Condemning abortion: The slaying of the innocents
Today, the Church observes the solemnity of the Holy Innocents Day based on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 2, Verse 16. The gospel told of the order mandated by King Herod of Judea who commanded that all male babies aged two years old and below in the vicinity of Bethlehem be killed. This was the king’s decision upon the advice of his scribes and Pharisees and teachers of the law, obviously to eliminate all prospective challengers to his throne as king. The Church declared the babies as the first martyrs of the Christian Church. December 28 is now observed as a solemn day in the western churches, while this occasion is observed on December 29 in the eastern churches.
Today, the modern world sees another form of the slaying of the innocents, which is abortion, a mortal sin regardless of any justification. Under the Philippine Revised Penal Code, abortion is a criminal offense, under articles 256, 258, and 259 of the said law. In fact, a much higher imprisonment is imposed on any woman and her parents if and when the abortion is undertaken to conceal the woman’s dishonor. Under the Philippine Constitution, Article II, Section 12, the State is mandated to protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn child from the moment of conception. Despite all these, the World Health Organization estimated that there are no less than 800,000 cases of abortion in the Philippines.
In the USA, its Federal Supreme Court in 1973 made a landmark decision, by a vote of seven to two, ruling that all state laws that make it illegal for any pregnant woman to have an abortion up to three months of pregnancy shall be deemed unconstitutional. This was the famous Roe versus Wade case where the decision was written by Justice Harry Blackmun, and concurred by justices Burger, Douglas, Brennan, Stewart, Marshall, and Powell. The majority decided that it is the individual private right of a pregnant woman and her doctor to decide to abort a child three months from conception or earlier, and that the government has no business to interfere. Justices White and Rehnquist dissented, holding that the state has the power to protect the life of the unborn.
The Catholic Church has spoken repeatedly on this issue of abortion. Since the first century, the Church has consistently affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Abortion done either as a means or as an end is gravely contrary to moral law. The inalienable right of every person to life must be recognized and respected by civil society and political authority. The deliberate murder of an innocent person is gravely contrary to the dignity and right of the human being. All popes have issued encyclicals stressing the Church’s uncompromising stand against abortion.
All Christians must stand impregnable and unyielding against abortion. No ifs, no buts.
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