Let’s suppose that instead of a mother and preborn child, we are discussing the fates of a mother and her toddler. Should a doctor murder the toddler if doing so would save the mother’s life? Or should he do all he can to save both, leaving the ultimate salvation of both to God? I hope we would agree that nothing whatsoever would justify a doctor murdering a small child, even if he hopes doing so would save the life of the child’s mother.
In the same way, because the preborn child is every bit as much a human person as the toddler, only much smaller and even more vulnerable, the doctor needs to realize he has two patients: the mother and the preborn child. He cannot murder one patient, no matter how small or “inconveniently located,” for any reason whatsoever, even to save another patient’s life. If the doctor does all he can to save both mother and child but both die, then he needs to accept that he is not master of life and death – just its servant.
