Greetings in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
Let us pray ….
Oh Lord our Christ Jesus, if one person should come to this webpage that is considering
abortion of the child that she carrying, please let her mind be changed, and let the child
live. Let her know there are fine families that would raise this child as their own. Let her
have the peace knowing that her child is alive, is breathing, and is in good hands. Lead
her away from the so called doctors that practice murder with the consent of
governments. Take her by the hand and let her know your love and peace. Amen.
Christ said: "Suffer the children and let them come unto me."
Prayer for the Helpless Unborn
Heavenly Father, You create people in Your own image, and You desire that not even the
least among us should perish. In Your love for us,You entrusted Your only Son to the
Holy Virgin Mary. Now in Your love, protect against the wickedness of the devil those
little ones to whom You have given the gift of life. Help these mothers not be swayed by
other people and see this new life as a gift from you. Let them give this child the same
chance that they had, a chance at "LIFE". Amen
The Pro-Life Rosary...
THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES...
1. The Annunciation...
The Angel Gabriel came to Mary saying, "Rejoice, so highly favored. The Lord
is with you. Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God's favor. Listen! You
are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus." Mary accepted
God's plan, and was overjoyed to conceive the Son of God. Her womb became a
holy tabernacle.
Mary, we pray that all mothers who are with child will respect their
privilege as you did. We pray that the laws of nations and social attitudes
will encourage all expectant mothers and protect their unborn babies. May
all expectant mothers proclaim, "I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let what you
have said be done to me." Mary, you know that God alone gives the gift of
life. Help all abortionists to realize that only God has the right to take life.
2. The Visitation...
Mary had heard from Gabriel of Elizabeth becoming pregnant, despite her
advanced years. And so the Holy Virgin went to stay with her. "Of all
women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb"
exclaimed Elizabeth. The two holy women treasured the new lives growing
within them.
Mary and Elizabeth and John the Baptist, please pray to Jesus that our
society will treasure every human life from conception till natural death.
3. The Birth of Jesus...
Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, in obedience to the command of Caesar
Augustus. Mary's time had come, but only a stable was available for lodging.
There was no room at the inn.
Mary, in our day there are many expectant mothers with no proper place to
have and raise their children. Society would rather they destroyed the child
instead. Grant courage to those in such need, and teach our civil
authorities to act humanely and responsibly.
4. The Presentation in the Temple...
Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple, in obedience to the law of
Moses. They presented the Child to God, his Father. Simeon rejoiced to see
the light of the world, but spoke also of Jesus as a sign of contradiction,
and foretold the sword of sorrow that would pierce Mary's heart.
We pray that all babies be privileged to come to birth and then to baptism
in their parish Church. May all mothers praise and thank God for their children.
5. Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple...
On coming of age Jesus' first act is to be about his Father's business. His
second is to submit himself to Mary and Joseph as an act of free and mature
deliberation. His three days' absence from them foreshadows his absence in
the tomb. Mary treasures all these things in her heart. Her Son has given
her much to ponder.
Jesus, teach all mothers to choose to be with their children and renounce
the violent separation of abortion. Comfort all those who suffer the
separation of bereavement.
THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES...
1. The Agony in Garden...
The night before he died, Jesus went to the lonely garden of Gethsemane. He
took his closest friends and asked them repeatedly to watch with him. He
prayed that if possible, his Father might remove this cup of suffering from
him. But aware of the dominance of evil in men's hearts he knew how much
atonement was needed. Each time he looked, his friends were asleep. At
such a crisis how could they sleep?
Today, Christ is crucified again each time an infant is aborted: what we do
to the least of his brethren, we do to him. Must we also fall asleep?
Rather, let us watch and pray.
2. The Scourging at the Pillar...
The chief priests envied Jesus' message, all truth and light. But if they
accepted his leadership how would the Romans react? Better to sacrifice one
innocent man than set the whole nation at risk. Best hand him over to the
Romans, to be scourged and crucified.
Most pro-abortionists are too respectable to do themselves what they
advocate: they hand over the baby to others to be mutilated and killed.
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
3. Jesus is Crowned With Thorns...
Our Lady came to Fatima with a message for us all: pray the Rosary daily for
peace. Do much penance in reparation for the sins of the world.
Jesus has endured enough insult and pain already: we must not continue to
heap these upon him. Thorns from enemies were terrible: insults from
friends are even worse. How painful for him to receive back, a tortured,
mutilated baby, when he sent a unique gift of life.
4. Jesus Carries His Cross...
Jesus set out for Calvary, laden with his own cross, like a lamb to the
slaughter. He had been given a couple of token trials, before the Sanhedrin
and Pilate. But they were only gestures: the minds of the intellectuals had
been made up. His death would solve a problem. He was ready for all this.
He had taught that what was hidden from the wise and prudent was revealed to
little ones.
Some little ones suffer like him: death without trial. Like Jesus, their
death would solve a problem. Mothers should weep for themselves and for
their children.
5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus...
Jesus suffered a long, cruel, agonizing death. Throughout he stayed true to
his Father. He stayed true to all he had said, true to his love for us.
The bystanders heard his words of love and forgiveness, of concern for his
mother, of the gift of a mother to a sinful family. But he cried, "Father,
why hast thou forsaken me?" How could his people let him feel so abandoned?
Jesus suffers again each time a baby suffers the cruel and agonizing death
of an abortion and feels the abandonment of its mother. Let us not now
abandon him or them.
THE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES...
1. The Resurrection...
It is truly Jesus risen from the dead: he shows the wounds in his hands, his
feet, his side. Gradually men must come to recognize his love. He died for
each one of us. He would have died for only one of us.
Such is the value of each human life from conception to natural death.
Jesus' rising from the dead should raise our awareness of the value of our
neighbor no matter how tiny.
2. The Ascension...
The time has come for Jesus to take his seat at his Father's right hand. A
crowd assembles on the mountain. We learn that we are not to be left
alone. Jesus will be with us till the end of time. His Spirit will come
and strengthen and enlighten, so that we shall be the light of the world.
How dark the world is today. It thinks that the deeds done in the darkness
of the womb are done in secret. Jesus, the light of the world, will reveal
in the light of his presence, all that is done in darkness. Jesus, help us
hold them to the light and show those blinded to the truth the lovely
tenderness of your unborn babes.
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit...
The Apostles gathered in the upper room. They had their message, but could
not yet act on it. They must await further power from on high. It was the
Spirit who drove them into the streets to proclaim their risen Lord.
Lord, like the Apostles, the pro-life workforce of today can do nothing
alone. Send us the abundant gifts of your Spirit that we too may be driven
into the streets to proclaim the humanity of the unborn.
4. The Assumption of Mary into Heaven...
We praise God for raising his mother, both body and soul to heaven, sharing
with her first the fruits of his resurrection. Now she prays for us, and He
is sure to listen.
Mary, pray for your children that all may live in peace and love. May
simple love conquer the modern ethic of expedience, with its demarcation
line between valuable and disposable people. May all pass through natural
death to the resurrection. May all have the opportunity to work out their
own salvation.
5. The Coronation of Mary...
We honor the Queen, mother of the King, closest collaborator in the work of
our redemption. We honor the saints who have completed their earthly
pilgrimage, and we seek the help of all their prayers.
Mary, we trust that all the infants executed before birth are safely with
you, enjoying the vision of God. They were not baptized with water, but
neither were the Holy Innocents. Tell your Son that they are all martyrs of
the modern Herods.
PRAYERS...
The Apostles Creed...
I believe in God, the Father, the Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. And
in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord who was conceived by the Holy
Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was
crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell: the third day He
arose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, sitteth at the right
hand of God, the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the
living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic
Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection
of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
Our Father...
Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom Come, Thy
Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Hail Mary...
Hail Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among
women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of
God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Glory Be...
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in
the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
O My Jesus...
O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all
souls to heaven especially those in most need of thy mercy.
Hail, Holy Queen...
Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To
thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee do we send up our
sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most
gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us; and after this our exile
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O
sweet Virgin Mary.
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God. That we may be made worthy of the
promises of Christ.
Let us Pray:
O, God whose only begotten Son by His life, death and
resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant we
beseech Thee that in meditating on the mysteries of the most Holy Rosary of
the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what
the promise, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Prayer to St. Michael Archangel...
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in the day of Battle; be our protection
against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we
humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of
God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl through the
world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Written by Father James Morrow
Sites Dedicated to Pro Life
ALL's Pro-Life
Encyclopedia
Catholic Online
Prolife Alliance
Defend Life
UK Prolife Site
Right Guide
Priests For Life
Prolife.org
Alaska Right To Life
The Catholic Goldmine
Heritage House '76
Ultimate Pro-Life Resource List
National Right To Life
American Life League
Catholics United for Life
Pregnancy Centers Online
Human Life Alliance
The Killing of Unborn
Babies
Human Life International [HLI]
K of C Faith Human Life Links
The Atheist and Agnostic Pro-Life
League
Catholic Vessel of Hope
It's A
Wonderful Life Adoption Center
THIS YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE
Ohio Right to Life
This site lists the names of companies which support abortion and abortion services,
companies that manufacture abortifacient contraceptives, corporations that use products
of abortions, and popular artists and rock groups supporting abortion.
Life
~ What a
Beautiful Choice!All Boys & Girls
Adopted: February 18,2000 |  |
Stop Abortion Not A Beating
Heart!
THE ISSUES OF ABORTION
Academically, the issue of abortion involves the balance of rights and freedoms between the
mother and the baby.
Theologically, there are really only two questions:
-
At what point does life (ie: do not kill) begin between conception and birth?
-
Is it sin to abort a fetus?
Reasons Why People Want Abortions:
A. If these are valid before birth, why not after birth too?
-
baby conceived outside of wedlock
-
parents incapable of caring for baby
-
baby will have inferior quality of life
-
fetus not able to survive outside body of mother by itself
B. Baby conceived as result of rape
-
extremely rare: 0 pregnancies out of 4500 rape cases
-
This is a red herring it never happens!
-
should child suffer for sin of another?
C. Pregnancy seriously endangers life of mother
-
abortion permitted because it can be viewed as saving life of mother, otherwise both will die
Bible Defines Life:
A. Now where uses phrases "human" or "human being"
-
Uses "man, woman, child, son, daughter, baby etc."
-
Since these terms are used for unborn children, then we have evidence that human life is present
before birth
-
The Bible makes no distinction of any kind in the terms used to describe a fetus.
-
Body without spirit is dead: Jas 2:26
-
The blood is the life: Deut 12:23 fetus has bloodstream at 4 weeks
B. "Begat sons and daughters" Gen 5:3,4,28-30
-
Begat always refers to conception and fertilization
C. "children & sons in womb" Gen 25:21-22; 2 Ki 19:3; Ruth 1:11
D. "a man child conceived" Job 3:3
-
notice the difference: day of birth, night conceived see Rev 12:5 "man child born"
E. "mother" of unborn child Num 12:12; Lk 1:43
F. Rom 9:11 for though the twins were not yet born, and had not done anything good or bad
G. "baby leapt for joy" in mother's womb Lk 1:41,44
conceived a "son" Lk 1:36; Ax 7:29
H. death of unborn= life for life Ex 21:22-25
-
There is no indication in the Hebrew that the baby was miscarried
-
Even if miscarriage is what is meant, the intent was not to abort baby but harm woman,
-
Literal translation: "Child brought forth"
-
Notice that the fetus is referred to as a "child" second most common word for child in OT cf: of
Moses in Ex 2:3-10
I. Is The Life In The Womb A Human Individual?
The fundamental question to be answered is whether or not the life that has been conceived in
the mother's womb is a human person, separate and distinct as an individual from the mother.
God created only three basic classes of life, each of which reproduces after its own kind: plants,
animals, and people. (Gen. 1:11,12,20-25,26-30; 5:1-4). In which of these three categories
should a living, unborn baby be classed? It cannot be considered plant or animal because plants
and animals reproduce after their own kind. It is the result of human reproduction, and humans
are distinct from the plants and animals. Therefore the life in the womb of a human mother must
necessarily be human! We next ask: is the life in the womb just a part of the mother's body (like
an appendix, so removing it is not murder), or is it a separate and distinct individual from the
mother so that killing it is murder? This is the issue we must resolve. The Bible (King James
Version and most other versions) nowhere uses the phrases "human" or "human being" to refer to
anyone, so we cannot determine whether the unborn is a human individual simply by searching
for the terms "human being." Instead, the Bible identifies a human person by calling it simply a
"man," "woman," "child," "son," "daughter," "baby," "infant," etc. What we need to know, then,
is whether or not the Bible refers to the unborn baby by terms that imply humanity, just as it does
for other humans.
A. God's Terms for the Unborn
-
Gen. 25:21,22 In Genesis 25:21,22, Rebekah conceived twins, and "the children struggled
together within her." That which was conceived was called a "child" between the conception and
the birth.
-
The Hebrew word used here (BEN) is the most common Old Testament word for a child or son.
When used for the physical offspring of humans, it consistently refers to distinct human
individuals (see Gen. 25:1-4; 3:16; etc.). Job 3:3
-
On the very night of Job's conception it could have been said, "There is a man-child conceived."
The word for "man-child" (Heb. GEBER) elsewhere means "man," i.e., a human individual (see
Job 3:23; 4:17; 10:5; Psalms 127:5; 128:4; etc.).
-
Job 3:16 Babies that die before birth are called "infants" that never saw light. This is exactly like
babies that are aborted. This word (Heb. OLEL) always and without exception refers to human
individuals (cf. Hosea 13:16; Psalm 8:2; Joel 2:16).
-
Numbers 12:12; Luke 1:43 In Numbers 12:12, Moses describes "one dead, of whom the flesh is
half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb." If a baby dies before it is born -- as
in an abortion -- the woman who conceived it is still a "mother."
-
In Luke 1:43, Elizabeth addressed Mary as "the mother of my Lord" before Jesus was born.
-
The word "mother" (Heb. EM; Greek METER), in contexts referring to physical human
reproduction, always refers to one who has procreated or formed another human individual, a
separate and distinct individual from the mother herself (see Num. 6:7; Gen. 3:20; Luke 1:60). A
woman who has conceived, even if the child is not yet born and even if it dies before birth, is a
"mother."
-
Luke 1:41,44 Elizabeth conceived (v. 24), and the life "in her womb" is called a "babe" or "baby"
(Greek BREPHOS). This is the second-most-common New Testament word for a baby. It is
always used for that which is a human individual separate and distinct from its mother (see Luke
2:12,16; Acts 7:19.)
-
Luke 1:36 Again, the life conceived in Elizabeth's womb, before it was born, is called "a son."
The word "son" (Greek HUIOS), in contexts that refer to the physical offspring of humans,
always refers to that which is a human individual separate and distinct as an individual from its
parents. It is the most common New Testament word for a "son" (see Matt. 1:21,23,25; Luke
1:13,31; 2:7; etc.)
B. Observations on the Verses
That which has been conceived and lives in the mother's womb from conception on is referred to
by God as a "child," a "son," an "infant," a "baby," a "man-child," etc. The woman in whose
womb it lives is a "mother." No human being anywhere in the Bible is identified by terms that
are more distinctly human than these terms. God makes no distinction between born and unborn
life. He uses exactly the same terms for both, therefore we should view them as having the same
nature. Remember that we established from the beginning that the life in the mother's womb is
human life. The only question to be settled was whether it is a distinct individual from its mother
or just part of the mother's body. Consider the force of the evidence we have now examined:
Does the Bible refer to parts of the mother's body as "child," "son," "baby," etc.? Clearly not.
Nor is a woman ever called a "mother" just because she has these body parts. Why is this so?
Because the terms "child," "son," "baby," etc., are terms that imply a separate human individual,
not just a part of the mother's body. Consider the parallel to the Godhead. We can prove that God
the Father and Jesus are two separate individuals by referring to the many passages that mention
Jesus as the Son of God the Father. A person cannot be his own father or his own son. A father
and his son make two separate individuals (cf. John 8:16-18). Likewise, when a woman has
conceived, the life in her womb is her "son" (or "daughter") and she is its "mother." If God the
Father is a separate individual from Jesus Christ His Son, then in the very same way and for the
very same reasons a mother must be a separate individual from the son or daughter in her womb.
II. HOW SHOULD WE TREAT AN UNBORN CHILD?
The unborn life in the mother's womb is a human individual from conception on.
How should we treat this unborn life, and may we deliberately kill it? Surely we must be
guided by exactly the same rules or principles we should follow in our treatment of any other
"child" or "baby." What are these rules?
A. Stewardship: Train, and Protect a Child
Abortion's defenders often argue that, if the mother does not "want" to have the child, she may
abort it. But does a mother have the right to not want her child? Psalm 127:3-5; 128:3-5 --
Children are a blessing, a source of happiness and joy to their parents. Yet unborn babies are
children, so parents ought to appreciate them as a blessing from God. People who have Scriptural
attitudes will never kill unborn babies because they will never want to. Abortion is the grossest
form of ingratitude for God's blessing. Proverbs 22:6; Ephesians 6:4 -- God has made us
stewards of our children. A steward is a person who has been entrusted with something that
belongs to someone else. He is responsible to care for that item and use it to accomplish the
purpose of the one to whom it belongs. He will be condemned and punished by the owner or
master if he abuses or misuses that which has been entrusted to him (Luke 12:42-46; Matt.
25:14-30; I Cor. 4:2). An unborn child is a particular blessing that has been given into our care
just as surely as is a child that has been born. We have the same God-given duty toward an
unborn child as we do toward one that has been born. If we kill them, we defeat God's purpose
for their lives. How can we "train up" and "bring up" those whom we have killed?! Abortion is
the grossest form of child abuse and the most extreme perversion of parental responsibility. God
will not fail to hold us accountable.
B. God Says to Love Our Children.
Titus 2:4 -- Young women should be taught to love their children. But an unborn baby is a
"child," and a woman who has conceived is a mother even before the baby is born. The Bible
tells us how we should act toward those we love (I Cor. 13:4-7), and this teaching definitely does
not allow us to kill them (Rom. 13:8-10). We have clearly established that abortion is wrong
without even (thus far) examining passages specifically dealing with murder. Abortion does fit
the Bible definition of murder. But even if it did not, it would still be sinful because it is
unloving, a lack of appreciation for God's blessings, and a gross abuse of our stewardship to raise
our children as God directs.
C. Respect for Life: Do Not Kill an Innocent Child.
-
Many passages teach us not to deliberately kill innocent human beings. Please read Exodus 23:7;
Proverbs 6:16,17;
-
Revelation 21:8; 22:15; Matthew 15:19,20; and Romans 13:8-10. In addition, please consider
these specific passages.
-
Psa. 106:37,38 -- Israel was polluted with blood because the people shed the innocent blood of
their "sons and daughters." But unborn babies are "sons and daughters." What then is the
condition of our land when over 25 million "sons and daughters" have been legally killed?
-
Matthew 2:16 -- Herod is considered wicked because he slew the male children in Bethlehem.
Luke 2:12,16 calls such children "babes." But Luke 1:41,44 also calls unborn children "babes,"
so how can it be acceptable to kill them?
-
Hosea 13:16; 2 Kings 8:12 -- When children or infants are dashed to pieces, it is a great tragedy
to any nation. Yet unborn babies are children or infants, and in our nation they are dashed to
pieces by the millions!
-
Acts 7:19; Ex. 1:16-18 -- Pharaoh commanded that Israelite "sons" or "men children" be killed as
soon as they were born. But these same terms are used for unborn babies. Would it have been
acceptable for Pharaoh to have had abortions performed to kill the babies? Is it any less wicked if
people today do it?
-
Deuteronomy 27:25 -- "Cursed be he that taketh a bribe to slay an innocent person." What clearer
description could be given for people who operate abortion clinics?
Conclusion
Abortion is wrong, therefore, because it is a failure to love, appreciate, and care for a human
baby. It is also wrong because it constitutes the deliberate killing of an innocent human being.
When people defend abortion, their arguments should always be evaluated in light of the fact that
the unborn baby is a human being, a separate individual from its mother. Therefore, deliberately
killing it would be just as wrong as killing any other innocent human being. What should a
woman do if she has aborted a baby and now realizes she did wrong? She does not need to spend
the rest of her life with the burden of unforgiven guilt. The Bible says abortion is wrong, but it
also offers a source of true forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. God will forgive if we
will come to Him according to His conditions. Read and obey these passages: Rom. 1:16; 6:3,4;
10:9,10; Mark 16:16; Acts 17:30; 2:38; 22:16.
If you know of any Sites that you feel should be listed here
please email the Site
Administrator
EMAIL US
Thank you.
Read
EVANGELIUM VITAE - THE
GOSPEL OF LIFE
Pope John Paul II
"HOLDING HANDS"
Story and photo gratefully supplied by: The Irish Independent online: 30 October
1999
Take a good look at this picture. It's one of the most remarkable photographs ever
taken. The tiny hand of a fetus reaches out from a mother's womb to clasp a
surgeon's healing finger. It is, by the way, 21 weeks old, an age at which it could
still be legally aborted. The tiny hand in the picture above belongs to a baby which
is due to be born on December 28. It was taken during an operation in America
recently. Paul Harris reports on a medical development in the control of the effects
of spina bifida ... and on a picture which will reverberate through the on-going
abortion debate here
Your first instinct is to recoil in horror. It looks like a close-up of some terrible
accident. And then you notice, in the centre of the photograph, the tiny hand
clutching a surgeon's finger.
The baby is literally hanging on for life. For this is one of the most remarkable
photographs taken in medicine and a record of one of the world's most
extraordinary operations.
It shows a 21-week-old fetus in its mother's womb, about to undergo a spine
operation designed to save it from serious brain damage.
The surgery was carried out entirely through the tiny slit visible in the wall of the
womb and the `patient' is believed to be the youngest to undergo it.
At that age the mother could have chosen to have the fetus aborted. Her decision
not to, however, led to an astonishing test not just of medical technology, but of
faith.
Samuel Armas has spina bifida, which left part of his spinal cord exposed after the
backbone failed to develop.
The operation was designed to close the gap and protect the cord, the body's
motorway for nerve signals to the brain.
So, on an unborn patient no bigger than a guinea-pig, the operation was performed
without removing the fetus from the womb.
The instruments had to be specially designed to work in miniature. The sutures
used to close the incisions were less than the thickness of a human hair.
An ER-style crash-cart team was on constant standby in an adjoining room.
When it was completed, however, Samuel's battle for survival was only just
beginning. Nor would the emotional battle his parents had already endured finish
quite yet.
Julie and Alex Armas had been trying desperately for a baby. Julie, a 27-year-old
nurse, had suffered two miscarriages before she became pregnant with the child
they intended to call Samuel Alexander if it was a boy.
Then, at 14 weeks, she started to suffer terrible cramp. An ultrasound scan was
carried out to show the shape of the developing fetus and its position in the womb.
When the picture emerged, it was the moment that every parent-to-be dreads. Their
unborn son's brain was mis-shapen and his spinal cord was sticking out from a
deformed backbone. He had spina bifida. They were devastated and ``torn apart''
said Alex, a 28-year-old jet aircraft engineer.
At that stage, and even weeks later, the couple could have decided to have the
pregnancy terminated. In their hometown of Georgia in the US as in Britain
abortion is routinely offered. Although accurate figures are not available, many
parents accept. For Julie and Alex, who are deeply religious, it was not an option.
That didn't mean, of course, that they were not racked by pain at the thought that
the child they had longed for was imperfect.
It also riddled them with guilt over whether they had effectively taken the decision
to inflict their son with years of handicap, pain and suffering.
So, this being the United States, they turned to the internet for help.
Julie's mother found a website giving details of pioneering surgery being carried
out by a team at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Although the
results have not yet been endorsed in medical journals, they looked encouraging to
Mr. and Mrs. Armas.
Their doctor put them in touch with Dr. Joseph Bruner (it is his finger in the
photograph). A race against time had begun.
Because it affects the spinal cord, spina bifida can lead to a condition that causes
brain damage. Mr. and Mrs. Armas were told that if they were to avoid the
condition, which was not then present in Samuel, they had to act fast.
``I wasn't concerned about a child who couldn't walk,'' said Julie, ``but I want a
child who knows me.''
The theory behind the surgery is that attention to the spine disorder before the baby
is born prevents or limits brain damage, and gives a better chance of healing. It
does not cure spina bifida, but it is said to provide a strong chance of limiting the
damage through early intervention.
The risks, however, are enormous. Controversy surrounds the use of such surgery
because it goes against the general medical rule that the risk should not outweigh
the benefit.
Mr. and Mrs. Armas were fully aware that if anything went wrong, no attempt
would be made to deliver Samuel by Caesarean section.
Medical science does not yet have the capability to keep a 21-week-old fetus alive
outside the womb. The crash-cart was on standby for Julie, not Samuel.
``If he dies, that's horrible for me and for us,'' said Julie before she went into
theatre. Wiping tears she added: ``But not for him. The worst thing might be if we
don't do this, and this is standard treatment when he's 21, and he says: ``Why didn't
you know about that?'' And we say: ``We did, but we didn't do it for you.''
The other major dangers were turning him in the womb to get his back in line with
an inch-long cut in the wall, through which Dr Bruner would operate, and that the
surgery might involve releasing the fluid around Samuel.
The movement posed the risk of sending Julie into labour contractions, which
would have been fatal for Samuel.
Thus, one morning at the beginning of last month, Dr Bruner could be heard urging
his team to keep quiet. ``Shh!'' he said. ``You'll wake the baby!''
Robert Davis, who reported on the operation for USA Today newspaper, said the
lesion that exposed Samuel's spine was found low on his backbone, decreasing the
chance of nerve damage.
Although Samuel is believed to have been the youngest patient for such an
operation, it was apparently routine enough for Dr Bruner and pediatric
neurosurgeon Noel Tullpant to talk about the weather during the operation.
An hour later, the womb is gently eased back into place. ``Beautiful,'' said one of
the technicians and relief swept the room.
Julie was allowed home with Alex within days. The baby is due on December 28.
He has not yet felt the touch of his mother's skin against his own and he knows
nothing of life outside her womb. But perhaps Samuel Alexander Armas will be
able to shake Dr Bruner's hand again.
THE CALM BEFORE THE ABORTION DEBATE STORM.
By Justine McCarthy. Nobody could be unmoved by the powerful image of this
tiny finger clinging to the surgeon's hand. A hand that can create modern miracles
and save lives that might otherwise be doomed before they even begin. This
picture is an emotive and compelling argument against the termination of abnormal
pregnancies and it appears as Ireland braces itself for yet another visitation of the
debate.
As the range of options outlined in the government Green Paper are being
considered for the next installment in the Irish debate, there is a sense of an uneasy
calm before the storm. With assisted abortion technically legal here under the
Supreme Court ruling in the X Case, pro-life organizations still continue to lobby
for yet another referendum on the substantive issue.
Dana's election to the European parliament last summer was indicative of the
strong pro-life undercurrent in her constituency of Connacht-Ulster. Suggestions
that similar candidates might be fielded throughout the country at the next general
election are predicated on the belief that a referendum is still a possibility.
In fact, Dana indirectly raised the subject in Europe this week when she put down
an amendment to the Union's budget seeking to end the funding monopoly enjoyed
by the European Women's Lobby. She wanted to give some of the allocated
£480,000 to the World Movement of Mothers, an organization Dana claimed to
know little about but which others described as pro-life. The European Women's
Lobby, an umbrella organization that lobbies the EU on behalf of various women's
groups throughout the Union, claimed that the proposed cut in its funding could
jeopardize the jobs of its 10-strong staff.
Though, ultimately, no vote was taken on that amendment, it focussed the
parliament's minds on the issue of abortion once again.
Nearly 6,000 Irish females are expected to travel to Britain this year for abortions.
In this country, however, the debate has traditionally been concerned with crisis
pregnancies rather than abnormal fetal development. In that respect, this
extraordinary photograph may have more relevance to the debate in Britain where
termination is legally available at 21 weeks - the age of the world's youngest
known patient.
Story and photo gratefully supplied by: The Irish Independent online: 30 October
1999
From The Daily Telegraph (Scotland Edition) 19th February 2000:
Mother to the unborn child
Sr. Roseann Reddy has founded an order of nuns in Glasgow to fight our
'culture of death'
By Daniel Johnson
I have seen the new Mother Teresa, and she lives in Glasgow. Her name
is Sister Roseann Reddy. In appearance, she could scarcely be more
different from the diminutive, inscrutable Albanian: she is a jolly
lass of 36, extrovert, cheerful, larger than life in every sense.
Reddy is her name, and ready is her wit; so much so that she might be
mistaken for a stand-up Glaswegian comic.
But she shares the maternal, even matriarchal quality that gave Mother
Teresa her sobriquet. She, too, has founded a new religious order with
a powerful, urgent and coherent mission. And she has that indefinable
quality that Max Weber called charisma, which really means "gift of
grace".
Sr. Roseann has that gift in abundance, which is why I do not hesitate
to compare her to the most celebrated nun of the 20th century.
Transparent humility, the ability to inspire by example, and
indomitable courage: these are characteristics that may manifest
themselves anywhere, but combined with a luminous faith they may
betoken sanctity of a rare kind.
Some readers will already be acquainted with Sr Roseann's work, if they
are fortunate enough to have watched this week's remarkable Everyman
documentary about her. She is the woman who, for the past two years,
has run Cardinal Thomas Winning's pro-life initiative, which offers
help to any pregnant girl or woman who is considering abortion.
I see her as the embodiment of a new kind of Catholic post-feminism.
The key to Sr Roseann is her family, above all her mother. She was
raised at Bonybridge in Stirlingshire, surrounded as she says by
"strong role models". "I come from generations of strong women, who
did not feel oppressed by having to bring up seven children. They knew
their strength came from God and one another; they were proud to be
family women. My mother was joyful and funny and intelligent, and it
annoys me when Catholic women are portrayed as brainless."
Sr. Roseann's mother died when she was 18, a loss that forced her to
ask herself deep questions about the meaning of life. She worked in
Edinburgh as a nanny and cared for a disabled man, but the turning
point came a year after her bereavement, when she heard Pope John Paul
II address a vast crowd at Murrayfield, in 1982. His words still echo
in her ears: "When you choose for your future, choose not for
yourselves alone." She took this as a challenge to devote her life to
others.
She had already been struck by the personality change suffered by a
girl she had known, who had an abortion and ended up in a psychiatric
ward. But it was only when she found herself arguing with a speaker
from the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child that Sr Roseann
realised the hollowness of her conventional feminist belief in the
"woman's right to choose".
She went to work for SPUC in Glasgow, where her talents were recognised
by Cardinal Winning. She became his right-hand woman. Two years ago,
while watching the television news, she was astonished to see the
cardinal announce his offer to help to care for the babies of those
under pressure to have an abortion. Then the phone rang. It was him,
offering her the job of running the initiative ·single-handed. Though
terrified, Miss Reddy was not unready. And despite the barrage of
criticism, she has made a huge success of her lonely crusade. Hundreds
of mothers and infants testify to that. Little by little, the tide is
turning.
Something, though, was still missing. About seven years ago, a priest
who was also a friend had asked her if she had ever thought of being a
nun. Her reply was blunt "Don't be ridiculous!" But over the years
the idea grew on her. She prayed for guidance: "If you ask God for
wisdom, He doesn't play cat and mouse with you."
She emphasises that her decision to become a nun has not been taken
lightly: "I'm not unemotional, but this has to involve head as well as
heart." Despite the protracted preparation, it will be another five
years before she is fully professed. That decision is in itself
extraordinary: female religious vocations in Britain have all but dried
up.
When Roseann Reddy began to "discern" her own calling, she found
herself alone in Scotland. She refused to submit to the psychological
tests that some older orders require of novices. Nor did she want to
be a teacher, nurse or social worker. She spent a few months in
America, with a new order founded by Cardinal O'Connor of New York, who
shared her concern about abortion. "But I always knew I'd come home."
It was, once again, the Pope who inspired her. His 1995 encyclical,
Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), gave full expression for the
first time to her passionately held resistance to our present "culture
of death". It described abortion and euthanasia as "crimes that no
human law can claim to legitimise".
For Catholics, "there is a clear and grave obligation to oppose them by
conscientious objection", though never by violence. Despite his
doctrinal rigour, the Pope also preaches compassion. This is important
to Sr Roseann, who says she has "never condemned or judged anybody" and
who feels particularly warmly towards women who have had abortions.
Evangelium Vitae became the charter of her new order, the Sisters of
the Gospel of Life. So far she has two young novices, formerly in
teaching and in publishing, and has set up a convent, Out Lady and St
Joseph's, in the heart of south Glasgow.
They still have the builders in ·"it's all a bit chaotic" ·but
readers who are serious about the religious life may write to Sr
Roseann at 106 Dixon Avenue, Glasgow, G42 8EL. "If you feel God may be
calling you, don't shut Him out," she says. "We don't size you up for
a habit straight away, but I don't believe God has stopped calling
women in their entirety."
One reason why I hazard the guess that Sr Roseann's order will
snowball, as Mother Teresa's did, is that she works with genuinely
needy young women and children, who are intensely rewarding. Another
is that Sr Roseann herself is so likeable, whether in person or on television. She
profoundly impressed a gathering of Roman Catholic writers and
journalists in London.
Unlike most Catholic clergy, she is not shy of the media, but she is
also wise to their knavish tricks. She has learnt from Cardinal
Winning that it pays to be bold, but she has now emerged from his
shadow as a formidable presence in her own right. He is a late
developer, but she has her whole life ahead.
Is my comparison to Mother Teresa over the top? Sr Roseann herself is
far too modest to make it, but she does see the millions of unborn
children who have been aborted in Britain since the 1967 Act as no less
deserving of help and attention than the poor of Calcutta.
If the Catholic Church in Britain ever takes seriously the Pope's
challenge to oppose abortion and euthanasia by civil disobedience, I
confidently expect to find Sr Roseann ready.
Roe v. Wade - 26 Years of Life Denied
Abortion Practicioners on Themselves
The following quotes were compiled to show the stark contrast between the way
the abortion rights movement depicts abortion, unborn children, abortion
facilities and abortion practicioners. These quotes and their sources appear to
give you a truer picture of the state of abortion in our country:
"Counselors are just to give the appearance of help. . . [They] think of
themselves as company for the women."
--abortion counselor
"I have never yet counseled anybody to have the baby. I'm also doing women's
counseling on campus at Albany State, and there I am expected to present
alternatives. Whereas at the abortion clinic you aren't really expected to."
--abortion counselor
Rachel Weeping and Other Essays About Abortion. James Tunstead Burtchaell,
editor. New York: Universal Press, 1982 pgs 42-43
"I was trained by a professional marketing director in how to sell abortions
over the telephone. He took every one of our receptionists, nurses, and anyone
else who would deal with people over the phone through an extensive training
period. The object was, when the girl called, to hook the sale so that she
wouldn't get an abortion somewhere else, or adopt out her baby, or change her
mind. We were doing it for the money."
--Nina Whitten, chief secretary at a
Dallas abortion clinic under Dr. Curtis Boyd
"They [the women] are never allowed to look at the ultrasound because we knew
that if they so much as heard the heart beat, they wouldn't want to have an
abortion."
-Dr. Randall
'Pro-Choice 1990: Skeletons in the Closet" by David Kuperlain and Mark Masters
in "New Dimensions" magazine.
"I have seen hundreds of patients in my office who have had abortions and were
just lied to by the abortion counselor. Namely "This is less painful than having
a tooth removed. It is not a baby." Afterwards, the woman sees Life magazine and
breaks down and goes into a major depression."
--Psychologist Vincent Rue
"Abortion Inc" David Kupelian and Jo Ann Gasper, New Dimemsions, October 1991 p
16.
"I got to where I couldn't stand to look at the little bodies anymore"
--Dr. Beverly McMillan, when asked why she stopped performing abortions.
"I have been there, and I have seen these totally formed babies as early as ten
weeks... with the leg missing, or with their head off. i have seen the little
rib cages..."
--Debra Harry
"We all wish it were formless, but its not...and its painful. There is a lot of
emotional pain."
--abortion clinic worker
Quoted in "The Ex Abortionists: They Have Confronted Reality" Washington Post
April 1, 1988 p a21.
"If I see a case...after twenty weeks, where it frankly is a child to me, I
really agonize over it because the potential is so imminently there..."
--Dr. James MacMahon, who performs partial-birth abortions, in Nat Hentoff "It's Just
Too Late: Third Trimester abortions are an Outrage and an Insult to the Human
Race" July 27, 1993 Pittsburg Post-Gazette
Quoted in Melody Green and Sharon Bennett "The Crime of Being Alive: Abortion,
Euthanasia, Infanticide" p 3:
"Remember, there is a human being at the other end of the table taking that kid
apart. We've had a couple of guys drinking too much, taking drugs, even a
suicide or two."
--Dr. Julius Butler, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology
at the University of Minnesota Medical School
"Arms, legs, and chests come out of the forceps. It's not a sight for everybody"
--Dr. William Benbow Thompson at the University of California at Irvine
"After an abortion, the doctor must inspect these remains to make sure that all
the fetal parts and placenta have been removed. Any tissue left inside the
uterus can start an infection. Dr. Bours squeezed the contents of the sock into
a shallow dish and poked around with his finger. "You can see a teeny tiny hand'
he said."
--abortion clinic worker quoted in "Is the Fetus Human" and in Dudley
Clendinen, "The Abortion Conflict: What it Does to One Doctor" New York Times
Magazine Aug 11 1985b p 26.
"I am deeply troubled by my own increasing certainty that I have in fact
presided over 60,000 deaths. There is no longer serious doubt in my mind that
human life exists from the very onset of pregnancy"
--Dr. Bernard Nathanson, "Deeper Into Abortion" New England Journal of Medicine Nov
1974 p 1189
From the article "Abortion Providers Share Inner Conflicts" which appeared in
the July 12 1993 issue of AAA News, a publication of the American Medical
Association:
"I have angry feelings at myself for feeling good about grasping the calvaria,
for feeling good about doing a technically good procedure that destroys a fetus,
kills a baby."
"When I put my hands on somebody to feel how big they are and I get kicked, I am
barely able to talk at that moment."
"It's hard to be in a profession where you have a hard time answering the
questions that other people ask you about what you do."
"I went up to the lab one day and on the pathologiest's table I saw what I
thought was little rubber doll until I realized it was a fetus. . .I got really
shook up and upset and I couldn't believe it. It had all its fingers and toes,
you know, hands and feet. . . I never thought it would look so -real. I didn't
like it."
--Planned Parenthood employee quoted in Magda Denes book "In Necessity
and Sorrow" New York:Basic Books 1979.
From the Dallas Observer 3/18/95: Former clinic administrator Charlotte Taft,
"We were hiding from the women some of the pieces of truth about abortion that
were threatening....It is a kind of killing."
From "Abortion at Work: Ideology and Practice in a Feminist Clinic" by Wendy
Simonds. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1996.
Quotes from clinic personel:
"It's going to be weird now because you're going to see the sono. You're going
to see the heart beating- little hearts, you know- and then, all of a sudden,
you're going to put his cardiac medicine in it to make it stop- to kill it."
"I feel some sadness [about abortions] and I think part of the problem is that
we don't talk about that...we don't talk about it as much as we think about
it...somehow your pro-choice stance is compromised by saying the word
"baby."...We don't allow ourselves to say or think that word...."
"At nine weeks...you start seeing fetal parts. And by the second trimester it's,
you know, it's a baby, and by eighteen weeks it's definitely a baby. And by
like, you know, twenty-two weeks, you go in and y ou watch someone do a
sonogram, and you're like, "Oh my." There it is just moving, moving around. And
it's really hard because I always thought of abortion in terms of just the
woman, just her body."
"You're looking between the woman's legs; you're seeing, you know, what the
doctor's doing. And it's what a lot of people would call kind of, I guess,
gruesome- that's not really the word because- it's identifiable. I mean, when
he...takes the forceps and pulls out a foot, you can see the foot, and my
reaction- because I feel so strongly that women who want to have a twenty week
abortion should be able to have that- but I mean when I lookes and was just
like, you know, my first reaction was, you know, I was pretty horrified."
"So by it looking like a baby, you're associating it with yourself because...you
used to be a baby, you used to be a fetus."
"...when you're, you know, putting a fetus's feet in over its head in a baggie,
there's just this brief moment of "This could have been me"..."
"...it looks like a baby, That's what it looks like to me. You've never seen
anything else that looks like that. The only other thing you've ever seen is a
baby...You can seee a face and hands, and ears and eyes and, you know...feet and
toes..."
"The destruction I can't deny....I wish we lived in a world where abortion
didn't have to exist."
"You know, we still say "products of conception." Well, why don't we say it
looks like- you know, a twenty-week fetus looks like a baby. Why can't we say
that in public? Because that's what the antis say, you know."
"I hate it when people put it together to look like a baby. I hate that...I
don't want to look like it when its like that because it's like a broken doll,
and that grosses me out."
Note: These quotes were originally compiled by Sarah Terzo.
PLEASE RETURN SOON
RETURN TO HOME PAGE
|
