By Andrew Guernsey
This month being Respect Life Month, I thought it quite suitable to begin the first spiritual reflection with Psalm 139:13: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”
What does this mean?
In order to understand this verse of scripture, one has to read in between the lines. What does God mean when he says he “knit me together in my mother’s womb?” Anyone who has ever knitted will probably know the answer to this question, because knitting takes time and effort. Knitting, does not mean throwing a jumble of string together. Rather, it means pouring forth yourself into your creation, making something beautiful. The human person is little differently created by God. His creation of man, from his very conception is something good and beautiful as God is good and beautiful.
Does this mean that abortion is wrong?
The answer to this question is a loud and reverberating, “yes.” The Catholic Church unshakebly teaches that the unborn are of equal dignity to any other human being made in the image and likeness of God. Abortion is gravely contrary to the moral law and even bears the canonical penalty of excommunication.
How could you convince someone that the unborn are people and not just objects that can be discarded at leisure?
To begin your argument, I would start with with what we call in logic, conditional hypothetical syllogisms: If unborn children are a persons, then they have rights and may not be aborted. The mother’s “choice” of life or death for her baby would be eradicated. If an unborn children are not persons then they do not have rights and may be aborted if the mother chooses so.
These syllogisms rely on several underlying statements: Human persons have dignity, human persons have rights, and man’s dignity comes from his creator.
To begin to argue that unborn are persons, I would begin with a common ground: science. Scientifically, we know that at conception, a unique organism is produced, a new generation. In fact, the term for an unborn child, “fetus,” means “life.”
The next question that would most likely arise would be: “How can you prove that that small living organism is a person with rights.” If I were to be confronted with that question, I would turn it back on them: “Prove to me that you are a person with rights and dignity. Why would it be immoral for me to kill you?” Typically, the rebuttal would not be shortcoming. Reason would force them to accept the Christian principle that whenever you see a human with a body, you can conclude that he must also have a rational soul. Now, you can take this one step further: to a rational soul is attributed rights and dignity. One such right is the right to life. Thus, the taking of a human life is gravely contrary to its dignity. If they question whether there is such thing as dignity, respond that dignity finds its source and summit in God, who receives his dignity from the very fact that he is God, by his nature. We, in turn, partake in God’s dignity as his children in his image and likeness, having both a will and an intellect, after God’s will and intellect.
Hopefully by now you have convinced your opponent that all human beings have dignity. All that is left is to convince him of is that the unborn are humanbeings. In Dr. Seus’s classic children’s book Horton Hears a Who, Horton says, “A person is a person, no matter how small.” It has probably crossed our minds that a 6 foot tall human is a person, but 5 foot tall human is not. It seems so absurd! As a nation, therefore, how can we permit the killing of the unborn, just because they are small and we cannot see them? What is the difference between a human in the womb and a human 10 seconds later out of the womb? There is no scientific change, so why don’t both receive rights? There is no unique life being formed. How different is it from me walking from inside to outside a house? From the moment of conception when a male and female gamete unite to form a zygote, a unique human being is formed. Where you see the human body, you can know that it must have a rational soul. Therefore, the unborn must be persons, persons who have dignity and rights equal to that of a 6 foot tall man. Of their many inherent rights, their most significant is the right to life. Quite obviously, then, the unborn, all of whom are persons, cannot be permitted to be aborted under any circumstances.
However, the non-Catholic with whom you are arguing may take an relativistic position saying, “Whether the unborn are persons or not depends on your religion or what you believe. Therefore, we should allow women the choice of making the religious decision of abortion. Religous freedom is a good thing, right?” Such a person has entirely ignored your argument that was grounded in absolute, scienctific truth and absolute, metaphysical realities. This rebuttal has wrapped within it tremendous errors: a misguided view of freedom. Such a person views freedom as doing whatever you want to do rather than acting for excellence, true freedom and the foundation of a good society. Following that person’s logic, it is also a matter of religious 
belief as to whether I kill you or not.
Your opponent’s position would now normally change to an agnostic position. He would argue: “We cannot know for certain whether an unborn child is a person or not. Therefore, we should allow women the right to choose.” Respond by the following: “Either the unborn are persons or not persons. If they were not persons, then abortion wouldn’t be a significant issue. However if they are indeed persons, then that means that you would be killing human life. Your position implies, that you would be willing to risk killing million of human lives in the very womb. Here, anti-abortionist at large, Dr. Raymond Denahey, used the analogy of a hunter who sees a rustle in the bushes. It could either be a human or an animal. Nevertheless, he shoots it anyway. Should this be permitted? That argument only falls short in the event that the mother’s life is at stake, in which case one would need to resort to the previous, stronger arguments based in science and metaphysics.
Normally, your opponent would now introduce situations designed to stir pity in your heart for mother who can’t afford a child, victims of rape, ect… This is only a sign that their previous beliefs are falling apart. Hopefully, your opponent will leave the argument contemplating changing their present stance on the issue, else he would all to commonly harden his heart to the truth.
In America abortion is legal. What can I do to help the unborn?
-
The most important thing you can do is pray. God will hear your prayers.
-
This January, the Ave Maria Youth Group hopes to join the thousands at the March For Life in Washington DC. Join us if you can. Participate in pro-life rallys and dontate to pro-life causes whenever possible.
-
Talk with people, instruct the ignorant, and encourage all to vote pro-life in these upcoming elections.
March For Life
God Save America and God Save the Unborn!
