Opinion
Is abortion really a good option; what about the injunction ‘you shall not kill’?
Prologue
The word “KILL” appeared about 126 times in the Bible. The act of killing is viewed from various angles and has different names. We have murder, assassination, massacre, butchery, carnage, bloodshed, bloodbath and strangled to death. In all these terms one thing is established, the fact that one is killed.
In the abortion discuss or better argument, the bone of contention is the potential human person, who should never be an object of exploitation. One of the fascinating question we are often faced with is nothing but: Why do those who would easily condemn the murder of an adult human being be less scrupulous when the death of a zygote or embryo or foetus is involved? The issue becomes more complex when one realizes the fact that the development of the human being is a gradual process. Indeed, the zygote could not possibly feel pain or be aware of anything; in fact, many zygotes fail to implant in the lining of the uterus and are flushed out of the womb without the woman observing anything.
Could that justify the act of killing through abortion? Why then, should the deliberate removal of an unwanted zygote generate a cause for concern? To kill a full-grown adult, who develops from the zygote is regarded as murder and is universally condemned. Is that not selective respect?
The Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith {SCDF – 1974}, made it clear that, respect for human life is not just a Christian obligation. Human reason is sufficient to impose it on the basis of the analysis of what the human person is and should be. We are living a time where people easily justify every action they carry out. After all, they have the freedom to do whatever they like; this is the assertion of many. It is falsehood. It is good to know that freedom of anyone created in the image and likeness of God is not freedom for sin but freedom from sin and evil. Hence, Pope Benedict XVI reminds us that, “Freedom to kill is not a true freedom but a tyranny that reduces the human being into slavery”
In the recent time as always, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith reiterated the fact that every human life is Sacred and as such must be respected. “The Church consistently reminds us that “the dignity of every human being has an intrinsic character and is valid from the moment of conception until natural death. It is precisely the affirmation of such dignity that is the inalienable prerequisite for the protection of a personal and social existence, and also the necessary condition for fraternity and social friendship to be realized among all the peoples of the earth.”
On account of the intangible value of human life, the Church’s magisterium has always spoken out against abortion. In this regard, Pope St. John Paul II writes: “Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable. […] But today, in many people’s consciences, the perception of its gravity has become progressively obscured. The acceptance of abortion in the popular mind, in behavior, and even in law itself is a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, even when the fundamental right to life is at stake.
Given such a grave situation, we need now more than ever to have the courage to look the truth in the eye and to call things by their proper name, without yielding to convenient compromises or to the temptation of self-deception. In this regard, the reproach of the Prophet is extremely straightforward: ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness’ (Is. 5:20). Especially in the case of abortion, there is a widespread use of ambiguous terminology, such as ‘interruption of pregnancy,’ which tends to hide abortion’s true nature and to attenuate its seriousness in public opinion.
Perhaps this linguistic phenomenon is itself a symptom of an uneasiness of conscience. But no word has the power to change the reality of things: procured abortion is the deliberate and direct killing, by whatever means it is carried out, of a human being in the initial phase of his or her existence, extending from conception to birth.”
Unborn children are, thus, “the most defenseless and innocent among us. Nowadays, efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this.” It must, therefore, be stated with all force and clarity, even in our time, that “this defense of unborn life is closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right. It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development.
Human beings are ends in themselves and never a means of resolving other problems. Once this conviction disappears, so do solid and lasting foundations for the defense of human rights, which would always be subject to the passing whims of the powers that be. Reason alone is sufficient to recognize the inviolable value of each single human life, but if we also look at the issue from the standpoint of faith, ‘every violation of the personal dignity of the human being cries out in vengeance to God and is an offense against the Creator of the individual.’”
In this context, it is worth recalling St. Teresa of Calcutta’s generous and courageous commitment to the defense of every person conceived. {Declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Dignitas Infinita”, on Human Dignity, 2024, #47}
What is Abortion?
Henry Peschke {Pastoral Guide, 2010:334}, defined abortion, “The removal of the non-viable embryo or foetus from the mother’s womb by human intervention, whether by killing the human being before removal from the womb, or by exposing the same to a certain death outside the womb.” In the words of St. Pope John Paul II {Evangelium Vitae, 58}, abortion is, “The deliberate and direct killing, by whatever means it is carried out, of a human being in the initial phase of his or her existence, extending from conception to birth;” Joseph A. Komonchak, et al in The New Dictionary of Theology said that abortion is, “The induced termination of pregnancy before the foetus is capable of surviving outside the womb.”
According to Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria –CBCN {A Communiqué Issued on 13th September, 1991}, abortion is, “The killing of innocent human life.” The Catholic Women Organization {C.W.O} of Igarra, Edo State {A Protest Letter against the Proposed Legalization of Abortion in Nigeria, October 11, 1991, p. 7} see abortion as, “The forceful removal of pregnancy, through the use of drugs, instruments and herbs to prevent a soul from being born to life.”
In my own expression, it simply means the removal or rather impeding the growth of the embryo. The human being may be said to be just a mere mortal, but that notwithstanding, he is cherished above all creations by the Lord God. To sustain this splendid honour and dignity, God made respect for the human person part and parcel of the Divine law- the Decalogue: You shall not kill. The life of the human being does not belong to him but to God because God lives in him.
Abortion and “You shall not kill”, any meeting point?
The injunction: “you shall not kill” is not only for the people who are already born. It applies to those who are still in the womb; and hence, the book of Exodus places a judgment on anyone who does anything to abort even if it was due to a physical attack on the pregnant woman, “When men have a fight and hurt a pregnant woman, so that she suffers a miscarriage, but no further injury, the guilty one shall be fined as much as the woman’s husband demands of him, and he shall pay in the presence of the judges…” {Exodus.21: 22}. Reflecting deeply on this singular honour accorded to the human person, St Ireaneus, in praise and gratitude to God said, “The glory of God is a living man” –“Gloria Dei vivens homo.”
This glory of God in man is so much savoured even by God himself that no matter the situation of the human person, his life is still sacred and as such should be handled with care and be treated with love. A look into the case between Cain and Abel will be of help. Cain killed his brother, Abel, and this act of his {Cain’s} was legally handled by the Divine Judge.
He was found guilty of murder; for he had disobeyed the law {the injunction}: You shall not kill. Since in the mercy of God there is justice and in His justice there is mercy, he {Cain} was still punished despite the fact that he pleaded for leniency. However, his punishment cannot be compared to what is obtainable in our judicial or legal system today.
Cain saw that he risked his life in the hands of his fellow men and that is why he pleaded for leniency and God granted that in His own way so that he {Cain} might not be killed. Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.” Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance” {Genesis 4: 13-15}.
It is quite alarming and disheartening that today there is a selective respect to the human person, especially in respect to the unborn. It is an evil time when people have, a “certain promethean attitude …to think that they can control life and death by taking decisions about them into their own hands” {John Paul II; Evangelium Vitae, 15}. What a pity! Husband and wife under the cover of family planning now carry out abortions as if they are taking a sip of wine or honey. There are no qualms of conscience because for them they want to maintain a certain number of children. Families now do abortion anywhere and at will. At any time the woman feels she cannot carry the baby she goes in to ask for some pills {actions} to eliminate and terminate the sacred life of a sacred child. Even the unmarried, are taking laws into their hands; it {committing abortion} has finally reached the level that it is the human person that decides how to handle life. He has turned to become a law unto himself in the cover of family planning and modernity.
This anomaly, calls for a redress. When the past is compared with what is happening nowadays and one projects into the future, one sees that the future is pregnant with doom. Where lies the future of man? You go out to dustbins in the streets and you see babies dumped in cartons, what a pity! How do you feel? Do you feel so bad or good? Does it dawn on you that such could have been your fate if your mother did not consider that to be devilish and evil? In gratitude, we should say “Thanks” to God for the type of mothers He gave us. What do you think these babies would say?
As years roll by, this evil continues to advance the more. One thinks that the ensuing years will bring about change but it gets worse. We have to stand and condemn evil no matter who is involved. The gospel of life must be preached,” We cannot be indifferent to the situation of human rights, so often and so extensively violated in our countries.
“From the moment of conception the eternal law: You shall not kill, takes effect; for the glory of God is in a living person. From this point in time, all the rights and dignity are accorded to this person that is in the womb. Lest we forget, the moment of human existence starts from the womb; hence, we often hear the expression, ‘from the womb to the tomb.’
Some biblical awareness on “You shall not kill”
It will be necessary to have some Biblical citations to buttress the fact that to kill an unborn child is morally wrong and that the unborn child is equally in the mind of God as He has also in mind the person that is born already: – “If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has man been made.” {Genesis, 9:6}. “You shall not kill.”{Exodus, 20:13}.
“When men have a fight and hurt a pregnant woman, so that she suffers a miscarriage, but no further injury, the guilty one shall be fined as much as the woman’s husband demands of him, and he shall pay in the presence of the judges.”{Exodus, 21:22}. “You shall keep away from anything dishonest.
The innocent and the just you shall not put to death, nor shall you acquit the guilty.”{Exodus, 23:7}. “You shall not thus worship the LORD, your God, because they offered to their gods every abomination that the LORD detests, even burning their sons and daughters to their gods.”{Deuteronomy, 12: 31}. “Cursed be he who slays his neighbor in secret.” {Deuteronomy, 27: 24}. “Cursed be he who accepts payment for slaying an innocent man.”{Deuteronomy, 27: 25}. “Upon thee was I cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me thou hast been my God.”{Psalm, 22:10}. “Upon thee I have leaned from my birth; thou art he who took me from my mother’s womb.” {Psalm, 71:6}. “Upon thee was I cast from my birth, and since my mother bore me thou hast been my God.”
“They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them, but mingled with the nations and imitated their ways. They worshiped their idols and were ensnared by them. They sacrificed to the gods their own sons and daughters, Shedding innocent blood, the blood of their own sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, desecrating the land with bloodshed.” {Psalm, 106: 34-38}.
“For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb.”{Psalm, 139:13}. “There are six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to him; Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood; a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil, the false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.”{Proverbs, 6:16ff.}“If a man is burdened with the blood of another, let him be a fugitive until death; let no one help him.” {Proverbs, 28:17}. “The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.”{Isaiah, 49:1}. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” {Jeremiah, 1:5}. “For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.”{Luke, 1:44}
Some tips from the Magisterium on the abortion issue
In the course of history, the Fathers of the Church, her Pastors and her Doctors have taught the same doctrine–the various opinions on the infusion of the spiritual soul did not introduce any doubt about the illicitness of abortion. It is true that in the Middle Ages, when the opinion was generally held that the spiritual soul was not present until after the first few weeks, a distinction was made in the evaluation of the sin and the gravity of penal sanctions. Excellent authors allowed for this first period more lenient case solutions which they rejected for following periods. But it was never denied at that time that procured abortion, even during the first days, was objectively grave fault. This condemnation was in fact unanimous. Among the many documents it is sufficient to recall certain ones. The first Council of Mainz in 847 reconsidered the penalties against abortion which had been established by preceding Councils. It decided that the most rigorous penance would be imposed “on women who procure the elimination of the fruit conceived in their womb.” The Decree of Gratian reported the following words of Pope Stephen V: “That person is a murderer who causes to perish by abortion what has been conceived.” St. Thomas, the Common Doctor of the Church, teaches that abortion is a grave sin against the natural law.” At the time of the Renaissance Pope Sixtus V condemned abortion with the greatest severity. A century later, Innocent XI rejected the propositions of certain lax canonists who sought to excuse an abortion procured before the moment accepted by some as the moment of the spiritual animation of the new being. In our days the recent Roman Pontiffs have proclaimed the same doctrine with the greatest clarity. Pius XI explicitly answered the most serious objections.
Pius XII clearly excluded all direct abortion, that is, abortion which is either an end or a means. John XXIII recalled the teaching of the Fathers on the sacred character of life “which from its beginning demands the action of God the Creator.” Most recently, the Second Vatican Council, presided over by Paul VI, has most severely condemned abortion: “Life must be safeguarded with extreme care from conception; abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.” The same Paul VI, speaking on this subject on many occasions, has not been afraid to declare that this teaching of the Church “has not changed and is unchangeable.” {Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Declaration on Procured Abortion November 18, 1974 #7}
Respect for human life is not just a Christian obligation. Human reason is sufficient to impose it on the basis of the analysis of what a human person is and should be. Constituted by a rational nature, man is a personal subject capable of reflecting on himself and of determining his acts and hence his own destiny: he is free. He is consequently master of himself; or rather, because this takes place in the course of time, he has the means of becoming so: this is his task. Created immediately by God, man’s soul is spiritual and therefore immortal. Hence man is open to God, he finds his fulfillment only in Him. But man lives in the community of his equals; he is nourished by interpersonal communication with men in the indispensable social setting. In the face of society and other men, each human person possesses himself, he possesses life and different goods, he has these as a right. It is this that strict justice demands from all in his regard. {Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Declaration on Procured Abortion November 18, 1974 # 8}
“These kind of persons shall be forever cast out of the kingdom of God” Those who are to be cast out of the Kingdom of God was due to the life they lived. Among many others, he mentioned of “Murderers of children” {Epistle of Barnabas, Chp. XV: 6}. “Christians should consider as murderers those women who take medicine to procure abortions.” {Athenagoras + AD 180}. “To prevent birth is anticipated murder; it makes little difference whether one destroys a life already born or does away with it in its nascent stage. The one who will be a man is already one.”{Tertullian ca.AD155/160-ca.AD240-250}. “You shall not kill by abortion the fruit of the womb and you shall not murder the infant already born” {Didache, 1a 969}. “You shall not kill the embryo by abortion and shall not cause the newborn to perish.”{Didache, 2, 2; Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 2271}. “That person is a murderer who causes to perish by abortion what has been conceived.” Pope Stephen V}. “Abortion is a grave sin against the natural law.” {St Thomas Aquinas, in his Commentary on the Sentences Book VII}. “Innocent human life, in whatever condition it is found, is withdrawn, from the very first moment of its existence, from any direct deliberate attack. This is a fundamental right of the human person , which is of general value in the Christian concept of life; hence as valid for the life still hidden within the womb of the mother, as for the life already born and developing outside of her, as much opposed to direct abortion as to the direct killing.” {Pope Pius XII}. “We must once again declare that the direct interruption of the generative process already begun, and above all the directly willed and procured abortion, even if for therapeutic reasons, are to be absolutely excluded as licit means of regulating birth.” {Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, No. 14}. “In truth it is sometimes licit to tolerate a lesser evil in order to avoid a greater evil or to promote a greater good. It is never licit even for the gravest reasons to do evil so that good may follow therefrom that is, to make into the object of a positive act of the will something which is in intrinsically a disorder, and hence unworthy of the human person even when the intention is to safeguard or promote the individuals, the family or the social good.”{Humanae Vitae, No. 14}.
“God, the Lord of life, has entrusted to men the noble mission of safeguarding life, and men must carry it out in a manner worthy of themselves. Life must be protected with utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and infanticide are abominable crimes.” {Gaudium et Spes, 51. Par. 3.5; Catechism of the Catholic Church, # 2271}. “The Church considers any legislation favorable to procure abortion a most serious offense against the primary rights of man and the divine commandment, ‘Thou shall not kill.’’ {St. Pope John Paul II, Angelus Message on May 10, 1981; shortly before Italians were to vote on two Legal Abortion Laws} “Human life must be absolutely respected and protected from the moment of conception.”{Holy See, Charter of the Rights of the Family, 4}. “The human being is to be respected and treated as a person from the moment of conception, from that same moment his rights as a person must be recognized, among which in the first place in the inviolable rights of every innocent human being to life.”{Holy See, Instruction on Respect for Human Life in its origin and on the Dignity of Procreation, 1, (Par.5}. “If life is a gift, man and woman are not its masters. They are its beneficiaries, its administrators; they are called to transmit it, aware not only of its natural dimensions, God reserves to himself to fulfill and develop” {St. Pope John Paul II, Angelus Message on May 10, 1981; shortly before Italians were to vote on two Legal Abortion Laws}. “Anyone who tampers with life for any reason commits a serious crime. This crime is so grave that the church has to place a very big sanction on it. Whoever gets himself involved in abortion incurs an automatic excommunication. This the holy fathers referred to the 1917 code of canon law and the 1983 code of canon laws. The recent code {1983} state that, “a person who actually procures an abortion incurs an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication” {Canon 2350 §1}. “Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable.” {Evangelium Vitae, No. 58}. “From the time that the ovum is fertilized, a life is begun which is neither that of the father nor 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”. {Evangelium Vitae, 60/Declaration on Procured Abortion, No. 12}. “This evaluation of the morality of abortion is to be applied also to recent forms of intervention on human embryos which, although carried out for purposes legitimate in themselves, inevitably involve the killing of those embryos.” {Evangelium Vitae, No. 63}. “But God cannot leave the crime unpunished, from the ground on which it has been spilt, the blood of the one murdered demands that God should render justice.” {Evangelium Vitae, No. 9}. “Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves ‘the creative action of God’ and it remains forever in a special relationship with the creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can, in any circumstance, claim for himself the right to destroy directly an innocent human being.” {Humanae Vitae, 13/ Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Instruction on Respect for Human Life in its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation Donum Vitae, (22, February, 1987), Introduction No.5 /Evangelium Vitae, 53}. “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of his existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life.”{Donum Vitae, 1, 1. Catechism of the Catholic Church # 2270}. “Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offence. The church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life.”{Catechism of the Catholic Church # 2272}. “Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, care for, and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being.” {Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2274}. “It is immoral to produce human embryos intended for exploitation as disposable biological material.” {CDF Donum Vitae, I, 5; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2275}. “Direct killing of the child before, during, or after its birth. Whatever foundation there may be for the distinction between these various phases of the development of life that is born, or still unborn, in profane and ecclesiastical law, and as regards certain civil and penal consequences, all these cases involve a grave and unlawful attack upon the inviolability of human life.” {Allocution to Large Families, 1951}. “Human life is sacred – all men must recognize that fact. From its very inception, it reveals the creating hand of God. Those who violate this law not only offend the divine majesty and degrade themselves and humanity, they also sap the vitality of the political community of which they are members.”{John XXIII Encyclical, Mater et Magistra, 1961}
Conclusion
We recommend to married people the practice of natural family planning so as to avoid procured abortion. It is good to note that, for a man to forcefully have his way (in terms of sex with his wife) when the woman says that it was not safe for them to do so, does not mean that the practice of Natural Family Planning (Billings Method) should be swept under the carpet. His insistence means that he was ready for the outcome.
Youths are encouraged to practice abstinence {sex abstinence} before marriage and even during courtship. Besides the health risks which one is likely to face, there are so many problems which one will encounter: the risk of the partner’s refusal of pregnancy {especially the man}, the possibility of saying that it is not yet time for the partners to marry {it could be from the side of the lady or young man}, and above all the shame such act could bring to the person and family. If one therefore experiments with premarital sex without attention to the above details it means then that both parties are aware of the consequences and then there is nothing like unwanted pregnancy or unintended pregnancy because before the sexual intercourse one is already aware of what could be the possible danger{s} {one is responsible of for the consequences of his actions}.
To all the medical practitioners especially doctors, we remind them that their primary duty is to preserve life not to destroy it. The issue is not just a religious matter but also in line with their profession. We remind them of the Hippocratic Oath, “…I will maintain the utmost respect for human life, from the time of conception; even under threat. I will not use medical knowledge contrary to the laws of humanity”. To be faithful to the laws makes the profession a vocation and praise worthy. Life, we say, is more than logic and even if we have to go by logic, the dignity of the unborn is still upheld by that. Is it not logical to say that to kill is evil and how much more to kill a helpless innocent human being? “It is wrong to kill an innocent human being. A human foetus is an innocent human being; therefore, it is wrong to kill a human foetus” Indeed, the abortion issue is opposed not only because the human foetus is innocent but also because it is a total disobedience to God’s law, “Thou shall not kill” {Exodus, 20:13}.
In our world, the elimination of the human person has been expressed in many ways. We have murder, assassination, massacre, butchery, carnage, bloodshed, bloodbath and strangled to death. Something must necessarily lead to any type of killing, and as such, these terms are often used in circumstances surrounding the death or the elimination of the person in question. However, one thing is of utmost importance, judgments passed are also based on the way the fellow is killed; the same is applicable to the issue of abortion. If one is attacked by an enemy and in the process of defending himself he kills the one who attacked him, it is taken as self- defense. If one walks unto some body {A} and speaks ill of him {B} and out of annoyance he {B} takes up arms and kills him {A}; it is taken as killing based on provocation. Be it self-defense, provocation, manslaughter, etc; insofar as there is life eliminated there are punishments due to that, though the degrees differ. This goes to bring to the fore the fact that, ‘ignorance of a law is not an excuse’
No matter how we take it, no matter what we call it, no matter how insensitive we may be, no matter how we spin this issue, the truth remains that the deliberate killing of any unborn child in his mother’s womb is simply pure, cold-blooded, first degree murder in the eyes of God.
We conclude this study by saying that morality must not surrender to deformation by any kind of relativism or utilitarianism that pervades our time. Remember, abortion is a sin and as well against the sacredness of life because it is the premeditated murder of an innocent human being, “…The innocent and the just you shall not put to death”{Exodus, 23:7}; “There are six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to him; Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood; a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil, the false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.” {Proverbs, 6:16 ff.}
Remember, “Heroism is sometimes called for in order to remain faithful to the requirements of the divine law.” {Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Declaration on Procured Abortion November 18, 1974 # 24}
Think about it, if the Blessed Virgin Mary aborted Jesus, what would have become of the human salvation?
Revd. Fr Iwuji is of the Society of Divine Vocation.
He can be reached on:
08156198851
