Our first session after the Spring Break was given by E Wei on the 'Integrity of Life' - on the Church's stand towards abortion. We were first given two videos showing actual abortion procedures, followed by discussion questions on how we felt about abortion after watching those two clips. The clips showed the raw nature of abortions, bringing us to a realisation of the actual brutality of it. E Wei went on to present to us the definition of abortion and the methods of abortion at the different stages of pregnancy, as an elaboration on how cruel abortion is. Some of these methods include the suction aspiration, which is inserting a suction curette into the womb to tear and suck the baby out into a bottle at an early stage, and the partial birth abortion, which delivers the baby's entire body except for the head, decapitating and killing it.
The Church's stand to this is clear: we support life. Life begins at conception, when an embryo is no longer just a simple cell from his or her father or mother but a combination of both, with his or her own growth, and no one has a right to terminate this life. After much discussion, we recognized that women who undergo abortions do so under complex and most probably emotionally traumatic situations, such as rape or incest, and we would never be able to fully comprehend nor guess at their situation, emotions and the difficulty of choice they have to make. We can never ever judge them, as we do not have the right to do so, and will fully give them any support we can provide for them to make the right choice, which is to not abort. Abortion is an inherently bad choice, and we condemn this act as sin. However, we do not condemn the sinner, and we should never sideline nor condescend women who have made this decision to abort.
Many pro-choice activists argue that women who undergo abortion due to rape and incest suffer a lot of emotional trauma and so they should be allowed to end their suffering by undergoing abortion. Does this mean that people suffering from depression should be allowed to take their lives as part of ending the suffering? Catholics recognise suffering as part of life, and that our value should not compromised for the sake of avoiding or terminating our own suffering.
We also learnt about the Principle of Double Effect, which states that even though the Church opposes all direct and intentional killings of the child, it does not condemn procedures which result in the loss of the child as a secondary effect, such as miscarriage due to medical procedures necessary for the mother's health.
This session brought us in touch with some of the many moral issues that our society grapples with, which is, sadly, the mere definition of life and our integrity on it. I am sure most of us felt a stir in our hearts, whether in coming to a sad realisation that this society is selfish, or whether in finding our own voice and resolution in this matter.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Popular Posts
-
Hello! Jian Sheng's talk on The Environment opened my eyes to different area of Social Justice. It's an area which is easily accessi...
-
Hi everyone! I’m John and currently the outgoing Music Coordinator for COSDU. I have been blessed with an opportunity to be able to par... -
Hey there! Being President doesn’t mean that you have to do great things or be a superman/superwoman. All it really requires is for y... -
HELLO THERE! My name is Belle and I’m currently Vice President and I’m hoping that perhaps YOU will be the next one since you’re... -
SEM 1 Treasurer: Johan Singana Hi all, Before joining the committee, I wasn't sure about staying on Cosdu, I was going to th... -
I took the role of publicity because I thought I was a PR (public relations) guy back then and people actually thought of me that way. A... -
Our first session after the Spring Break was given by E Wei on the 'Integrity of Life' - on the Church's stand towards abortion....
-
Hey, everyone! My name is Nicole and I serve as the Liturgical Coordinator for COSDU! My... -
The prospect of being a vice-president of COSDU may seem alluring but one should never put that into the priority of your choice. I deci... -
What I’ve come to observe is that being a Vice-President, as with Any Other role, is daunting, because COSDU is not just another club, b...
15 comments:
I have recently been exposed to the principle of double effect also. I read a really good article on Double Effect and American law dealing with various issues including euthanasia //papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=756887
After reading this posting, I cannot help but feel a little let down by the language used. I fully understand where the Church is coming from on the issue of abortion but I am disappointed by the contradictions that are laced in the words of the writer. There seems to be a lack of partiality on the writer's part on this topic when it should have been an open discussion whereby pro-lifers and pro-choice individuals come together to air their views.It's a pity indeed.
I'm sorry, but to be Catholic (that's what we call our Club, right?) means there can be no partiality on a topic such as this. If we do not agree with this stance, we should not be identifying ourselves as Catholic. And as our Club and this website clearly identifies itself as Catholic, then the tone should at all times be pro-life. So, all encouragement to the writer! :)
By all means, discussion is open, and welcomed (as shown by the florid discussion during the session). All views are respected because we respect the dignity of those who air such views. But again, the Catholic view is the only one that should be supported and proposed, because that is what we claim as our identity, despite what our personal views for the moment might be. (I say 'for the moment' because, by God's grace, our views do change)
There was much debate about rape situations, so let me give you this scenario to ponder, especially to those who might be 'personally opposed' to abortion but don't like 'imposing' their views on others.
Suppose that you were transported back in time, and you actually met that rapist, 1 hour BEFORE he committed the rape (which resulted in the planned abortion - the point of our discussion). And he tells you (in confidence) his plans to rape that woman.
I ask you: Are you 'personally opposed' to the act of rape? For those that answer "yes", would any of you hesitate to voice your opinions, 'impose' your views on him, in the hope of making him change his intended action?
Or would any of you say: "Oh, I'm personally opposed to rape, but that's his choice, I'm not going to impose my views on him!"
Why would you not offer innocent victims (the woman, or the foetus) help against possible assailants (the rapist, or the abortionist)?
Or is it because your 'personal opposition' to abortion is very loosely held? Where rape is on the scale of murder, incest etc but being personally opposed to abortion is like being personally opposed to John Howard, or Microsoft or people who litter?
Just some reflections for us, on why we hold the values we do, how strongly we hold those values and how much we're willing to sacrifice for them.
Remember, we shall be judged both by what we do, and what we fail to do...
I know life is sacred but then again why the man are not judge and the woman has to burdened all the pain. why no terror go into the man. so it must be the woman fault to fall pregnant.
If the govt impose law on shooting man that make a woman pregnant and have to go through that horrible pain. i think abortion would stop.
Well i guess some of you might think abortion is such a nice procedures ( its really nice..so why not every woman do it) being sarcastic if u do not get it.
Then again if the society could accept woman who is pregnant and single. and still not judge them. I guess abortion might not happen.
but Then again, JUST like Jesus said, PLEASE do not Judge and condemn. just like story of a woman who is supposed to be cast stone at for having an affair.
so which side are u? with jesus or the crowd?
In life, not all things are always black and white.
There are areas of grey, even among Catholics.
My mother had an abortion when I was 3 years old because my father was having an affair and told her he didn't want anymore children, didn't to support anymore children and wanted to continue with his mistress.
At that time, my mother was unemployed. And there were already two children to support.
You probably will be able to think up limitless possibilities to keep the baby. But fact of the matter, you were never in that situation, you never grew up in that environment and you probably never had such a father.
I remember the story of Jesus with the woman at the well, Jesus with the woman who was caught in adultery, Jesus with Mary Magdalen.
I remember His compassion, understanding and love.
And this is what I choose to take away: That even though the church opposes abortion (and rightly so), when certain situations arise when a woman is pushed into a corner, I believe that Jesus would never condemn or say, "There can be no partiality on this subject".
Often we forget that Jesus spent a lot of time with women.
If He chose to forgive, I am sure He must have saw and understood their lives more completely than a man could ever understand.
nicole,
i recently wrote a comment on this subject but i understand u did not publish it. i do hope in the future that you will as i think everyone perspective is important.
To anonymous, I'm really sorry for your mother and my heart goes out to her for enduring such a circumstance. I am certain that when she turned to Jesus, she found redemption and not condemnation.
And that invitation is open to all women who have suffered abortions, that Jesus is ready to forgive and heal.
However, this forgiveness, as with all forgiveness, implies that the receiver acknowledges their own sin before God. How can He forgive if you are not repetent? Jesus does not condemn, but you condemn yourself when you don't seek forgiveness.
The problem with the pro-choice ideology is that it doesn't recognise abortion as wrong, a sin.
For those who like to quote Jesus, please quote Him fully:
"Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more." John 8:11
Yes, Jesus does not condemn, but he does call it a sin. And the sentence doesn't finish there. He continues "GO AND SIN NO MORE."
Jesus did not condemn the woman, but he certainly recognised the act of adultery as a sin.
In abortion, this is especially pertinent to those who have multiple abortions.
We should not condemn women who have had abortion, but need to help them see that it is a sin, a wound that needs forgiveness and healing.
So, to the woman who finds herself cornered, Jesus does offer understanding and compassion.
If she has HAD the abortion, He offers forgiveness if she seeks Him.
But to the woman cornered, who IS ABOUT to have an abortion, Jesus also loves her, but loving her He would wish her to endure her current sufferings so that she will see that choosing Life is what is good for her. The Father chastises those He loves.
It's like when we have sinned, we ask for forgiveness. But we should not go ahead and sin, on the presumption that Jesus will grant us forgiveness later anyway.
I should rephrase what I meant: There can never be partiality on the morality of the ACT of abortion.
God sees all and only He will judge the PERSON (as opposed to the ACT which He, by divine revelation and Church authority, allows us to judge). If you don't think we can judge ACTS, please refer to the Catechism.
Just don't purposely commit a dubious ACT and presume on His good judgement.
No, not everything in life is black or white. But the ACT of abortion is one of them.
It is so disappointing how we close ourselves up to such issues when the matter is really much bigger and more complex then anyone could ever imagine.
I particularly hate the words "redemption" and "condemnation".
I totally agree with you that it's disappointing that people close themselves to these issues. Whenever we bring up abortion, it's almost a taboo. People think the issue is settled and dealt with but it's not. While innocent lives are being lost (one in every four Australian child is aborted), we need to be constantly thinking and doing something about it.
And I also agree that the matter can be very complex, and that is exactly why we should not condemn the person. All judgement of the person is left to God.
On the other hand, the act of abortion itself is incredibly simple: it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human person.
I'm confused on how you can hate both the words 'redemption' and 'condemnation' when they're opposites of each other. I actually love the word 'redemption' because it is the power that Christ gives us with His death and resurrection. Every day of our lives, we can turn to Him and tap into that redemptive grace, a power that WILL change our hearts. "Behold, I make all things new" Rev 21:5
It may be that you are offended that I used those words in relation to your mother. I'm sorry if that's occured, but I meant it with only the best intentions. I assumed that she was Christian and would have those graces available to her, just like the rest of us.
Mother Theresa, among the most compassionate people the world has ever known, one who could look into the face of a leper, rotting with maggots who people leave for dead, and see in it the face of Christ, and yet she never wasted an opportunity to speak out against abortion. She even did it at her own acceptance speech when she was awarded the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.
Here's what she said:
"We are talking of peace. These are things that break peace, but I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing - direct murder by the mother herself."
Read or listen to the entire speech yourself at the Nobel Prize website.
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-lecture.html
I'm sure Mother Teresa was able to see both the bigger, complex nature of humanity and the wickedly simple nature of certain human acts.
We're called to do the same. Love hurts (another favourite Mother Teresa theme) - it often hurts for the giver, and occasionally hurts for the receiver, in the short term, with the promise of eventual good.
The link to Mother Teresa's speech seems to have been cut off, so here it is again in its entirety. Many lessons to learn from it...
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/
laureates/1979/teresa-lecture.html
For those who are sincerely interested (and have the time) , here's my two cents worth on the issue of abortion.
to heartsounds: The situation whereby a man is intending to rape is clearly different from a female intending to go through abortion! But I agree that, not just to be politically correct but rather to be morally right yet be empathetic to modern day societal circumstances, the act of abortion should be discouraged while not condemning the person. And I truly do not see why these have to be mutually exclusive to some people. Accepting other people for what they do does not necessarily mean you approve of doing it yourself too!
to mr. a: I am sure the moderator has reasons for not publishing your comment! You are judging someone in the same way you dont want people to judge!
One argument that many people use to justify abortion is the issue that the mother is in such a position in the world that she will not be able to support or survive well if she has the child. Maybe the mother is under financial strain. Maybe she lacks the independence and means to support the kid. And then she uses these reasons to justify not having the child - because she believes she will not be able to give the child a good life, or even more extreme, some blatantly claim they cannot have the child because it will interfere with their plan, their study, their work or their life in general.
Say, a girl got raped. Then she decided to abort the child because she thinks she's still young, she wants to finish her uni course, she wants to have a job, find a nice partner, and she doesn't think she can support the child in her current state. I think this will be a fairly common train of thought for those in this situation, yes?
However, as mother Teresa also said, can you justify the killing of a child just so you can live your life the way you want it to be?
Many abortion took place because the mother is unsure of the future, scared of what she might face - the stigma, the burden etc. She might also think her life will be 'ruined' if she keeps the child. But it is important to note that the concept of 'ruining life' only comes about because she cannot live up to what she has planned. She is faced with the probability of being unable to do what she wants to do in the way that she wants to do it.
Therefore, one thing that maybe we should ask those contemplating abortion, or one thing we should make them aware of, is: "how do you know what the future holds? how do you know you are unable to support the child when you have not even taken the first step? can you really live with the knowledge that you have killed an innocent being because you are afraid if you let it live it will 'ruin' your life?"
Of course, as anonymous said, I have never been in that situation, I have never been forced to make that decision, and everything I said above might sound beautiful but they might not accord with reality. But the thing I want to share here is the idea that often we just have to trust God. These are times when our faith will be challenged. Can we let go what is in our hand so HE can let go what is in HIS hand?
Just came across this recently:
'By abortion, the mother kills even her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion leads to abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love but to use violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.'
- Mother Theresa's Daily Reflections
I understand that all these quotes and big theories on why abortion is wrong can seem very harsh on those for whom abortion is an issue close to the heart. And for the rest of us, we can never imagine or pretend to imagine the full emtional agony of the women who are faced with abortion. I feel that it is not fair on our part to say 'they should or should not do this'. On the other hand, it is not right for us to condone the action as well.
So maybe we should all turn our attention to the society and govermental organisations and the values they promote, for the future generations. What sort of abortion laws are present? Is help readily available? Are areas made safe, to reduce cases of rape etc.? What sort of sex values are being promoted in the family, in the country?
I strongly believe abortion should never be legalised, but I also think that pointing fingers at someone and screaming "That's a sin!" is just too cruel too.
I was just reading the recent updates in this post and the only thing tht was shouting in my head was
"Then Jesus called the people to him. His followers were also there. Then Jesus said, "If any person wants to follow me, he must say 'No' to the things he wants. That person must accept the cross (suffering) that is given to him, and he must follow me. The person that wants to save his life will lose it. And every person that gives his life for me and for the Good News will save his life forever. It is worth nothing for a person to have the whole world, if he loses his soul {in hell}. A person could never pay enough to buy back his soul. The people that live now are living in a sinful and evil time. If any person is ashamed of me and my teaching, then I will be ashamed of that person. I will be ashamed of that person at the time I come with the glory of my Father and the holy angels." Mark 8:34-38
I dont know but do you need me to explain? Just dwell in God's Word.
I would like to take this opportunity to also make it very very clear that the presenter of the topic,the author of this post, the committee and COSDU is not in anyway judging people who have in oneway or another been involved the act. COSDU instead invites EVERYONE for who they are to contribute to this 'church' on campus. Many blessings!
Post a Comment