ABORTION IS WRONG

We defend the right to life of the unborn as Catholics. Unfortunately, not everyone has the same views as ours. Some people are pro-choice because they advocate for the choice of women to undergo abortion. They will mention some severe cases where abortion, as they claim, is morally permissible such as in raped and incest cases, and with mothers who are mentally challenged. On January 25, 2022, Bongbong Marcos, a presidential aspirant in the Philippines, said in an interview,

"Yes, I think for severe cases. Like you say, the majority of cases are rape victims... they were raped and it's not consensual sex that got them pregnant, they have the choice to abort it or not. The other is incest, perhaps. If the mother, who is usually quite young, has mental deficiencies...[1]"

He cited at least three cases where he supports abortion such as rape, incest, and with women who have mental deficiencies. Let's look at each one of the scenarios mentioned above to see why this is the right to life of unborn children still remains and has to be respected even in these situations.

How About Rape and Incest:

In many cases, incest is a specific example of rape done between people of the same family. As such, it is proper to analyze this under the scenario of rape. Bongbong Marcos and other pro-choice individuals support abortion in these scenarios because the sexual act is not consensual due to being forced by an individual. 

This can be a personal objection based on the experience of a mother. The mother with a child due to rape and/or incest may experience trauma because of this incident. However, abortion does not necessarily heal them of these bad experiences. What they need is counselling that will help address and heal them of the wounds that they experience, so they can be better parents. And, even if they are not capable of becoming one, they can opt for adoption. At the same time, abortion may even worsen the trauma they experience. As noted by Catholic apologist Tom Nash,

"On the other hand, pro-lifers also emphasize that the crime of rape, and the trauma of the rape victim, is only compounded, not lessened, by the killing of a conceived child via subsequent abortion [2]."

How About Mental Deficiencies:

Some pro-choice advocates think that abortion should also be allowed for women who are mentally challenged. These advocates may think that most of them are not capable of caring for their children. Although it's true that it will be more difficult for them to undergo pregnancy, it doesn't follow that there are no solutions for these scenarios. Some guidelines that health professionals should consider when dealing with the prenatal care of women with severe mental illnesses include [3]:

- monitoring for early signs of relapse, particularly as medication is often ceased before or during pregnancy

- education about nutrition and ceasing smoking, substance use and alcohol intake in pregnancy

- monitoring for excessive weight gain and gestational diabetes in women taking antipsychotics, with consideration given to referral to an appropriate health professional - if excessive weight gain is identified

referral for multi-dimensional care planning early enough in the pregnancy (particularly if the pregnancy is unplanned) to build trusting relationships and develop a safety net for mother, baby and significant others.

How About Right To Life:

As seen in the explanations above, the cases of rape, incest and medical deficiencies do not show the necessity of opting for abortion. Also, it is important to consider the right to life of fetus under such scenarios. To understand this further, let's look at the examples of infants.

We know that there are newborn babies who are born of women who has experienced being rape and incest relationship. We cannot deny that in some cases, this leads to the mothers remembering their traumatic experiences. At the same time, a newborn baby of a mother with mental deficiencies will have a difficulty living in this situation. Does that mean that infanticide or killing infants is an option that women should consider in these situations?

In fact, we will be horrified if we know that other people consider this as a possibility. It is because we recognize that all humans have right to life, and unborn children are human beings. Directly killing an infant or a fetus is not an option under any circumstance because of the intrinsic right to life and human dignity of all human beings, whatever our ages are. As mentioned by the Catechism of the Catholic Church,

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 [4].

References:

[1]https://www.facebook.com/170678879629142/posts/5177380445625602/ [2]https://www.catholic.com/qa/what-about-rapists-violence-in-abortion-debates

[3]https://www.health.gov.au/resources/pregnancy-care-guidelines/part-a-optimising-pregnancy-care/pregnancy-care-for-women-with-severe-mental-illness

[4]http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2270.htm