ONCE MORE: NO TO ABORTION
FAUSTO GOMEZ OP
News and comments on abortion continue to appear frequently in our newspapers, and in other mass media outlets. We reflect here on the morality of abortion from an ethical perspective.
Human life is like “a seamless garment” that cannot be cut without destroying it. Is human life destroyed in abortion?
Abortion is defined as “a directly intended termination of pregnancy before the age of viability.” It is termination of pregnancy from conception to birth. I remember the words of a well-known doctor abortionist who performed hundreds and hundreds of abortions, and later on became a promoter of pre-natal life Dr. B. Nathanson: “There is no longer any serious doubt in my mind that human life exists within the womb from the moment of conception.”
More concretely, abortion is “the deliberate and direct killing, by whatever means it is carried out, of a human being in the initial phase of his or her existence, extending from conception to birth” (John Paul II, Encyclical Evangelium Vitae, 58). Notice that in this definition the embryo or the fetus is considered not as an object or an “it” but as a human subject, that is, as he or she.
That definition applies to all unborn children, without exceptions for they all have a right to life from the moment of conception, including the unborn child conceived as a result of rape (a horrible crime that cannot be undone by committing the terrible crime of abortion), and the unborn child who is sick or differently able (and therefore ought to be treated like born children). In the case of maternal fetal conflicts, mother and child have a right to life, and therefore the life of the unborn child cannot be directly terminated to save his/her mother’s – and vice versa.
In this context, we applaud the law approved by the Community of Madrid that gives to the nasciturus (the child conceived but not yet born) the legal status of “one more member of the family unit” concerning all the administrative and autonomous effects. This law represents an important step towards the juridical recognition of pre-natal life. But -a big but -, why only applicable to those children conceived after 14 weeks of gestation? (The Spanish law on abortion permits a pregnant mother to abort her child during the first 14 weeks in the womb). Why not to all children conceived but not yet born? Life begins at conception.
What is the basic, real difference between an unborn child and a born child? As a Christian, I remember with emotion the encounter of the Virgin Mary, pregnant with Jesus, with her causing Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth says to Mary: “As soon as I heard the sound of your greeting the child in my womb leaped for joy” (Lc 1:44). We celebrate the Incarnation of Jesus on March 25, and his birth, on December 25. Similarly, two feasts of Mother Mary: December 8 and September 8.
When a mother cannot raise the child, due to various reasons, and wants to abort him or her (always painful and sad for her), let her give him or her for adoption, but never kill him or her, who is an innocent and defenseless human being. With millions of women and men throughout the world, we shout: No to abortion; yes, to adoption!
When a person is sick, what do we do? We try to heal the person: any and every person, including therefore the sick unborn child. With due respect, it appears to me that the argument of compassion used by those who are in favor of abortion for the unborn sick or differently able child is not compassionate at all. True compassion heals; it does not kill. True compassion is an expression of love of neighbor. Compassion to terminate the life of a human being – born or unborn - is not true compassion, but “false compassion” (EV, 66), an expression of a paternalistic and arrogant attitude.
In France, abortion is considered a fundamental human right: Abortion is not just a choice, but a fundamental right. In Spain, its socialist-communist government wants to follow suit. How can abortion be a fundamental right? On the contrary, without the right to life of unborn children, no other human right can exist for them.
Pro-choice, or pro-abortion, why? Conviction, political opportunism, post-truth? A right? That is, a right to the voluntary interruption of pregnancy? This phrase – the voluntary interruption of pregnancy - sounds “harmless,” but it is not. Why? It means the destruction of pre-natal human life, or of a human life in formation, or of the human life of an unborn child, who is “the most innocent and fragile of our specie” (Alicia Latorre). We condemn abortion and we try to do it – as St. Peter asks us - “in a gentle and respectful way and with a clear conscience” (1 Pet 3:16).
Those pro-choice tell us: abortion is a right of women; but, how about the right to life of unborn children? They continue: Abortion is a requirement of equality; but, how about the million who ae firmly convinced, by ideology or faith, that abortion is a crime? Where is freedom, that is, freedom for all? Those pro-abortion add: Abortion is legal; but, is it ethical? For us, obviously not.
Former President Obama defended abortion zealously. He said: The stand of the pro-life “is “an assault on women’s rights.” Really? Abortion is an assault on the right to life of every unborn child. There is no right to abort, that is, no right to kill unborn children, who are human persons. Affirmed former Spanish socialist leader Bibiana Aído: “A fetus of thirteen weeks is a living being, but not a human being” (January 30, 2014). One may ask: What kind of “living being”? No one can become a person if he or she was not so from conception: “How could a human individual not be a human person?”
What is the difference, the real difference between an unborn child and a born child? Truly, does abortion of her child liberate his/her mother? Please! Moreover, there is the so-called post-abortion syndrome, which is a reality as many among us have witnessed. A loving society must free women from pressure to seek abortion (Pope Francis). The radical opposition to abortion does not depend on popular or political votes, neither on majorities, but on objective augments founded on human nature, dignity and rights. Gandhi: “Truth is not a question of majorities.” Nor it is the determination of good and evil.
Abortion is a lethal expression o the so-called “culture of death.” Likewise direct euthanasia, and also the death penalty. (Remember “the seamless garment of life”). Abortion is part of “the throw-away culture”,” a terrible manifestation of the “woke ideology.” It is an assault on truth, an expression of “post-truth.” Only the truth will make us free, which means, free to love. The death penalty is still egal in a diminishing number of countries. However, it is not ethical. More unethical is applying the death penalty to a totally innocent unborn child. Pope Leo XIV repeted the well-known saying: “Every human life must be protected from his/her conception to natural death” (Address to Spanish Congress, Madrid, June 8, 2026).
A true story, among many! A mother in Canada was pregnant. She was thinking of aborting the baby girl in her womb. She consulted a priest, who convinced her not to terminate the life of the conceived not yet born girl. The name of the girl? Celine Dion. All unborn children have the fundamental right to life.
Words to ponder. Saint Teresa of Kolkata: “To me, the nations with legalized abortion are the poorest nations. The great destroyer of peace today is the crime of the innocent unborn child. In destroying the unborn child entails destroying the image of God and the world…If we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell others not to kill one another?”