By Fr. Glenn Jones
Gonna’ be a blessed week! Though no longer the pastor of IHM, we “former pastors” cannot help but keep tabs on our beloved former parish. And, this week, the parish family is expecting yet another addition (cue squeals of glee). So, like Phil Robertson used to say on “Duck Dynasty”, we’re “Happy, happy, happy!” It’s the first for the parents and grandparents, so you just know the kid is going to be spoiled to death … especially if ol’ Uncle Father Glenn gets to visit.
The births in any parish come in waves. There were (and hopefully will continue to be) the continual joy of burgeoning bellies on glowing mamas at IHM—joy for families, the Church, and God Himself. In each little one God is looking somewhat into a mirror, as all of us are made in His own image of beauty … each little one an absolutely unique and unrepeatable miracle of life. Even the cranky cantankerous ol’ curmudgeon has a spark of God in him … somewhere. 😉
This reminds us Catholics why the Church has always taught adamantly against elective abortion, because we believe that in the womb God is the greatest of artists creating another masterwork excelling all else in visible creation. Yes, we might stand in awe at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, muse over the Mona Lisa, or be awestricken at the night sky. But these cannot begin to compare to each human being … each child a masterwork of God, and (literally) infinitely more beautiful and lasting than any painting or stone image—created by God to endure forever.
We believe the life-giving nature of the marital embrace to be holy and one the of the most divine acts in which humans participate, husband and wife in the bond of married commitment literally becoming “co-creators” with God of new little images of both Him and of themselves—created to exist forever … a person “endowed with a spiritual soul, with intellect and with free will…from his very conception ordered to God and destined for eternal beatitude. He pursues his perfection in ‘seeking and loving what is true and good.’” Believing this, one of the earliest writings of Christianity—the “Didache” (pronounced “DID-a-kay”) from the 100s A.D.—emphasized: “You shall not kill an embryo by abortion and shall not cause a newborn to perish.” (Didache, 2)
Abortion has made the news quite a lot lately—in New Mexico, but even more so with New York’s allowing abortion up to birth itself, and mostly with the Virginia governor’s desire to allow the termination of a child’s life even post birth. Thus the perennial question arises: When does the organism become a human being, with all the rights and privileges so accorded?
This is almost an impossible topic to debate because few people are able to view the subject objectively, dispassionately, logically and philosophically. The pro-choice crowd champions a woman’s right to her own body, while pro-lifers claim that the developing organism is already human and deserves—and has the right to—continued life. We’ve heard these arguments for many decades—particularly since the ruling of Roe v. Wade in 1973, but the sides’ endless unhearing screeching at each other prevent reasoned debate. Simply watch the comments you’ll likely see toward this column, even though it’s endeavoring to be reasoned and dispassionate.
Well … let’s look at some facts. Does the organism within the woman have the same DNA as the woman? After all, that is usually the test of something being of one’s own body. But, no … the DNA is vastly different, scientifically determining that it is not her body. Is it a parasite, as some claim? After all, it does draw nourishment from the host body. That would make each of us at least former parasites. Because of the hormonal changes of the female host which bring feelings of contentment, the relationship would seem at very least symbiotic and mutually beneficial.
Is it human life only when it becomes independently viable? Well, those on oxygen, diabetes meds and/or dialysis, pacemakers, etc., might object if you say “yes”. Or does human life begin only when such life can fend for itself? Well, that pretty much eliminates any child to several years old—not to mention more than a few teenagers and adults I could name. And, how independent must it be? Would “preemies” in incubators not be human, and thus disposable? IQ or intelligence? Talk about a slippery slope THAT would be!
Even absent my religious faith, it always seemed logical to me that, because of the uniqueness of the human being, the beginning of “humanity”—the human person—must necessarily be defined as beginning at the most momentous event in its development. Well, each moment within the womb is 99% like the moment before; in fact, such is the same throughout the remainder of organism’s “life”. Obviously, then, the most momentous event of development necessarily occurs at initiation—at conception itself…heartbeat, brainwaves, etc., being discernible incremental developments. Thus, defining the organism as “human” at any other moment within its existence—either pre- or post-birth—becomes necessarily arbitrarily subjective. But, if “human”, does it not have human rights—the greatest of which is life itself?
These—and other—considerations we must muse upon in order to discern truth. Yes, an unexpected pregnancy can throw one’s world into turmoil … but does alleviation of turmoil and/or inconvenience justify elimination of a unique, unrepeatable, beautiful human life? … especially as pregnancy is almost always a foreseeable (if unplanned) result of an elective activity? Just a little grist for your mental mill.
In Old Testament days there was immolative sacrifice of children to the idol Molech in expectation of “reward” of prosperity and, ironically, future fertility. In our day we need beware the very common idol EgoSumOmnium—the idol “I am everything”, or perhaps a better sense being: “I am all that matters”… ourselves becoming our own “master race”… others then in danger of being relegated to the status of “life unworthy of life”, or, at very least “life only worthy of life if I say it is”.
Have a thoughtful week.
Rev. Glenn Jones is the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and former pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.