
(c) Explain why there are different attitudes to abortion. [6 marks]
Model answer (c)
People disagree about when life or personhood begins. Those who say it begins at conception believe abortion ends a human life, so they are pro-life (2). Others think a baby becomes a person later, for example when it could survive outside the womb, so they accept abortion earlier in pregnancy (2). People also weigh different values. Some put the sanctity of life first. Others put the quality of life or the woman's autonomy first, so they support a woman's right to choose (2). Opinion also varies within religions, so there is no single religious or non-religious view.
(d) 'Abortion should always be the woman's choice.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
Plan for (d)
For: autonomy over her own body; she will live with the results; the harm of unsafe abortions where it is illegal; many humanists and some religious people stress compassion and conscience. Against: the unborn child may have rights; many believers teach that life is sacred and belongs to God (add a teaching from your own religion here); the father and doctors are also involved, and UK law needs two doctors to agree and sets a 24-week limit. Possible conclusion: weigh up which value matters most, such as the woman's autonomy or the right to life, and give a reason. A strong answer might say that the woman should have the main say, but within limits because another life is involved.
Exam tip
In the 12-mark question, name the viewpoint each time (for example 'a humanist might say...') and always finish with a conclusion that picks a side and gives the deciding reason.