Posted by Cathy Taggart My problem is that, as far as I know, the Church never acknowledges the fact that not all women are negatively affected by abortion - for some, from their point of view, it is definitely the best choice in a difficult situation. Also, if abortion was no longer legal, would we once My whole point is that I don't think there are any simple, straightforward answers here. We obviously need to pray about this issue, and also, I think, to be responsive and open to what is happening in real people's lives. In this fast-changing world, I don't think we can automatically assume that it is God's will that we just keep going down the paths we've always gone down! Thank you once again for your comments.
on January 16, 2006, 1:11 pm, in reply to "Re: ABORTION AND THE CHURCH: LET'S NOT BE AFRAID OF THE MURKY WATERS!"
Thank you Karen for responding to my thoughts; I was very interested to read your perspective on this difficult issue. I agree it is certainly an improvement that we can now at least talk about it! I must admit I hadn't heard about Project Rachel before, but if it is helping and supporting women who have found abortion a traumatic experience, then that certainly is all
to the good.
again have the horror of illegal, "backstreet" abortions?
--Previous Message--
: Hi Cathy,
: Because of personal experience I am a bit
: reluctant to get into a full fledged debate
: on this issue but I want to say that the
: church's recent statements regarding women
: who have had abortions is very welcome.
: In the '70's as a student at a Catholic
: girls high school I seriously do not even
: like to think what would have happened to us
: had we even mentioned the word 'abortion' in
: hearing distance of some of the
: nuns....today the church is regognising the
: trauma involved and offering its support to
: women through things such as Project Rachel.
: it can only be good.
: Karen
:
: --Previous Message--
: The recent controversy over the RU487 drug
: has
: again ignited the abortion debate. In one
: way, I’d very much like to wholeheartedly go
: along with the Church’s insistence on the
: sacredness of human life right from
: conception, but…well, it just doesn’t seem
: to stand up in the real world!
:
: This is true even if you just look at the
: way the Church’s teaching has evolved
: historically. There seems to be some
: inconsistency in the fact that the Church
: does not take such an absolute stand on
: other life-and-death issues: I mean, if you
: can have a “just war”, why can you not have
: a “just abortion”? Also, I find it hard to
: believe that the Church’s stance has nothing
: to do with the fact that women – and least
: of all married women – have had NO input
: into the development of this teaching!
:
: In fact, I think that both sides in the
: abortion debate tend to greatly oversimplify
: matters. I find it disturbing when the
: “pro-choice” lobby seem to see a fetus as
: little more than part of a woman’s body, and
: they regard abortion as a private matter
: between a woman and her doctor. However, I
: also find it disturbing – quite distressing
: in fact – when the “pro-life” lobby seem to
: take it for granted that an embryo/fetus is
: a fully-fledged human being from the time it
: is just a few cells, that this should be
: unambiguously obvious to any
: half-intelligent and half-decent person, and
: that women who have abortions, and those who
: perform them, are no different from any
: “other” murderers!
:
: Yet many intelligent, morally decent people
: DO accept abortion as being justified under
: certain circumstances. And if you think
: about it calmly and objectively, I don’t
: think it is unambiguously obvious that a
: few-days- or few-weeks-old embryo is a human
: being. Obviously, life begins at
: conception, but does this necessarily mean
: that right from the start the fetus is a
: fully-fledged human being, with the same
: rights as you and I? I remember once
: reading the suggestion that we should regard
: the fetus (especially during the first few
: months) not so much as a “human being”, but
: as a “human becoming”. Thus, just as it
: gradually takes physical shape, and
: gradually grows towards viability as a human
: person, so it GRADUALLY acquires the rights
: that go with being human.
:
: The problem is, I believe, that abortion is
: literally a unique issue. In no other area
: do we get such a conflict between “right to
: life” and “right to one’s bodily integrity”;
: also, more perhaps than any other issue, it
: makes us confront the impossible question of
: what constitutes a “human being”. The
: Church’s teaching may seem the simplest way
: out, and also the way that puts us on “the
: side of the angels”. But we live in the
: murky, uncertain world of humans, not the
: world of the angels! I think the
: “pro-choice” lobby do have some valid
: points, and I believe we need to rethink
: this whole issue with honesty, openness and
: of course trust in God.
:
: Is anyone else “out there” prepared to wade
: though the murky waters and have a
: conversation about this vital matter?
:
:
:
:
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