We are all of infinite worth

Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, 24 Mar 2013

Popular atheist professor Richard Dawkins took to Twitter on March 13, suggesting that the only moral question about abortion is whether a foetus can feel pain, and enraged readers by claiming that unborn humans are “less human” than adult pigs.

He then acknowledged that late-term foetuses do feel pain, and said this should take precedence over a woman’s right to decide what to do with her body – which enraged a different group of people.

Of course, all mammals feel pain in varying degrees. And if unborn humans feel pain, so too might unborn pigs. The crucial point is, though, that at all stages of their development, human foetuses are “fully human,” and should not be classified differently on a morality scale.

Christians accept that all humans, of whatever stage of development, are intrinsically different from other forms of life because they reflect the image of God, and therefore are of infinite natural worth.

I’m Rod Benson for the NSW Council of Churches.