Are there exceptions in the Commandments? URGENT!

[PopeBoniface]

My friend found out she was pregnant, but was told by her doctor that their would be birth defects, the child would face future social and academic challenges, and faced as a possible threat to her family. She already has children. Knowing that the child would suffer for the rest of his/her life, abortion was considered as an option. She is afraid that she will go to Hell and wonders what to do.

  Should she abort for the sake of the child....or give birth and risk the chances of having the baby suffer and be made fun of, or become mentally ill?

   Would she go to Hell for attempting to protect her child?

    Will confessing do her any good?

   My thought was, abortion should not be an option, if she has true faith in God (at least enough to fear him), then he will work his miracles. (But is it wrong to say "No Guarantees"?)

    Please shed some light on to the situation as quickly as humanly possible. Thank You & God Bless!

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Dear friend,

Your friend needs to stop trying to be God. Does she think that she could possibly love her child more than God does? He knows what He is doing. Taking her own child’s life is a fare worse thing than for the child to have serious birth defects. She doesn’t know what the child would suffer. Suffering, by the way, is NOT the worst thing that can happen to us. Acting against God’s will IS!

God loves that child enough to suffer and die for it—and she wants to kill it? She needs to get a grip and turn her attention to God, rather than to herself—because this is what she is doing. She needs to get out of her own way and release control.

It was in the midst of His own suffering that He showed us how to live. Love is measured by sacrifice. We know how much we love others by how willing we are to put ourselves out for them. This is how much he loves your friend and her child. He knows far better than we, what it is like to really suffer. We know that His intention is not to do the child or its mother any harm. He only allows such difficulties that a greater good may come from it.

I once had a couple come to me in a parish whose unborn child had a highly defective little body. The doctors were pushing them to have an abortion. I counseled them to have the baby, telling them that they would never regret having done so. Thankfully, they took my advice. The baby was born and baptized by a nurse (a fellow parishioner) and died. That couple and their family have simply flourished since that day. The Lord is worth such trust. Your friend is in our prayers.

Fr Vincent Serpa, O.P.