As concerned human beings, our order of priority of concern in the case of abortion is typically:
1) the unborn child, an innocent, whose life may be ended prematurely merely because of other peoples’ attitude towards him or her (‘unwanted’)
2) the mother, who may well be in state of extreme distress, and
3) (if at all) the doctors and other medical staff involved.
But I wonder if, as Catholics, it should not be reversed. For whilst saving innocent lives is important, saving souls is more so; and the soul of the innocent unborn child is not in peril. The soul of the mother may be, of course, but the subjective guilt and responsibility may be largely (or entirely) mitigated by the existence of external pressures (and internal ones, too); but the souls of the doctors and medical staff seem to me to be in most danger: they do this regularly, which risks a real hardening of heart.
We know that is not irreversible, either; both from first principles (there are no limits to God’s grace) but also in reality: consider Bernard Nathanson and the many other doctors, nurses and clinic staff who have done a 180 degree turn on the issue of abortion.
Bearing all that in mind, perhaps we should think carefully about our own intentions, and, to come back to the point of this post, our rhetoric...
Always remembering that the real enemy is Satan, who was a liar from the start and a murderer to boot; and anything we do which colludes with his agenda is outlawed a priori.
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4 comments:
Ben Trovato - you write "For whilst saving innocent lives is important, saving souls is more so; and the soul of the innocent unborn child is not in peril."
You are, of course, absolutely right here, but the human part of me is so in revulsion at the thought of little people being dismembered alive while in what should be the safest of places - the womb - that I have charity only for them and their mothers.
In the matter of charity, I am by nature more a King David, faced with Goliath, or a Torquemada than a St Francis.
Sorry!
I share your revulsion, and claim no superiority in charity: I know at least two people on whom the doctors had passed a death sentence in the womb, but who survived, and that informs a lot of my thinking on this - and I find it very hard to forgive said doctors!
However, what I hope I can contribute is at least some clarity about the issues at stake and a Catholic perspective on them.
Ben - 100% clarity. I agree with all you have said.
God bless!
"For whilst saving innocent lives is important, saving souls is more so; and the soul of the innocent unborn child is not in peril."
According to my understanding, the Church does not take a position on the fate of souls of the unborn. Many Catholics sound confident that they go to Heaven, but the Church is not specific about this. In my discussions with Christians, I have come across a number who have assured me it would be perfectly plausible for these souls to be condemned to Hell. These are mainly Calvinists, though - I cannot think of any Catholics who have said this to me.
On another point, in the UK there is an uphill struggle to get enough doctors to come forward to train for abortion procedures: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/18/doctors-abortion-views
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