Ethical Issue No. 1: Abortion

Considering the value of human life requires us to deal with a number of issues. High on the list are abortion and fetal stem cell research. Most of us have a position on abortion. Frankly, one must be either pro-abortion or anti-abortion. Most of the time, we and others call ourselves either pro-life or pro-choice.

How are abortion and human worth connected? Our discussion this past Sunday was intended to help you understand why we should affirm the worth or human life. We saw, from the perspective of Scripture, the importance of creation as a basis for understanding the value of human life. God created us to be who and what we are; we did not get here as the result of a time-chance process. Our existence and our being is intentional.

By the way, we need to realize our lives are not the point of creation. God put us here as a part of a greater plan. We live so God can show the richness of his wisdom and grace. Paul said to the Ephesians, “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world . . . to the praise of the glory of His grace.” (Eph. 1.4, 6). He also said God did what he did “so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 3.10) We are not here just to exist; we are here as a part of a far-reaching, far greater purpose.

So, as we showed Sunday, God has made us the way we are and wants us to be responsible in all we do. God commanded humans, after he created them, to be fruitful, to be great, to bring the earth and all in it under control, and, thus, to rule the world. To do so as God intends requires us to be responsible. To do otherwise, to pollute, to litter, to abuse, is to be irresponsible and sinful.

We also saw how unique humans are from a genetic point of view. Our DNA is specific to us; our DNA is different from other primates and all other life forms. We share some DNA with other life forms (with chimpanzees and nematodes, for instance), but sharing genetic information does not mean we are part chimp or part worm, or that chimps or worms are part human.

But, the most important distinctive we humans possess is the value God has given us; God made us to be separate. Among all life forms, God gave only humans the capacity to be responsible for more than their own lives, and to have an awareness of the immeasurable complexity of the world. We are the only ones who can change our world and convey to one another our deepest convictions and feelings. Chimps do not go on diets; humans do. Chimps do not have hospitals or orphanages, chimps are not humanitarian or altruistic; humans are all these and more.

Our special nature and uniqueness, though, stems from the fact God has declared us to be special; thus, we are to act in a way appropriate to our special place in creation. We are to take responsibility for ourselves and our neighbors and the world around us; we are indeed our brothers’ keepers.

One of the strange things chimps do is to kill their infants. Both male and female chimpanzees have been observed killing infants; no one knows for sure why they do such a thing. So, we should ask, are we more like chimps, or are they more like us. Chimpanzee females are not known to kill their own babies, but have been observed killing the baby chimps of other females in their troop. Sadly, we humans kill our own children and call it choice.

The current nominee to be the next secretary of Health and Human Services has stated, “ My Catholic faith teaches me that all life is sacred, and personally I believe abortion is wrong. However, I disagree with the suggestion that criminalizing women and their doctors is an effective means of achieving the goal of reducing the number of abortions in our nation. There is another way. By working in support of the common good we can better protect human life and the dignity of all people. If we work hard and match our rhetoric with our actions, we can create a culture that is more welcoming of mothers and treasuring of our children.”

One cannot be pro-choice and pro-life. Neither can one support abortion and think such a stand will lead to making children more treasured. Abortion on-demand is a reality in our country. Yet, abortion is never the choice one should make if human life is valued and children are treasured. When a child is aborted because of the inconvenience of a pregnancy, human life has been devalued.