What do religious and non-religious viewpoints say about medical ethics, from the beginning to the end of life?
Religion, Medicine and the Human Body: the sanctity and quality of life, abortion, euthanasia and end-of-life care, embryo research and reproductive technology, and religious and non-religious responses.
An SQA Higher RMPS answer on Religion, Medicine and the Human Body, covering the sanctity and quality of life, abortion, euthanasia and end-of-life care, embryo research and reproductive technology, and how religious and non-religious viewpoints respond.
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What this dot point is asking
Religion, Medicine and the Human Body is a moral context in the Morality and Belief area. It examines medical ethics from the beginning to the end of life: the sanctity and quality of life, abortion, euthanasia and end-of-life care, and embryo research and reproductive technology, from religious and non-religious viewpoints. The SQA wants you to describe the issues and the two guiding principles, explain the reasoning, and evaluate a position with a judgement.
Two guiding principles
- Sanctity of life is central to many religions and tends to support opposition to abortion and euthanasia, because deliberately ending a life is seen as wrong.
- Quality of life is often stressed by non-religious thinkers and can support choices such as withdrawing burdensome treatment, or, for some, assisted dying, where life involves unbearable suffering.
- Many real positions combine both, for example accepting that life is precious while also caring about how it is lived.
Abortion
- Religious responses vary: some traditions oppose abortion on sanctity-of-life grounds, treating the embryo as a person from conception; others permit it in cases such as risk to the mother's life or serious circumstances, weighing competing duties.
- Non-religious responses typically weigh the woman's autonomy and wellbeing, the stage of development, and the consequences, often supporting legal access while still treating the decision as serious.
Euthanasia and end-of-life care
- Euthanasia (bringing about death to relieve suffering) and assisted dying are among the most contested issues. Sanctity-of-life reasoning generally opposes them; quality-of-life and autonomy reasoning may support them in cases of unbearable suffering.
- End-of-life care raises further questions: the distinction between ending life and withdrawing burdensome treatment, the role of palliative care and the hospice movement, and fears about pressure on the vulnerable.
- Religious and non-religious thinkers both value compassion, but differ on whether compassion can ever justify deliberately ending a life.
Embryo research and reproductive technology
The SQA also expects attention to the start of life and medical technology.
- Embryo research (including stem-cell research) and IVF raise the question of the moral status of the embryo: those who treat it as a person from conception object to its destruction, while others weigh the medical benefits and the early stage of development.
- Reproductive technologies (IVF, donor conception, surrogacy) are welcomed by many as helping people to have children, but questioned by some on grounds such as the status of spare embryos or the separation of procreation from the natural process.
- Non-religious viewpoints generally support such technologies where they relieve suffering and respect consent, judging by consequences and wellbeing.
Try this
Q1. State the sanctity of life and quality of life principles in one line each. [2 marks]
- Cue. Sanctity: life is sacred, God-given and not ours to end. Quality: what matters is whether life can be lived with dignity and without unbearable suffering.
Q2. What is the central question in the abortion debate? [1 mark]
- Cue. The moral status of the embryo or foetus weighed against the rights and circumstances of the pregnant woman.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA Higher specimen8 marksExplain the sanctity of life and the quality of life arguments in medical ethics.Show worked answer →
An 8-mark "explain" question rewards developed understanding of the two principles and their use.
Sanctity of life: the view, central to many religions, that life is sacred and God-given, that it has intrinsic value, and that it is not ours to end; this underpins opposition to abortion and euthanasia. Quality of life: the view that what matters is whether a life can be lived with dignity, free from unbearable suffering; this can support choices such as withdrawing treatment or, for some, euthanasia. Explain that religious thinkers often start from sanctity of life, while non-religious thinkers often weigh quality of life and autonomy. Develop the contrast with reasons to reach the top band.
SQA Higher specimen10 marksTo what extent should a patient's autonomy be the deciding factor in end-of-life decisions?Show worked answer →
A 10-mark evaluation needs argument and a judgement; autonomy versus other principles is the issue.
Argue for autonomy: respecting a competent person's wishes honours their dignity and freedom, and many non-religious thinkers make autonomy central. Then weigh against: the sanctity of life argues that life is not ours to end; there are fears about pressure on the vulnerable and the value of palliative care; and doctors' duty not to harm complicates assisted dying. Bring in religious and non-religious views explicitly. Reach a supported judgement, for example that autonomy is weighty but must be balanced against protecting the vulnerable and the value of life.
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