Tough teachings: abortion

This is the second in a three part series on some of the tougher teachings of the Church for many to accept.  Last week, we dealt with contraception, today we will discuss abortion, and in the next post, we will discuss homosexuality and same sex marriage.

For this blog, the bottom line on abortion is this:  if we cannot uphold the right of an unborn, innocent child to life, then we have no foundation on which to defend the right to life of anyone else.  If we cannot protect the most vulnerable among us, how can we possibly expect to think we can say with any moral or philosophical certitude that we should defend and help the poor, the widowed, people with special needs, the elderly, the persecuted, and other vulnerable populations?  Where is the moral imperative to do those other noble good works, if we at the same time, are allowing innocent children to have their lives ended in the womb?  
However, if we have a consistent ethic of life, that affirms the need to protect human life at all its stages, then we absolutely have a solid foundation on which to demand that we do whatever we need to do to feed the poor, clothe the naked, defend the widow, and keep alive all our vulnerable populations; the elderly, special needs children, the persecuted.  Getting the abortion issue right is key to having a peaceful, generous society, as a whole.  Can anyone truly say that we live in a generous society nowadays?
This consistent ethic of life is expressed in the Catechism in paragraphs (2270-2275) on abortion.  It states in paragraph 2270:
Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person - among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.
It then quotes a well-known Scripture verse from Jeremiah 1:5:   Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.

So, abortion is not just an issue between a woman and her doctor, because it has ramifications for the good of society, as well. 

Some, however, will contend that this issue is really just a modern issue, and the Bible doesn't speak on this issue,. Therefore, they say, just because one supports abortion rights, it does not mean he or she goes against the teachings of Jesus.
However, we have spoken at length in the blog about how Our Lord founded a Church, and that the Church is the authentic interpreter of Divine Revelation, which includes Sacred Scripture.  The Bible was never meant to be a stand alone document.  Therefore, the argument is invalid that says that since the Bible doesn't speak the word "abortion", the Church has no right to say abortion is morally wrong.
The Catechism addresses the history of the teaching of the Church against abortion in paragraph 2271: Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law.  It then quotes from a document called the Didache, which is from the first century, and believed to be the first attempt on the part of the early Church to put together in writing her teachings.   You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.⁷⁵   So we can see abortion has been taught as wrong by the Church for a long time, contrary to what many say today.

Another objection to the Church's teaching on abortion is that there needs to be exceptions to save the life and health of the mother.  Well, the fact is that direct abortion is never medically necessary to protect the life of anyone.  Sometimes, an unborn child may die as a side effect of a treatment given to save the life of a pregnant woman who perhaps, for example, has cancer or life-threating seizures.  There is never a medical necessity to kill a child in order to save a woman.  Again, something done to a woman's body may result in the child's life unintentionally being ended, but that is not what we are speaking of here.
In his encyclical Evangelium Vitae,(On Human Life), Saint John Paul II clarifies exactly what the Church is against when she speaks against abortion.  "I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being. " (no.62)   Note what he says: "direct" abortion, and abortion "willed as an end or as a means", are wrong.    (Astute readers may note in the Catechism paragraph I quoted above, it, too, clarified that it was specifically "procured" abortion that was wrong.)

So, one can say that inadvertent abortion is tragic, but may be morally acceptable in limited circumstances, but direct abortion, used for any reason, up to and including saving the life of the mother, is morally wrong.  Noone can be permitted to will an abortion.  If one happens as a side effect to something else, that can be morally permissible, but a directed, procured abortion is never acceptable. 

The laws today, however, generally allow for abortion anytime, anywhere.  They absolutely allow direct, procured abortion.  This is not acceptable.
In the opinion of this blog, it is not acceptable for a person to support a political candidate who does not support any change to the current abortion laws.  The only case where one could support such a candidate would be if the other candidate was threatening to kill people him or herself.  That is the not the case today.  Neither candidate is doing such a thing.   Therefore, those of us who are using the excuse of supporting a candidate, such as the current Democratic candidate, who support the abortion laws staying as they are, in the name of stopping another candidate (for example, the leading Republican candidate), are not justified in their reasoning.   No candidate is threatening to kill people. 

In light of all this, it is this blog's stance that voting for the current Democratic candidate is not a morally viable option for any faithful Catholic.  I am not saying one therefore has to vote for the current leading Republican candidate.   But since the current Republican candidate is not threatening to kill anyone himself, voting for the other pro-abortion candidate to stop him is not a valid reason for doing so.  Any Catholic bishop, priest, or media person who says otherwise is wrong.

In closing, let me quote a few paragraphs from a post I did a little over a year ago about Saint Joseph and his role as patron of the unborn.   As you read this, you will see that even with this serious sin, there is opportunity for mercy, healing, and forgiveness.

It is moments like this that we can turn to people like Saint Joseph for inspiration.   His whole life he protected and defended life.  After the angel first appeared to him, he "took his wife into his home" (Matthew 8:24).  Mary was pregnant at the time.  Therefore, Joseph took an unborn life into his home.  We are called to do the same, bring life into our homes. We need to welcome the unborn like Joseph did, even if they are not our biological own.   It is fair and just to to be concerned with unborn babies that are not in our own wombs, contrary to what some pro-"choice" advocates may say.

 Later on, Joseph took Mary and the child and fled to Egypt, again at the request of an angel (Matthew 2:13-14) .  Why?  Because Herod was going to destroy him.   Joseph here takes the steps necessary to defend the life of a child who is targeted for execution.   We must do the same for the unborn babies today who are under the same fate due to legalized abortion.

Another interesting aspect of Joseph's mission was that he was the one who was told by the angel to name the child Jesus (Matthew 1:22) .  His example shows us that it is important to give every child a name.  His intercession is used sometimes by groups who assist mothers who have had abortions to give their aborted child a name as part of the grieving and healing process post-abortion.

While the title "patron of the unborn" is not in the official Litany to Saint Joseph, it is a title some pro-life groups have given him today.  It should be clear from these examples why.  A group that has specialized in post-abortion healing came up with the prayer copied below. This prayer can be said for all those babies aborted at Planned Parenthood over the years, ideally by the men and women involved with the abortion as part of their healing process, but if not them, then by us.  I will close this post with this prayer.

O St. Joseph, after your most holy spouse, our Blessed Mother, you were the first to take into your arms and heart the baby Jesus. From the first time you gazed upon him and held him, your heart and soul were forever bonded to him. You caressed the Holy Child with fatherly love and affection, and you committed yourself always to love, protect, and care for this Son.

Look now with similar love and affection upon this child of mine, who has gone from this world. I place my child, as well as my grief and guilt, into the eternal embrace of your arms. Hold and caress my child for me with the love of my arms and sweetly kiss my child with all the tender affection of my heart.

As God the Father entrusted the care of His most precious Son into your most loving and confident hands, so too do I entrust into your fatherly care this child of mine. Please present him to the merciful hands of Our Lord, so that one day, when I too leave this world, my child may greet me into eternal life. Amen

Tough teachings: Contraception

All of the Scripture readings today spoke of the trials persecutions believers may encounter when living and proclaiming the Gospel.  When the power of real truth and love encounter the evils of the world (including evils that are sometimes portrayed as good), conflict often arises.  Sometimes, that conflict can come at great cost to the believer, up to and including his or her own death.  
In the first reading, the prophet Jeremiah was thrown into a cistern (Jeremiah 38:6).   In the second reading, believers are encouraged to resist evil to the "point of shedding blood." (Hebrews 12:4)  In the Gospel selection (Luke 12:49-53), Jesus speaks of division, even within families, that can come when some believers accept and proclaim the truth, and some do not.  Our Lord says,

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.
From now on a household of five will be divided,
three against two and two against three;
a father will be divided against his son
and a son against his father,
a mother against her daughter
and a daughter against her mother,
a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

This blog was inspired by today's readings to start a short series on some of the more challenging teachings of Our Lord and His Church that are indeed a cause of great division today, even within the Church.  These three teachings that cause a lot of division are contraception, abortion, and same sex marriage.   We will do a separate blog post for each of these three issues, starting today with contraception.

All three of these ideas (contraception, abortion, same sex marriage)  begin with the premise that we can do whatever we want with our bodies, whenever we want.  This is the mentality of modern man, especially after the sexual liberation of the twentieth century.  We are told that we are the masters of our bodies, we can do with them whatever we please.  We can have sex whenever we want, with whomever we want to.  We can put whatever we want into our bodies.   If something is in our bodies we can do whatever we want with it.
But is the truth?   Reading Scripture, I think we would come to different conclusions.  Right in the beginning of the Bible, we read this "God created man in his image, in the divine image he created him, male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27)   Therefore, we have to conclude that if we are made in the image of God, that are bodies are not designed to do things God wouldn't approve of.   Would God approve of contraception, abortion, and/or same sex marriage?

Let's look at contraception.   

If you break the word down, it means "against conception" (contra- ‘against’ + a shortened form of conception.) .  So, the act is against conception.  Well, there is the first clue God would not approve of it.   It is against something He created, the act of conception.   How do human beings come into the world?   They do through conception.  Therefore, conception is a good thing because human beings come into the world through it.   Without conception, there is no birth, no baby, no beautiful child, and correspondingly, no further children.  Something that goes against all that cannot be a good thing.

We often hear the phrase "actions speak louder than words".   We speak more than with just words.  Saint John Paul II spoke of the "nuptial meaning of the body".   Through all the actions of our body, we speak something.  As I have stated before, God spoke through the person of His Son.  That person was not just a spirit, it was a body.  Bottom line, our bodies speak!  When we use contraception in the midst of the conjugal act, what are we saying?  We are saying we love the other person, but not with our whole selves.  Is this really the love we want to show the other person, especially in such a deep and profound moment?  By using contraception, we indeed make it look like we are giving our whole selves to the other, but we really are not.  Contraception makes us liars.   God, who is truth, does not lie, and we who are created in his image, are made for truth, not for falsehood.  Therefore, in addition to going against the good, it goes against truth, and that is another reason why God would not approve of contraception.

Again, close to the beginning of the Bible, God says "Be fruitful and multiply.  Fill the earth and subdue it." (Genesis 1:28).  God wants to fill the earth with people made in his image!   Contraception specifically, and all forms of population control in general, goes directly against this wish of God's.  It is a serious offense.  (For those of you who believe the world is overpopulated, consider this.  You could fit everyone in the world today in the state of Texas, and each person would have a townhouse! )
There are serious affects when we lower birth rates.  Lowering birth rates, this blog believes, are a major cause of the rise of terrorism, especially in Europe, where the traditional Christian population is using contraception and aborting itself to the brink of extinction, making it vulnerable to Islamic infiltration.   Also, when a society practises birth control, the ratio of men and women becomes more uneven, and it makes it harder for a man to find a woman and vice versa.  When that happens, there is no proper outlet to channel sexual impulses, and bad things like child abuse and rape are more prone to happen.

Finally, let us read the exact words of the Catechism on this matter, which quote the 1968 encyclical Humane Vitae.  "Every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible" is intrinsically evil." (p.2370)   When we introduce something to thwart fecundity, into to an act that is designed by God to promote fecundity, we do grave evil.   The conjugal act is oriented towards a certain good and a certain truth as we have seen.   By interfering with these, contraception doesn't just do that, it fosters dire consequences for humanity as a whole, as we have seen.  For all these reasons, the Church teaches that contraception is a sin, and if we have engaged in an act(s) of contraception , we need to repent, and receive the mercy of God, or else our salvation may be at risk.

For more details on this topic, you can read Humane Vitae  as a whole.  It is not a long encyclical, it can be read in under an hour.  The Catechism speaks of sexuality in Part Three, Article 6, and has many beautiful things to say about it.  This part, too, can be read in under an hour.  John Paul II spoke extensively on his Wednesday audiences in the early 1980's  on the Theology of the Body. (This cannot be read in an hour, lol.)  This is deep material, and may be a little too heady for the average person not versed in theology.  Reading through summaries of them would probably be easier.   

The Catechism refers to chastity as "the successful integration of sexuality within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being (p.2337)."  Chastity ensures our sexual behavior lines up with our deeper moral and spiritual behavior.  One who practises chastity well is called "chaste".  In the litany to Saint Joseph, we see that word come up twice.  Joseph is referred to as "Chaste guardian of the virgin, and "most chaste".   If we struggle with the sin of contraception, either because we do it, or we cannot understand why it is a sin, or both, we can pray to Saint Joseph to help us.

Joseph, most chaste, pray for us.