Two beating hearts

I came across this article by Douglas Phillips entitled:Why the Life of the Mother is Not a Valid Exception for Abortion – Vision Forum Ministries

Mr. Phillips is the father of seven children and a Christian apologist. I certainly admired his strong commitment to life and the defense of the unborn. That desire to save children came across clearly in his essay. However, I think that although there was much value and truth in what he wrote, it does not encompass the complete truth and fullness of Christian thought on the topic.

Mr. Phillips attempts to set up an analogy situation between a mother and child adrift at sea and a mother who aborts her child to save her own life. The purpose was to have the mom in a serious situation, but with choices, consequences and the time to make a thought-out and reasoned decision. .

From his work:

“What to do? Susie is aware of only three options. Option One: She could simply pray, trust God and accept the very real possibility that both she and her son will die; Option Two: She could sacrifice her own life and leave her son with the necessary provisions for his own survival; or, Option Three: She could kill her son, leaving her with the necessary food and water to make it to safety. This last option is the most ominous, but the one Susie feels obligated to carefully consider.”

I would like to submit option 4, which I believe truly encompasses the completeness of Catholic thought on this matter, that she could simply pray, trust God and accept the very real possibility that both she and her son will live!

One of the flaws of Mr. Phillips’ article is that it does not recognize that genuine life/or death situations exist where decisions need to be made quickly to save any life at all. Severe pre-eclampsia and tubal pregnancies are two such situations. With pre-eclampsia the only way to save either the mother or the baby is to deliver the child, even if the baby would be delivered extremely prematurely. In a tubal pregnancy the child is still in the embryotic stage of life, with no chance of survival out of the mother, and yet because the baby has implanted in the Fallopian tube, which cannot support a growing baby, it is doomed. The pregnancy must end to save the mother from hemorrhaging to death. At this time there is no way to save the embryo and reimplant it within the uterus of the mother.

In the case of pre-eclampsia the mother’s life is in grave danger which endangers the life of her child. The pregnancy must be terminated and the reason for the termination is to save the life of the mother, not to kill the child. The Catholic church recognizes the potential death of the child as the secondary effect of the procedure and it is licit. Certainly however, the child should be treated with respect and dignity, loved and cared for until it dies if it is delivered too soon to live. A child who is attempting to live on its own should be supported in that attempt. A “partial birth abortion” even if the motive is to spare the child suffering, is not licit.

Mr. Phllips goes on.

Thanking God that she did not have to watch her son’s death or hear his screams, Susie wipes the tears from her eyes and resolves to move on. She knows that her decision was a valid choice and an act of self-protection. Further, she is comforted by the fact that Johnny is probably better off to have died a quick death with the sharks than to be put through the agony of long-term starvation and dehydration. All things considered, her actions were merciful. Susie manages to survive the next two weeks, is rescued, and returns home to serve as the mother of four healthy children.

In point of fact, this woman’s behavior is utterly despicable. Susie is a criminal. Her behavior is indefensible. To murder another is wrong, but for a mother to murder her own child as an act of self-preservation is a crime of unspeakable ignominy.

John Paul II wrote in
In these cases the choice to have an abortion always remains a grave sin

Note John Paul does not call it always a mortal sin. Indeed he recognized and the church teaches that certain conditions must exist for an act to be mortal. If the woman was scared, given misinformation about her health, pressured to abort, afraid that she would not be able to carry a chid with abnormalities to term, or afraid that she cannot love such a child. Such situations in my opinion don’t make the mother a despicable criminal as Mr. Phillips suggest, but rather an unfortunate sinner in need of forgiveness and needing to make restitution.

Pope John Paul says it best:

99 of Evangelium Vitae where Pope John Paul addresses women who have had an abortion. At any rate I copied the key part for you:
“I would now like to say a special word to women who have had an abortion. The Church is aware of the many factors which may have influenced your decision, and she does not doubt that in many cases it was a painful and even shattering decision. The wound in your heart may not yet have healed. Certainly what happened was and remains terribly wrong. But do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. If you have not already done so, give yourselves over with humility and trust to repentance. The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You will come to understand that nothing is definitively lost and you will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord. With the friendly and expert help and advice of other people, and as a result of your own painful experience, you can be among the most eloquent defenders of everyone’s right to life. Through your commitment to life, whether by accepting the birth of other children or by welcoming and caring for those most in need of someone to be close to them, you will become promoters of a new way of looking at human life.”

From Mr. Phillips:
Even within the Christian community, however, some would argue that it is better to kill one unborn baby, than to risk depriving a family with living children of their mother. Others would argue that it is a legitimate act of self-defense for a mother to kill her baby where medical experts conclude that there is a high probability that the little baby could threaten the life of the mother. Still others might argue that where a baby will probably not make it to term anyway, but the continuing growth of the baby threatens the health of the mother, that it makes common sense to allow the mother to take the life of the child. Each of these arguments is rooted in a form of unbiblical situation ethics and a rejection of the sufficiency of Scripture. In Scripture, we learn that God alone is the author of life and that He alone can grant jurisdiction to take life.

In the Catholic tradition we are fortunate to have the example of a brave saint who have faced such a situation and stood steadfast in mothering her unborn child, even unto death. The story of Gianna Molla is well known. The children she left behind including the daughter whose life she saved have supported their mother and called her blessed.

St. Gianna is a very human example of what a mother is called to be.

“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you” Even the mother’s unborn child, she loves and comforts, protects and holds safe even in the face of danger.

Mr. Phillips concludes.
The unwillingness of Christians to take a principled “no exception” stance on abortion, as well as their habitual fear of holding professing Christian leaders accountable to the biblical no-exception standard, is a likely cause of our ineffectiveness to turn back abortion in America.

While I agree that Christians do need to stand strong without fear, I also believe that strength has to be include compassion, and the truth has to be said in love. Mr. Phillips is a strong and passionate writer. If he could add some of the traditional Catholic elements such as these to his writing, I believe he will become an even more effect advocate for life.

Related Tags: abortion, pro life, EIFWAIL, St. Gianna Molla, Douglas Phillips, John Paul II