A Right to Life Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael16
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Michael16

Guest
I’m wondering what you all are thinking.

I recently have been thinking about this question:

If I had to choose between my wife and my baby, who would I choose to save?

My gut reaction was to save my wife.

But: Thinking on Jesus’ words of: No greater love hath a man…

I’m wondering if a woman chose to save her baby, would she automatically, barring any mortal sin between that decision and death; go to heaven when she died; as she laid down her life for her baby?

This got me to thinking whether I’d change my mind and save the baby if, God forbid; should I ever be in that situation.

Preferably; I’d save both if I could; as I love my fiancé dearly more than I do myself.
 
I’m not really sure what you’re asking. I don’t think we get into heaven “automatically” by dying to save another person, but I am no theologian.

As a mother I would do anything to save the life of my son, even if that meant risking my own. I don’t know what I’d do if I had to pick saving my husband or son… I hope I never face that dilemma.
 
@ZemD I’m not really asking anything other than opinions. Not for any advice. God willing; I’ll never have to make that choice.
 
@(name removed by moderator)

Thanks. As I said: I hope to God that I never have to make that choice. If I did; I’d ask my wife her opinion and go to Confession and Holy Hour for discernment.
 
I remember a similar question coming up in a college class I took once & there were some students from Asia who said in Asian culture you would save your mother before your wife, but in the West the “feel” is to save the wife over the mother. It’s a disturbing thing to ponder however you feel about it of course. This said, I don’t think a woman is automatically a saint if she lays down her life for her child.
 
Last edited:
I think anyone who gave up their life for anyone would be blessed by God, especially a child.

Me as a woman, I’d want my husband to save our child me…and Id have to stress that to him, cause he’d probably want to save me.
 
I know most women would say as you said and that most men would say as your husband would.
 
These questions keep coming up.

What is the diagnosis whereby “only one can be saved”?
 
Michael you’ve made your original problem much too simple. Why don’t you throw in your mother as well? And grandma? How about St. Mother Teresa while you’re at it?
 
No diagnosis. Just a what if that my fiancé brought up a few months back.
 
Please understand I’m not trying to get on your case. 🙂

Except that people get themselves worked up about these questions.
And laws get passed on the basis of people working themself into a snit over these what-ifs.

If somebody can bring a diagnosis to the table, then we can start to have a discussion.
 
From a friend’s personal experience: a cancer diagnosis where the baby is unlikely to survive chemotherapy, but the mother is unlikely to survive if it’s delayed. Do you start treatment or not?

Some pro-life questions don’t hinge on abortion.
 
This is the classic “double-effect” question.
Yes, you may treat the cancer.
No, you may not go in and deliberately kill the baby.
The death of the baby indirectly from the cancer treatment is permissible.
 
Yes, of course it’s permissible. I didn’t think we were talking about what is permissible—rather, what decision would you make.
 
Last edited:
If a woman is expecting a baby and is diagnosed with cancer, it is likely that the baby will be delivered at +23 weeks and then the mother would receive the really serious cancer treatment after. Remember that there are two patients here and not just the woman.
 
—Saint Gianna Beretta Molla was an Italian Roman Catholic pediatrician. Molla refused both an abortion and a hysterectomy while pregnant with her fourth child despite knowing that continuing the refusal could result in her own death which later occurred.—
(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
0Scarlett_nidiyilii said:
What is the diagnosis whereby “only one can be saved”?
Click to expand...
Doesn’t have to be medical. Burning building, raging floodwaters, …
Michael16 said:
No diagnosis. Just a what if that my fiancé brought up a few months back.
Click to expand...
Did you and she have a chance to discuss it? Did she tell you whom she would want you to choose? I imagine a lot of moms would say “Save my baby, and then save me if it is possible.”

Reminds me of a tear-jerking video:
My Beautiful Woman, Part 1 (6-minute video)...

If you wish, you can also search up Parts 2 and 3 (different women’s stories).
 
Last edited:
These kinds of hypothetical scenarios lead to unnecessary worry and anxiety.
Just get married. Trust me you will have plenty of opportunity to make difficult life altering decisions. The married life is lived in the here and now, and simply everyday decisions are challenging enough.
And that is the joy of it. It you will experience the joy of marriage to the degree that you give yourself up for your future wife everyday.
 
Last edited:
The whole childbirth drama where one must choose between mother or baby is great in movies, and in books, but in the developed modern world, it simply does not happen.

Physicians work to save both patients, they base decisions on the medical information.

If you were on a sinking boat, well, make sure you have life jackets for everyone before you set out. Make sure you house has fire detectors and fire extinguishers.
 
TheLittleLady said:
If you were on a sinking boat, well, make sure you have life jackets for everyone before you set out. Make sure you house has fire detectors and fire extinguishers.
Click to expand...
And if you are in a moving vehicle, don’t get in a serious crash. 🤔
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top