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 In Defense of Human Life
Abortion take the life of defenseless human being; therefore abortion is a moral wrong. Many people are confused about abortion because they think that the issue is complex. Actually it is not. If the unborn child is a human being, then elective abortion is clearly a moral wrong. As Christians, we are called to defend ALL human life. Like Christ, we should reach out to the newly pregnant woman offering all the physical and emotional support she needs.
People Say:
1) "Abortion is a private matter between a woman and her God."
Privacy is important, but do we allow parents to abuse their children as long as they do so in the privacy of their own home?
2) "Many poor women cannot afford another child."
Perhaps so, but when human being get expensive, may we kill them?
3) "If abortion is restricted, women will die from back-alley abortions."
This objection makes sense if the unborn are not human. Why subject women to a dangerous operation? But if a human child is involved, why should the law be faulted for making it more risky for someone to kill an innocent human being? Should we legalize bank robbery so that it is safer for the felons?
4) "Women should not be forced to bear an unwanted child."
The homeless are largely unwanted; may we kill them?
5) "You shouldn't force your morality on women."
But isn't the mother forcing her morality on her unborn child? The issue is not morality but simply, what is the unborn? That question trumps all other considerations, including privacy, economic hardship, back-alley abortions, unwanted children and forcing morality.
What is the Unborn?
Human Life is a continuum beginning at conception and ending at natural death. You did not come from a zygote, you once were a zygote. You did not evolve from a fetus, you once were a fetus. This position is both scientifically and philosophically sound.
- The unborn entity is genetically distinct from its parents. Unlike sperm and ovum, the zygote posses the active (inherent) capacity to develop itself into an embryo, fetus, infant, child and adult. All genetic material needed to drive the unborn's development is there. The unborn, therefore, is not a potential human, but a human with great potential.
- The unborn entity has human parents. The principle of biogenesis states that each living thing reproduces after its own kind. That is to say, dogs beget dogs, cats beget cats, etc. Human parents can only produce human offspring.
- Although the unborn's humanity does not depend on its level of development, its rapid growth does point to its status as a genetically complete, self-integrating organism. In fact, prenatal development is so explosive that by day 43, the unborn entity has a heart that is beating and brain wave activity we can measure on an electroencephalogram.
The unborn differs from the newborn in four ways, non of which are relevant to its status as a human being.
Size: The unborn are smaller than newborns, but when has size had anything to do with the rights that people have? Is Shaquille O'Neal more of a person than feminist Gloria Steinem simply because he is larger?
Level of development: True, the unborn are less developed than newborns, but his too is morally irrelevant. A newborn is less developed than a toddler, a toddler less than an adolescent, an adolescent less than an adult. But we speak of all as equally human.
Environment: True, the unborn is located in a different place, but how does a change in location suddenly change a non-human entity into a human one. Clearly, where one is has no bearing on who one is. A child in the incubator of her mother's womb is no less a child than the one being sustained by neonatal technology.
Degree of dependency: If viability is what makes one human then all those dependent on kidney machine, heart pace-makers, and insulin would have to be declared non-persons. There is no ethical difference between an unborn child who is plugged into the dependent upon its mother and a kidney patient who is plugged into and dependent upon its mother and a kidney patient who is plugged into and dependent upon a kidney machine.
"If the unborn are not human, no justification for abortion is necessary. But if the unborn are human, no justification is adequate."
A Message from Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais
 With science uncovering and documenting signs of life in the womb in a way which was previously unimaginable, I continue to hope and pray that we will see a greater respet for life in our times. That is not to say, however, we should cease to be vigilant. On the contrary! There is so much to be done to build the culture of life Pope John Paul II described in Evangelium Vitae, the Gospel of Life.
In launching a Diocesan Week for Life in 2003, the Pro-Life Sunday Committee and I really wanted to focus our energy this year on raising awareness about life issues and rallying our efforts and our prayers to this important cause.
The Diocesan Week for Life is not about condemning individuals or groups which might not have lived up to our expectations. It is about building for the future. It's about making us aware of the stakes involved and of our mission as defenders of life wherever we may be.
You don't feel up to the challenge? You don't feel there is much that you can do? Start with pray, and God will show us the way. There is so much
to be done, but all of our actions must be grounded in prayer.
"Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1Timothy 6:11-12)
May the Lord bless our efforts!
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