Review article
https://doi.org/10.34075/sb.62.1.3
Moral analysis of the Sherri Finkbine case in the light of thomistic ethical teaching
Jelena Bućan
; Undergraduate study programmes at Libertas International University Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivan Bodrožić
orcid.org/0000-0001-9399-9420
; The Catholic Faculty of Theology of the University of Split, Split, Croatia
Abstract
By analyzing the case of Sherri Finkbine, a mother who had an abortion in 1962, the authors of this paper seek to answer some abortion-related questions in the light of the ethical teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, as the abortion debate presents one of today’s most pressing controversial issues. The paper is divided into three parts. In the introductory part, the authors first describe the case itself by presenting the facts as well as the circumstances in which the abortion took place before the eyes of the public. Furthermore, in the second part, the authors make a moral analysis of Finkbine’s act in the light of Thomistic teaching, especially due to the fact that, in certain circles from the 1960s onwards, it was believed that St. Thomas’ teaching on the state of the embryo could work to Finkbine’s advantage. In that sense, the authors analyze the case through a biological, legal and sociological perspective, pointing to the Thomistic moral doctrine at each of the mentioned views. Lastly, the third part provides a final theological synthesis of the whole case, putting a strong emphasis, in the light of Thomistic teaching, on the fact that Sherri made a grave error in judgment of her own conscience and thus erred in her moral choices, regardless of the doctors and public opinion that supported her choice.
Keywords
abortion; rights; human life; moral act; Thomism
Hrčak ID:
277929
URI
Publication date:
23.5.2022.
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