The responsibilities of pro lifers

Today I popped over to Bump Babies Beyond, where Londonistar (who commented on Amanda’s excellent post about the 12-week scan) blogs (she can also be found at TowerTales).  Imminently expecting a baby, she describes herself as “Conservative in political outlook struggling and aspiring Catholic in faith. Welcome to a parenting journey from these perspectives.”  Do go over and have a look.  I’ll refer to her, with apologies, as “L” because I don’t know her real name.

My first stop was at the post L herself recommended us to read, The Politics of Personal.  In this she talks more about the experience of abortion following a 12-week scan, and her journey afterwards, that she related in her comment.  It’s a moving post that gives plenty of food for thought, but I’d just like to mention a couple of themes that particularly struck me.

After the scan (which was not straightforward) she and her partner had a big decision to make and she writes, “At that time of our lives we were horribly caught up in the abortion debate raging across the internet again and frankly I wondered whether people ever stop to think about the effect this has on the people caught up in it who are being fought over so bitterly…”  She continues this theme in a striking paragraph,

            “The internet is a ghastly place at times. Deep in among the anti abortion propaganda I was made to feel fearful and guilty. Guilty of what I wondered? Getting pregnant and facing this decision? We didn’t choose this lot in life.  Abortion is so casually debated that there is no distinction made between the women, or couples, who enter and exit those clinics. No allowances made. The bitter angry or prayerful judgment from people with little or no experience of the pain and heartache of it all or an understanding of who we are as people. This is a deeply personal situation. And it is not one I battled emotionally alone as a woman either. There are two broken hearts in this story.”

Finally she writes, “I am rather fed up with this sensitive issue being kicked around in such an ugly polarised debate. There seems little depth to the abortion debate other than placard proselytizing. Caught in the crossfire for so many months of that year in so many ways, I certainly feel it’s about time the debate matured.”

L concludes her post with a wish list that surely most pro-lifers will agree with: better guidance and support for parents in her situation so that a truly informed choice can be made, the greater promotion of adoption as an option, encouragement given to young people to think hard about what they are doing and about their responsibilities when they consider entering into a sexual relationship.  She emphasises that parents who have been through the abortion process (and she describes vividly the hurt it did her and the attitude of the Marie Stopes clinic she visited) should have their voices heard, as well as women and couples who are not in step with the pro-choice movement.  Perhaps more challengingly for some, she also writes,  “I want to see practical solutions for women and couples to avoid abortion not clinic protests”.  I’m not sure personally quite where I stand on clinic protests – I would happily say the Rosary outside an abortion clinic but I don't think I would stand there holding a photo of a dismembered foetus – but have a recurring sense of guilt about how much I do, or rather don’t do, to practically support those facing crisis pregnancies.

The reason I have quoted her post at such length (there’s more – do read it) is that I feel challenged by it.  Do I lump all those who have abortions into the same category, when in fact they will be from widely differing backgrounds and circumstances and possess motivations and attitudes that are as far from each other as chalk from cheese?  [Daft digression: who decided to compare those two particular substances in the first place...?!  And why??]  If I do, that is neither compassionate nor constructive.  Am I debating the ethics of abortion as though they were philosophical abstractions and forgetting the impact my words may have on those who are struggling with very real down-to-earth crises?  Am I more focused on trumping the other side (maybe using accusative language like “conspiracy of death” and describing “rivers of blood”) than on considering those I am trying to help?  And of course, those I am trying to help (in fact, on many levels, to save) includes not just the babies, but the mums and dads.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1)  It is also worth remembering (to get a bit technical) that whilst the Catholic Church clearly says, “There are concrete acts which it is always wrong to choose” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1761) because they are objectively wrong, it also says that the circumstances surrounding a human act, whilst not changing whether it is objectively right or wrong, can diminish the act’s moral evil or the responsibility of the person carrying it out (see CCC 1754). 

It is definitely not a question of compromising the truth to make people feel better.  The “don’t beat yourself up about it” or “abortion is sometimes so understandable that it’s actually really OK” approaches are unhelpful because you’re essentially just encouraging people to bury the demons of pain and guilt which will, sure as day is day and cheese isn’t chalk, claw and chew their way back up to the surface sooner or later.  It is, however, very much a question of speaking that truth compassionately and remembering the humanity and individuality of those you are addressing.  Especially as pro-lifers who believe in the intrinsic dignity and worth of every human person, we must never let the sensitivities and needs of those most concerned – those actually facing unintended pregnancies or receiving bad news at 12-week scans – get lost in the debate.

I’ve been thinking quite a lot recently not only about how to deliver an essentially simple moral message in a complicated world but also about how to discern the best course of action when picking one’s way through an ethical minefield.  For me this dilemma focuses on the area of medical research and potential treatments for my daughter’s Friedreich’s Ataxia.  But I think I’ve maundered on long enough, so that can wait for another post!

Best wishes to L from all our group and thank you for sharing your story in order to help others.   (Oh – and L’s site today features an interview with Nadine Dorries, whose proposals to bring in compulsory counselling before abortions caused controversy in both pro-choice and pro-life camps.)

Photo opportunity!

Photo: Robert Bousfield

We are delighted to now be able to release details of our photo-shoot fundraiser for "Aila's Fund" (see post below).  Bousfield:PHOTO will be offering 15 minute slots for group and/or individual photos all day on Saturday 24 March at St John's RC Church Hall, 3 Springfield Road, Horsham.  There is no charge for a sitting and no obligation to purchase.  Photos are priced at £12 per mounted 10"x8" print, or £10 each for three or more.  To book a slot just call 01403 257059. All profits from the day will be donated to Aila's Fund.

Maybe this is the ideal opportunity to have that family portrait done, or a "Sweet Sixteen" shot of your daughter, or a gorgeous baby photo?   The photos are professional standard and are, as you can see, brilliantly priced.  Come along and see yourself given the glamorous magazine-model look that Aila models here, or maybe go for something more spontaneous - the choice is yours, but either way Aila will be tremendously grateful.

You can find out more about the photographer's work at his website.  Well worth a look!

The 12 -week Scan and Down's Syndrome

Group member Amanda, a medical professional, writes:

 

So you’re pregnant, congratulations! One of the first tests you’ll be offered is the 12 week scan (also known as the Nuchal Fold Scan). It’s lovely to see your baby for the first time. Amazing. And certainly, if you aren’t sure of your dates, this is a good time to confirm your expected delivery date (EDD). Women who have a history of miscarriage may also find this scan reassuring, but beware! One of the main purposes of the 12 week scan is to detect babies who are at “high risk” of chromosomal abnormalities. Then parents can have the choice to proceed with a more risky test, to examine baby’s chromosomes accurately, so that little ones with less than the perfect complement can be identified and aborted. Our modern secular culture has become intolerant of anything less than perfection. But what does the Catholic Church say about this?

• “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.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n 2270).

• “Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law….” (CCC, n 2271).

It is very clear that every human life is a gift from God and is to be cherished and protected. 

 

One of the commonest chromosome problems that might be picked up antenatally is Down’s syndrome or Trisomy 21 (literally three copies of chromosome number 21, instead of two). As someone who grew up with a Down’s syndrome sister I am horrified that, in this generation, she might not ever have been born because her parents may have decided she was not worthy of life. It’s estimated today that nine out of ten Downs babies are aborted after antenatal testing. 

 

As a mother and a doctor, I am acutely aware that any one of my six lovely children could become disabled by illness or injury at any time. Whether they were still deserving of my wholehearted love, care and protection would be unquestionable. The antenatal campaign against Down’s Syndrome and the other less common trisomies, 18 (Edwards Syndrome) and 12 (Patau’s Syndrome), has been called genocide and likened to the slaughter of the Jews in World War II. 

American Presidential hopeful, Rick Santorum, has a three and a half year old daughter, Bella, with Edward’s Syndrome. He speaks very movingly of how she is the centre of their family, a centre of light and love.  "Bella makes us better," he says.  "We're the disabled ones, not her.  She has a beautiful spirit that emits unconditional love."

 

So, my advice, for what it’s worth.... Think twice about why you are being offered a 12 week scan. Take one, if you want. But do it for the right reasons. And let’s all thank God for the gift of life, intrinsically precious, in all its forms.

Aila's Fund

Photo: Robert Bousfield

Most of our work as a pro-life group in the parish is awareness raising, encouraging our fellow Catholics to read up, speak and pray about the beauty and dignity of each and every human life from the moment of conception. But a natural part of our work is also fundraising for various events and causes; we had the White Flower Appeal last weekend in aid of SPUC, through cake stalls over the past year and a half we've raised funds to restore the Memorial to the Unborn Child in Hills Cemetery, things like that. But this time we're doing something slightly different, instead of collecting money for an organisation or a place we are helping someone a little closer to home.

One of our group members, Anneli, has a daughter with a neurological disorder known as Friedreich's Ataxia which was diagnosed a couple of years ago. Out of nowhere Aila was faced with the sudden, shocking news that as she got older her life would not follow the same pattern as other girls, that this condition would affect her balance, her speech, eventually result in her needing to use a wheelchair. This is difficult, frightening stuff for anyone to hear, let alone a teenager. And, along side the physical and psychological struggles that come with such a diagnosis (and I'm not trying to play them down by the way, but those are not my details to impart - you can read Anneli's take in an earlier post), part of what makes adapting to such a condition so difficult in our modern society is the fear of not being 'normal'. If you ask most of us precisely what a 'normal person' is we will promptly say that there is no such thing, that the 'average Joe' is totally false and that, of course, everyone is unique. This is, most definitely, true and we mean it when we say it, but this notion of a normal person still endures and has a strong hold in the minds of many of us ...well to be more exact the idea of what is not normal does.

Aila has had a lot of adjustments to make over the past couple of years and will have even more to make in the future. Because her mobility and balance are gradually decreasing (she is already having to use a wheelchair if walking for more than a very short distance is required and cannot manage any distance outside by herself without holding someone's arm), it is vitally important that we as a group and as a parish help her to move forward, to do this as smoothly as possible. One very obvious consideration in all this is that her bedroom and the toilet in her house are upstairs and it is very impractical, very difficult and potentially dangerous for her to be tackling the staircase several times a day. What she and her family want to do is have their house extended to create a downstairs bedroom and bathroom just for her. (Not an unreasonable request I'm sure you'll agree.) The council have agreed to fund the greater part of this but there is an excess of around £16,000 which her family will have to provide, and provide quickly. To help them do this we have started "Aila's Fund", a dedicated series of fund raising events to help pay for this extension. We have all sorts planned; cake sales (everybody likes cake), concerts, sponsored cycles, photo shoots and goodness knows what else we'll come up with. But rest assured all of the donations we receive will go straight to paying for the work to be done and, after that, for an overseas holiday for Aila too. Anything left over at the end will be donated to Ataxia UK for the work they do in working with people like Aila and in the research they carry out. 

Here's the list of what we have planned so far;

* Sunday, 19th February - Cake sale in St. John's RC church hall, 3 Springfield Road, Horsham, West Sussex after 9am Mass (i.e. about 10am)

* Saturday, 24th March - Photo shoot for families and individuals in rooms 2/3 in St. John's hall as above (by appointment: details to follow)

* A friend is making a sponsored cycle ride from London to John O'Groats (date TBC)
* More events are also in the pipeline and we'll keep you posted!

So please do come along to all of the events in the next few months and support Aila, she may be too shy to tell you herself but she really is very grateful.

Having it all

So just when did we decide we could have our cake and eat it too?  That we could do as we liked (commonly described as exercising our "rights") without having to take any tiresome responsibility for the outcome of our choices?  That our personal freedom was absolute and should not be infringed upon by any consideration of how our actions affect others?  Katherine put it well in an earlier post: "We live in a world now where we all have rights but absolutely no responsibility. We have the 'right' to a child but don't have to take responsibility for our actions; should we get pregnant by chance, it can all be swept under the carpet so-to-speak; gotten rid of and forgotten about."

If you have sex, you may get pregnant however responsibly you have used contraception.  No form of contraception is 100% effective.  If you haven't taken the trouble to find that out, and you aren't prepared to take the consequences of contraceptive failure, you shouldn't be having sex*.  Frankly, this is not rocket science.  (Actually, speaking now as a Christian, neither is it rocket science to see that there might just be something in the point of view that you don't have sex until you're in a committed, lifelong relationship with your partner - aka marriage - because then you are not going to be left alone to cope with an unintended pregnancy or to bring up the child.)

It's just because contraception is not 100% effective that sex education for young people which focuses solely on birth control will never be the best answer.  What is needed is a different mindset about sex, about the value of human life and responsible behaviour.  "Abstinence programmes" are decried by many because - shock horror! - they suggest that maybe we don't have an unfettered right to have sex as and when we want with whomever we want.  That maybe if we do, we may just find that we have taken on a responsibility for another human life which has his/her own right - a right not to die for the sake of his mother's personal freedom.

There are of course "difficult cases", pregnancy resulting from rape for example, but these account for a minority of abortions (though of course taking a life is not the answer even in these cases).  Generally speaking we are talking about abortions resulting from behaviour which is considered socially acceptable but which fails to take into account the fact that every choice carries a responsibility.  There is no such thing as "sexual liberation" in an absolute sense because sex = relationships = other people = responsibility for the welfare of other people. No, we can't have our cake and eat it too.

"Gorgeous womb, darling, looks perfect in your conservatory"

This... um, slightly exasperated post was brought on by two excellent blog entries I have read in the past couple of days.  I came across one in the unexpected context of the Arundel & Brighton Latin Mass Society blog. Annie links to an article about a UK ethicist who feels that, in order to promote gender equality, women shouldn't have to go through this nasty pregnancy business (it's all so icky after all) but should be able to gestate their babies in an artificial womb.  Well, I suppose the womb could have the added benefit of doubling as a room ornament for the duration of the pregnancy, especially if tastefully backlit - much more of a talking point than a boring old fish tank.

The second is at Creative Minority Report where we hear about "termination kits" that women can pick up to prevent us from having to "suffer" a pregnancy.  One commenter on this post makes the point that protected sex still carries a risk of pregnancy.  "The language of 'unintended pregnancy'," she concludes, "needs to be thrown in the trash bin."  My sentiments exactly.

*As Catholics faithful to Magisterial teaching, the members of St John's Pro Life Group do not support the use of artificial contraception.  I am arguing here for a general principle that can be accepted by members of all faiths and none.
 

A candle in the wind?

As you will no doubt be aware, a major US breast cancer charity, Susan G Komen for the Cure, recently withdrew funding for Planned Parenthood (PP) which operates hundreds of abortion-performing family clinics.  Whilst this was claimed as a victory by pro-life organisations and campaigners who for many years have been protesting against Komen's links with PP,  Komen's spokeswoman Lesley Au said that this was less to do with pro-life pressure than with the fact that Congress were investigating PP for irregularities.

Unfortunately CNN reports that - under pressure within its own organisation and affiliates as well as from lawmakers - Komen has now reversed this decision and released a statement stating, "We want to apologize to the American public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving women's lives (why do we need to perform abortions to do this??). We will continue to fund existing grants, including those of Planned Parenthood, and preserve their eligibility to apply for future grants, while maintaining the ability of our affiliates to make funding decisions that meet the needs of their communities."  You can read about the strength of the opposition to Komen's decision in the CNN report here.  The Guardian also carries a report here.

This is a tragedy from the pro-life point of view and a deeply disappointing decision.  Given Komen's original statement about the reason for its withdrawal of funding (Au:"the cutoff results from the charity’s newly adopted criteria barring grants to organizations that are under investigation by local, state or federal authorities"), it also reflects the strength of the pressure applied to Komen from its affliates and from lawmakers, for nothing has changed with regard to the Congressional investigation.  The American Life League claimed that PP was "lashing out at Komen across the internet and throughout the media" and Austin Ruse, the President of C-Fam (a pro-life organisation that monitors developments at international organisations such as the UN) and publisher of Friday Fax, urged pro-lifers today to sign an e-petition pledging their support for Komen's decision to discontinue funding PP projects and urging its Chair and Founder Nancy Brinkman to stand firm against pressure.  Unfortunately the petition seems to have been too late from the moment it was launched...

This post was meant to be an encouraging one illustrating that there are signs of pro-life hope "out there" in America; what happens in America sets the scene on the world stage in so many ways.  Unfortunately one flicker of hope has just been extinguished by an ugly blast of political pressure (Komen denies that this is the case, but to my mind it is difficult to make sense of their actions in any other light).  Let us hope and pray that another hopeful sign reported on by LifeNews will not suffer the same fate.  It seems that Komen are to stop funding embryonic stem cell research centres.  Please God they are not pressured to change their minds on this too.

An old favourite

This a video, produced a couple of years ago, by Wisconsin Right to Life in the US. It is a beautiful story and one of my favourite pro-life videos ever. Don't worry, there's no explicit material, just a miracle.