abortion and the sacred gift of life 

pastoral letter

of

Most rev Philip Boyce, dd

bishop of raphoe

 September 2000 

            The abortion debate will inevitably begin again, now that the Summer recess is over and political activity recommences. Earlier this year, many groups and individuals expressed their opinion before the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution which had been examining the Green Paper on Abortion. The voice of medical experts and Church leaders was also heard.

             Quite remarkable was the broad consensus on the difference between the deliberate destruction of life in the womb and the inevitable loss of an unborn life following as a side-effect from treatment needed to protect the life of a mother. The position of the Catholic Church is that direct, intentional abortion should never be allowed by the laws of our country.

             There are solid grounds to claim that direct abortion is not needed to save the life of a pregnant woman. In this area, the advance of medical science has helped considerably. The country in which we live is a safe place for childbirth: the maternal mortality rate is very low. Legalised abortion would not make it a safer place.

             A helping hand in time of crisis 

            Unlimited freedom of choice and personal satisfaction are values highly appreciated by modern society, yet they can often be powerful forces that urge people to demand the right to take an unborn life when it is felt to be burdensome and unwanted. Yet, we have to remember that life is the first and fundamental gift we get from God. We do not have the right as creatures to refuse the gift of a new life which God gives us. Nor can a parent protest against the type of life that is given by the Creator, be that life male or female, healthy or ill, strong or weak. Whatever its state, it is always “created in the image and likeness of God” (cf. Gen 1:26-27). At times, a child born with a disabling condition can bond a family together, give rise to unsuspected powers of generous loving care and bring a peaceful joy that is not of this world’s making.

             To suppress the life of a child in the womb means to have a deep scar on one’s conscience that will not easily go away. The life that was suppressed can never be restored. The Lord, however, will forgive any sin, no matter how serious, if a person repents and resolves not to offend Him again. 

            Much of this evil springs from the highly sexualised atmosphere in which we live today. An irresponsible use of human sexuality, that seeks the pleasure but shrinks from taking the responsibilities linked to it by God, will lead to tragic situations. The result is that unwanted pregnancies increase in number and mothers feel themselves trapped with the sole option of abortion.

             John Paul II expresses their difficulties as follows, yet he clearly states that abortion is morally wrong: 

“It is true that the decision to have an abortion is often tragic and painful for the mother, insofar as the decision to rid herself of the fruit of conception is not made for purely selfish reasons or out of convenience, but out of a desire to protect certain important values such as her own health or a decent standard of living for the other members of the family. Sometimes it is feared that the child to be born would live in such conditions that it would be better if the birth did not take place. Nevertheless, these reasons and others like them, however serious and tragic, can never justify the deliberate killing of an innocent human being.” (Evangelium Vitae, No 58) 

            The Church has its agencies that are ready to assist those who find themselves in such a plight.

            Cura is one such agency. It upholds the right of every baby to be born, seeing it as a wonderful creation of God, a new life that is to be welcomed, loved and nurtured. However, it understands the anxiety, shame and fear that can accompany a pregnancy that is unexpected. For this reason it offers personal support, counselling, alternative accommodation during pregnancy, and short-term supervised accommodation before birth. Cura itself with its confidential counselling service for anyone in this type of distress can be contacted at its Letterkenny Centre: Tel. 074-23037 (Monday to Friday: 11am to 2pm, and 7pm to 9pm).  

            St Mura’s Catholic Adoption Society offers the possibility of adoption, support for single mothers and for adoptive families. It can be contacted at the Pastoral Centre, Letterkenny, Tel. 074-21853, where the Diocesan Social Worker is available to advise anyone who wishes to get help. 

            I am personally willing to help to save an unborn life in any way I can. 

            A voice in favour of life 

            Some people may ask: What can we do to protect the unborn human life that is under serious threat at the present time? One way is to make known our disagreement with legalised abortion. An absolute ban on direct and intentional abortion would save the lives of many an unborn human life. It is our right and our duty to make sure that our voice is counted among those who opt for a law that protects life, preventing it from being destroyed at its inception, when it is most vulnerable. 

            The right to life for the unborn is a basic human right. Our catechism teaches us that “human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception”. It recognises “the inviolable right of every innocent being to life” (CCC No.2270). From the very earliest times, the Church has taught that an intentional abortion is morally evil. So also is formal co-operation in such an abortion. What the Lord said about his prophet can be applied to every unborn child: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jer 1:15). Therefore, “the life of every individual, from the very beginning, is part of God’s plan” (Evangelium Vitae, No.44). Nobody has the right to interfere with God’s designs over a human life that has been conceived in its mother’s womb and “created in the image and likeness of God” (cf. Gen 1:26-27). 

            Scientific research and new technologies make possible today many things that were unsuspected in former years. However, science has to be guided by ethical and moral values. Otherwise it may go counter to the real good of humanity. Science without a conscience can have grave consequences. “Filled with wisdom man is led through visible realities to those which cannot be seen. Our age, more than any of the past, needs such wisdom if all that man discovers is to be ennobled through human effort. Indeed, the future of the world is in danger unless provision is made for men of greater wisdom” (Vatican II, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, No.15) 

            Our politicians and legislators are also bound by the dictates of conscience and the basic criteria of the moral law. No matter what pressures are put on them, they should not take the road of pragmatic expediency, when a fundamental human right and a divine law are at stake. Abortion, in fact, writes Pope John Paul II, is among the “crimes which no human law can claim to legitimise” (Evangelium Vitae, No.73). 

            In this sense, each person has a voice, which public representatives must respect, and which we should make sure is a voice that is counted in favour of the culture of life, the civilisation of love and the protection of the unborn. 

            May the Virgin Mary, who gave life to the Child Jesus at Bethlehem 2000 years ago, protect all mothers, all unborn babies, all medical and nursing hands and all who shape the laws of our land. 

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