Can abortion ever be an act of mercy towards the child?

[anneramones]

When it’s certain or very possible the baby will be born with VERY serious diseases, syndromes or malfunctions that will make his life unbearable, can we, as catholics, still stand by the fact it’s immoral to terminate the pregnancy?
I’m talking about terminating said pregnancy with said problems only for the sake of the fetus, to not condemn him to a life of incredible suffering. So can abortion almost be an act of mercy towards this child in those circumstances?
Second question:
The fact that life is given by God and we need to surrender to his will is the first defense that comes to my mind to oppose abortion in every case, including this one but this leads me to another question: how could God, who is merciful and good, send on this earth a baby with a condition or disease without mercy, incredibly painful for the child and the family?

 

[stpurl]

What is so different about a child in utero as opposed to a born child, a teen, an adult, an elderly adult?

At any time in a person’s life, things happen.

Are you saying then that if a person develops a serious ‘unbearable’ illness, either ‘nature’ or as a result of an accident, such as fire, that these people may be ‘terminated?’

 

[MNathaniel]

Killing the innocent may be intended by the killers as a mercy, but such intentions are misguided. No, killing innocent children is never ‘mercy’. It is always murder.

If a child has a genetic condition that adds an extra burden to their life, this is an opportunity for the rest of us to grow in love and take the extra steps necessary to help bear that burden for them: to step up and help support their lives with new technologies, medications, social adaptations, etc.

Love loves. If a patient is suffering from pain, the appropriate response is to kill the pain, not the patient.

 

[StJosephPrayForUs]

This question is no different from why not kill anyone to avert their suffering. It is never an act of mercy. God brought the world into existence knowing trillions of beings would suffer, some eternally, and there is no lack of mercy with God. We can never do better than Him.

 

[anneramones]

This is a really good point to think about, thank you!!
more than one reflection comes in to my mind and I would appreciate your feedback on it.
First one: one can say yes, it’s possible a child or teen or adult developes an unbearable illness, and at this point he either deals with it or decides to go for euthanasia process but we are talking about a fetus, a creature that is alive but didn’t really begin to live his/her life, so since it’s certain or highly possible fetus has tragic malfunctions, malformations, diseases etc, why not spare him from the suffering?
What would the right response to this be?

 

[anneramones]

so, for example, if the baby is deaf, blind, can’t walk, can’t control his sphincters and is mentally retarded, all of this together, what love can help with this? can it really help the baby ?

 

[MNathaniel]

This is a really good point to think about, thank you!!
more than one reflection comes in to my mind and I would appreciate your feedback on it.
First one: one can say yes, it’s possible a child or teen or adult developes an unbearable illness, and at this point he either deals with it or decides to go for euthanasia process but we are talking about a fetus, a creature that is alive but didn’t really begin to live his/her life, so since it’s certain or highly possible fetus has tragic malfunctions, malformations, diseases etc, why not spare him from the suffering?
What would the right response to this be?

The right response is that it’s always forbidden to kill the innocent. This applies equally to euthanizing teenagers (forbidden) and euthanizing fetuses (forbidden). To see either as ‘mercy’ is misguided, regardless of how much timespan the individual human person has/had ahead/behind them in life.

God loves each person and it is up to Him when we are created, and when we die. For as long as God has given a person to be alive, we are to continue to show God’s love to that person. We may not kill them just because loving them seems unusually ‘inconvenient’ to us.

 

[MNathaniel]

so, for example, if the baby is deaf, blind, can’t walk, can’t control his sphincters and is mentally retarded, all of this together, what love can help with this? can it really help the baby ?

Yes, love can really help this baby. Deaf and blind, let me introduce you to Helen Keller (AKA there’s plenty of precedent for people learning to communicate via touch, without sight/hearing). Can’t walk, that’s a fairly standard disability, easy to accommodate. Can’t control sphincters, addressable through medical /technological interventions. Mental disability, accommodations and support exist and will be adapted depending on the type and degree of disability.

Love loves the innocent and supports them to live as best they can under whatever their circumstances are. Love doesn’t kill the innocent.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

When it’s certain or very possible the baby will be born with VERY serious diseases, syndromes or malfunctions that will make his life unbearable, can we, as catholics, still stand by the fact it’s immoral to terminate the pregnancy?
I’m talking about terminating said pregnancy with said problems only for the sake of the fetus, to not condemn him to a life of incredible suffering. So can abortion almost be an act of mercy towards this child in those circumstances?

Funny, for some reason I was thinking about this very scenario earlier today, before I read this article.

I would be very interested to hear the point of view of those who would admit such a possibility, who would say “we loved this child so much that we could not bear the thought of forcing it to live such a life, so we decided to do the humane thing and end things early, painlessly, and mercifully”. Please mark my words, I am not suggesting that this would be morally licit, but I have heard of this line of reasoning before, minus the sentiment of “we loved this child so much”. When you start adding that kind of emotion, you admit the humanity, and that makes the concept harder to defend.

Are there Christian confessions that would condone such an action? Which ones?

 

[LilyM]

anneramones:

so, for example, if the baby is deaf, blind, can’t walk, can’t control his sphincters and is mentally retarded, all of this together, what love can help with this? can it really help the baby ?

Yes, love can really help this baby. Deaf and blind, let me introduce you to Helen Keller (AKA there’s plenty of precedent for people learning to communicate via touch, without sight/hearing). Can’t walk, that’s a fairly standard disability, easy to accommodate. Can’t control sphincters, addressable through medical /technological interventions. Mental disability, accommodations and support exist and will be adapted depending on the type and degree of disability.

Love loves the innocent and supports them to live as best they can under whatever their circumstances are. Love doesn’t kill the innocent.

Helen Keller and Stephen Hawking are both exampke of people who, despite extreme disabilities, lived extraordinarily rich and meaningful lives.

Things like HIV and Cystic Fibrosis used invariably to lead to very early deaths, now people are managing them much better and living much longer and better than we could have dreamed of a few decades ago.

Point is, we arent that good at predicting what is in store in any individual child’s or adults future. I wouldn’t be staking their lives on my ability to do so.

 

[TheLittleLady]

When it’s certain or very possible the baby will be born with VERY serious diseases, syndromes or malfunctions that will make his life unbearable, can we, as catholics, still stand by the fact it’s immoral to terminate the pregnancy?

Let’s say the ultrasound diagnoses a severe genetic condition that will mean the child will be in pain from the day they begin to walk, and this pain will get progressively worse for all of their life. Their demographic will have a high suicide rate the pain is so bad. They will have many surgeries, none of which will cure their condition.

On top of the pain, they will have to have much of their things custom made, from shoes to clothes to automobiles and furniture.

Their physical appearance is so deformed that until the 20th Century people born like this were freakshow attractions. Every time they go in public there will be stares and gawks, they will face discrimination, both overt and covert, in the workplace they will be twice as likely to be unemployed because of this discrimination. Dating will add a whole 'nother layer of rejection to their lives.

Oh, they will have a 50% or higher chance of passing this condition on to their children.

Would it be kind to spare that child by terminating the pregnancy?

Meet me, I just described my genetic condition.

 

[Thom18]

When it’s certain or very possible the baby will be born with VERY serious diseases, syndromes or malfunctions that will make his life unbearable, can we, as catholics, still stand by the fact it’s immoral to terminate the pregnancy?
I’m talking about terminating said pregnancy with said problems only for the sake of the fetus, to not condemn him to a life of incredible suffering. So can abortion almost be an act of mercy towards this child in those circumstances?
Second question:
The fact that life is given by God and we need to surrender to his will is the first defense that comes to my mind to oppose abortion in every case, including this one but this leads me to another question: how could God, who is merciful and good, send on this earth a baby with a condition or disease without mercy, incredibly painful for the child and the family?

This is not a case of a couple finding out there is a chance that they will have children with awful disease; this isn’t a hypothetical, but here we are concerned with a child who is “already here”. The child is conceived, is developing, is living.

Would we consider it an act of mercy to- without asking their decision- kill all who are beyond the womb who are suffering from this or that ailment? If not, why not, and why hold unborn children to a different standard?

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

will make his life unbearable,

Who decides this?

I’ve taken care of seriously disabled kiddos who’s lives are surrounded by love.

I’ve also known way too many able bodied with sucky lives no one could ever have predicted.

 

[stpurl]

Well, as nice as it is to have a ‘comfortable’ life, is that one’s only purpose? Or even the main purpose?

Were we conceived and born so that we could then spend our lives trying to avoid pain, with the prize being the ‘most comfy’ life?

What does suffering mean? What purpose does it have?

I think you would benefit from reading C.S. Lewis’ “The Problem of Pain”.

 

[JGD]

When it’s certain or very possible the baby will be born with VERY serious diseases, syndromes or malfunctions that will make his life unbearable, can we, as catholics, still stand by the fact it’s immoral to terminate the pregnancy?

If one commits to being a truly believing, faithful Catholic then YES, one must "still stand by the fact it’s immoral to terminate the pregnancy".
John 16:13 " When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth"
(Our Lord’s pledge to the apostles (first magisterium) at the Last Supper - just prior to His passion and death.)

I’m talking about terminating said pregnancy with said problems only for the sake of the fetus, to not condemn him to a life of incredible suffering. So can abortion almost be an act of mercy towards this child in those circumstances?

Second question:
The fact that life is given by God and we need to surrender to his will is the first defense that comes to my mind to oppose abortion in every case, including this one but this leads me to another question: how could God, who is merciful and good, send on this earth a baby with a condition or disease without mercy, incredibly painful for the child and the family?

Our reasoning and thinking is very often shortsighted - limited to the worldly & physical realities, ignoring the spiritual and eternal realities. Even 100 years is close to nil in comparison to all eternity!!! (Nil, but very important.) Allowing even a very afflicted baby in the womb to be born means that child may then receive the life of supernatural life (sanctifying) in it’s soul – a very great gift that the child would not receive if killed in the womb.

Also, a person born with disabilities, no matter how severe, has the opportunity to merit MANY extra eternal merits in heaven, just by accepting their disabilities as God’s will. For all eternity, they will probably experience far greater eternal benefits than us - an opportunity that would be denied them if they had never been given the opportunity to be born alive.

It is an opportunity not only for the afflicted baby, but also for all the member of the family to merit eternal rewards - an opportunity they also will not have if they do not accept the child into their family.

 

[RuthAnne]

Can abortion ever be an act of mercy towards the child?

In some way, I guess it can. It spares the child of being born to that awful kind of parent.

 

[1ke]

can we, as catholics, still stand by the fact it’s immoral to terminate the pregnancy?

Yes. Murder is always wrong.

When it’s certain or very possible the baby will be born with VERY serious diseases, syndromes or malfunctions that will make his life unbearable

Countless people have been told this, and then had perfectly healthy babies with no abnormalities. My dear friend was one of those people. She had pressure from her doctor to abort. Her son is 18 years old now and will be graduating from high school.

I’m talking about terminating said pregnancy with said problems only for the sake of the fetus, to not condemn him to a life of incredible suffering. So can abortion almost be an act of mercy towards this child in those circumstances?

No. Abortion and euthanasia are both wrong. Always.

We may never do evil in the pursuit of good. And we may never call evil (murder) a good (mercy).

how could God, who is merciful and good, send on this earth a baby with a condition or disease without mercy, incredibly painful for the child and the family?

God doesn’t send disease and conditions to children. These are consequences of nature and fallen humanity. Parents are still able to love, children are able to receive love and care, and they bring love and joy to their families. Yes, it’s sad if someone lives only a short time. But that person is a person with dignity, and we cannot say their life does not have value or that we should murder that person because we perceive them to have no value or their life to have no value. Many parents with children who have abnormalities choose to deliver their children, have time with them, love them, and then provide them with a proper funeral and burial, not dismemberment in the womb.

 

[c4csp]

Simple answer: Abortion is always grave evil.

 

[JerryZ]

So… That word, “love” gets thrown around a lot all over the place especially when trying to justify taking someone life who did not deserve to die.
Sometimes we hear the question of why did GOD take someone life.
GOD is the Creator of the Universe and all that is within it, HE can take someone’s life but never destroys our existence since we continue to be when we lose our temporal bodies.
HE even allowed the Devil and the Angels to continue existing even after they rebelled against HIM.
We on the other hand take upon ourselves the mantle of GOD by taking another human life because “we love them” or remove the possibility for someone to become someone, live a life to which he/she had a right to once conceived.
Did GOD appoint us Angels of Death?
Peace!

 

[LeonardoArruda]

First: NO
You cannot take away the rigth to live from anyone, even though life is pain and the child is going to suffer, even though the child has some mental problems like down syndrome, she deserves a baptism and the other sacraments as well, God can turn all of that pain into hope that one day that will be over the the child is going to meet God.

Second:God allows things like that to happen for a greater good, keep in mind that He knows exacly what will happen to the family and the child, and that suffering is for a greater good, we dont always know what good that is but even if you are a Saint and have never sinned, you should thank God even for stuff like that, becuse even though the future is uncertain you know that God loves you and you are an very important actor on this play called “Life”, know your role by studing and doing as the Lord says and your life will have meaning .