A SELF-DESTRUCTIVE MENTALITY

ABORTION: A SELF-DESTRUCTIVE MENTALITY

Abortion is one of today’s hottest topics. It led people to different stands and beliefs; from conservative to liberals, from pro-life to pro-choice. Abortion is the process of terminating a suspected or known ongoing intrauterine pregnancy so that it will not result to live birth. There are countries that have already legalized abortion such as the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Tunisia, Denmark, Australia, France, Sweden, New Zealand, etc. Meanwhile, there are still countries that prohibit any kind of abortion. Abortion Surveillance of 2016 by the CDC says,  623,471 legal induced abortions were reported. Statistics showed that 186 of 1,000 live births are aborted (Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2019). Lawfully justifiable may it be in some countries, but is it morally good? What is the stand of the Roman Catholic Church according to its teachings and moral standards regarding abortion?

One of the famous abortion organizations is Planned Parenthood. They offer abortion to any woman who wills to abort their child in their womb. They abort babies without any remorse after all. They offer two ways to end pregnancy such as in-clinic abortion and the abortion pill. The organization itself claims that it offers a safe abortion and respects the decisions made by the customers. However, what truly happens is that they persuade people who come to them to undergo an abortion. The Catholic Church condemns this organization for the Church believes that abortion is murder. Watching the true-to-life movie Unplanned might just let you know what truly happens in Planned Parenthood. The biographical movie is about the woman who worked at the said company and she was very eager to do her job without feeling any guilt. However, when it was her own baby that was aborted, she herself felt what it really feels to lose a child. And so, she had a change of heart and now stands against abortion. How can we say that abortion is indeed murder? There are so many debates made about abortion but one fact that nobody can deny is that the embryo inside a mother’s womb is already alive. Therefore, if it is alive then, it already has the potential and actuality. It is quite ironic that some people fight for human rights but still support abortion. One of the greatest human rights is the right to live. Though, some women believe that since the organism is still inside them, then it is still for them to decide whether to keep the baby or abort it (my body, my choice). However, the fact that she developed an organism that is potentially meant to be detached from her after 9 months, then the baby is not truly meant for her body but only from hers. The Church in the first place teaches that sex is only for married couples and is meant for procreation. Aborting the child in the womb, therefore, is perverting the teaching of the Church to be fruitful and multiply. Just like the extra-judicial killings and Capital punishment, abortion is also considered morally wrong and is also a sin against God. 

Nevertheless, any participation in abortion is considered a sin. Being lawfully right doesn’t make an action morally good. Morality and right reasoning are what makes humans different from other animals. The distorted reasoning of society makes them believe that abortion is not bad. They themselves cannot present an irrevocable argument for abortion because they only use their emotions to justify such arguments. We are therefore called to think first before we act. Before engaging in sexual intercourse think first of what will be the consequences of it and what will be responsibilities you are going to face.  Always remember that “decisions made in the past cannot be undone.”