The Most Dangerous Place on Earth

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta was highly respected and admired during her lifetime, and more so after her death. There was hardly a ripple of dissent when Pope John Paul II beatified her in October 2003.

The humble nun who dedicated her life to working in the slums of Calcutta was globally regarded as a modern saint and prophet. She was a moral tour de force. People all over the world were eager to meet and talk to her and volunteer for her many charitable projects.

Yet, when Mother Teresa declared that “the womb (was) the most dangerous place on earth”, she was vilified. At the UN sponsored International Conference on population and development held in Cairo, Egypt, in September 1994, delegates denounced Mother Teresa’s ideas as naïve and archaic.

Despite the waves of criticism, Mother Teresa dared to call a spade a spade. She said abortion was the outright killing of children, even as she pleaded for mothers considering abortion to give up their babies for adoption instead. She and her missionaries of charity stood willing and ready to care for any unwanted child.

In a society that has veered away from the common good in favor of individual interest and individual rights, it is understandable that Mother Teresa’s defense of the unborn child over that of the mother’s “reproductive rights” were met with disdain by Planned Parenthood advocates and sectors of the ultra feminist movement.

Margaret Sanger, who founded Planned Parenthood, championed the option of any woman to kill her unborn child, euphemistically arguing that a woman's decision or choice took precedence over the right of her unborn child to live. Over five decades, she methodically pushed her ideas on eugenics and abortion. Eventually the "pro-choice" position became acceptable.

Today, Sanger's ideas are imbedded in the Democratic Party agenda and espoused by feminist politicians, such as Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barbara Boxer. Even a knowledgeable senator as Barach Obama, who should be aware of Sanger's open disdain for black children, has supported and defended the Democratic Party's platform on abortion.

You would think that with the advent of modern imaging devices, such as 3-D ultrasound, the debate would be moot. Modern scientific instruments can now visualize the fetus accurately so that parents can be informed of the sex of their unborn child. Congenital anomalies, such as diaphragmatic hernia and polycystic kidneys, are now so much easier to diagnose so that therapeutic interventions can be carried out even in utero by Fetal Pediatric surgeons.

Ultrasound imaging can now confirm a beating heart as early as 6 weeks into the pregnancy. An anatomical profile or outline of the baby is seen at 11 weeks of gestation. The neural tube which evolves into the brain and spinal cord can be detected in the first few weeks of pregnancy. The nervous system is developed well enough in intrauterine life that scientists claim that unborn children experience pain and suffer when aborted.

Terminating a pregnancy may merely be a psychologically traumatic event for the mother, but abortion is cruel and unusual punishment for the baby who is literally tortured to death.

I find it ironic that the people who are such staunch defenders of abortion, raise hell when dolphins are caught in fishing nets, or when chicken are slaughtered with minimal sedation. They protest when lower forms of life are threatened by new road or housing construction, or when rare trees are cut down. If these individuals are so concerned about animal rights, and the welfare of insects and trees, why are they not concerned at all about the rights of the unborn, defenseless child?

We would cringe if an individual cut off a viable finger, yet why are we not equally horrified at the prospect of a mother having a living part of her body (or more accurately, a living person inside her womb) extracted, disposed of, and wasted?

Sanger and her disciples have sold us the big lie. They have methodically persuaded society that the right of the mother supersedes that of her unborn child, that any woman has the right to kill her unborn baby.

Finding ourselves engulfed in what Pope John Paul II called “the culture of death”, it helps to listen to what the Church, based on Scripture and tradition, teaches: “The right to life is no less to be respected in the small infant just born than in the mature person. In reality, respect for human life is called for from the time that the process of generation begins. From the time that the ovum is fertilized, a life is begun which is neither that of the father nor of the mother; it is rather the life of a new human being with his own growth. It would never be made human if it were not human already.” (Vatican Council II, Vol. 2).

While teaching about the error of abortion, the church also recognizes that “decisions that go against life sometimes arise from difficult or even tragic situations of profound suffering, loneliness, a total lack of economic prospects, depression, and anxiety about the future”. Addressing mothers who have undergone abortion, the church understands that “the wound in your heart may not yet have healed. …do not give in to discouragement and do not lose hope. Try rather to understand what happened and face it honestly. …The Father of mercies is ready to give you his forgiveness and his peace….you will also be able to ask forgiveness from your child, who is now living in the Lord.” (Pope John Paul II, “The Gospel of Life”, 1995)

Reference: Kevin D. O'Rourke, O.P, & Philip Boyle, Ph.D., Medical Ethics: Sources of Catholic Teachings (3rd Ed), Georgetown University Press, Washington, D.C., 1999.

Reader Opinions
Malcolm Wells • shfwells@bellsouth.net
MAR 31 • It is just my humble opinion but why would any filipina ever vote for and elect mrs clinton to the office of president of the US why not just invite Gloria over here to be the president they have equal experience and regards for human life
Betsy Chiongbian
MAR 21 • What amazes me, Ed, is that I know so many Filipinos in the US who are registered Democrats/vote Democrats and are unaware of their party platform -- particularly the Democrats 'pro-abortion' platform.