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

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MNathaniel said:
Pretending that it’s some fake choice between ‘unbearable suffering’ and ‘death’, makes invisible the third choice which is the right one: to help bear one another’s burdens, and help one another live as well as possible.
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Boom!

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In addition to what’s already been said, let’s not forget about the love GIVEN by a person in any difficulty when they choose to offer up their life’s trials for the salvation of others or in reparation for sins against God. Then, even if they can do nothing on their own in the worlds terms… they are missionaries and evangelizers for God!

Also, my husband explained to me that in Biblical times the disabled were seen as sent-by-God as ambassador for God - they received the gifts others wished they could give to God himself. In this way they connected people with God. Beautiful.
 
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Hoping for holy! Right now, I just take the beauty in this world every day and see Jesus in others, that makes for great days.
 
Some people experience extreme discomfort at even having to be in the same room with a person who is disabled, much less communicate with them. Others actually become angry at the idea of having to do anything different to make life easier on them. I don’t understand why people have such contempt for those who are different, but I do know that it is their problem, not the disabled person’s.
 
Julee said:
My son was born with brain abnormalities which resulted in cerebral palsy (quadra paresis) and multiple disabilities. He needs 100% physical care, he is nonverbal, he eats a little by mouth but has a g-tube to meet his nutritional needs, and he has uncontrollable seizures. None of this has prevented him from having a joyful and blessed life. He loves listening to stories, watching TV, getting in the swimming pool, going on nature walks in his wheelchair, going to our cabin, going to the beach, etc. He loves music, concerts in the park, and has a great sense of humor. It hurts me when I have to explain to people why his life has value. So many people can’t see past his disabilities and assume he’s suffering and living a miserable life. He, of course, has his challenges, but he’s happy, healthy (rarely gets sick), and loved. He’s 22 years old now and my husband and I were shocked when we had to begin advocating for him the day he was born. We didn’t understand the depth of his disabilities at that time, but we knew the depth of our love and we became fierce protectors of his precious little soul.

He has a mission in life, just as we all do. His love is pure and I’ve learned so much from him. We’ve taken him to Mass since he was born. He smiles and “sings.” I often feel the veil is thin for him and he receives spiritual consolations I can’t see. He’s definitely been responsible for conversions, including his own daddy, who was an unbeliever and became Catholic. As parents, we’ve had to make sacrifices, but the trials and things we’ve given up seem trivial in comparison to loving our son and making sure he’s well cared for. Those who abort due to disability, especially those who are otherwise opposed to abortion, have no idea about sacrificial love and trick themselves into thinking abortion is loving and merciful when it’s the exact opposite.
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Amen. Praise the Lord.
 
Thank you for sharing this personal experience with us, it was very touching, I’m very happy for your family, God bless you
 
anneramones said:
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?
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I know a couple in this situation, where abortion was deemed necessary to prevent a child from being a huge burden. Child would die within a year etc…
The child is now 3 years old and while he has heavy handicaps, he is the presence of Christ in the family. The parents love him and care for him, and he has changed their lives.

St Veronica, who cared for the bloodied and disfigured face of Christ, pray for us.
 
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I can see a truth behind what you said, in many cases it’s either because they don’t want to take care of the person or because they don’t want to spend money on his necessities. However I’ve seen people that I know for certain to be good and honest, with principles and even people of faith sustain or accept the idea of abortion because they genuinely think they would spare the baby from suffering, or in the case of people who suffered incidents with high risk of survival remaining paralyzed or losing mental capacity I’ve literally heard “may God be merciful and take his life so he doesn’t have to go through that”
 
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Thank you so much for this. Can I ask you more about how your son got people closer to God?
He is my exact age, I wish him all the best.
I think you are right when you say people can’t see behind the disabilities. I think I need to include myself in this category sadly…sometimes it seems so hard and painful that it’s really difficult to imagine there can be happiness and joy also. Probably to fully understand this I should live through this
 
Wow. If someone had the audacity to wish my brother dead to his face (or the face of any of his loved ones) because he is paralyzed, I think I’d have to very vocally question their “good and honest” principles. There’s nothing “honest” about that mindset. They aren’t really concerned about the pain of the paralyzed person. They are concerned about their own discomfort at having to see a living reminder of their own physical weakness and mortality. The sick thing is that they place their own emotional comfort over the value of another person’s very life. This is a serious lack of spiritual fortitude and an incredible level of selfishness. If the person himself doesn’t want to die, who the heck are they to decide that he should disappear quietly so they don’t have to see him and be bothered?
 
When you abort a baby (who is in the image and likeness of God) you abort Jesus.

End of story. Period.
 
anneramones said:
“may God be merciful and take his life so he doesn’t have to go through that”
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This is not a sinful prayer. While we may never directly take a life, we also do not have to exhaust every medical procedure available. We must provide hydration and nutrition as long as the body can process it, however, we may choose to stay with an NG tube for this. We should provide pain relief, comfort care, etc.
 
Acts of mercy should bring about goodness for some person. Mercy is the wrong term for this act because mercy is the holding back of justice. If that child deserved suffering and you prevented that suffering, instead giving a greater good to that child, then that is mercy. However, killing a child is a greater evil than allowing him/her to suffer. Life is good, so removing life is just to further remove something good from that child who already has many problems to begin.
 
Addressing your second question: My pastor told me this story recently. We were talking about how children will sometimes tell their parents they chose them from heaven.

The story was about a girl who had Downs Syndrome. She once told her mother out of the blue that she chose her from heaven. Then she said that when she was choosing her mother, Jesus told her he also wanted this sacrifice from her, to be born with Downs Syndrome, and showed her everything that meant. Would she be willing to accept it? She replied, “I love you Jesus, of course I’ll do that.”

Love means sacrifice. I think that these things look very different to God than they do to us.
 
Short answer: according to Catholicism, abortion is ALWAYS morally wrong. There are no shades of gray. In Judaism, there are exceptions such as the one you describe in your first question, and even here, not all rabbis will give permission.
 
MrsAngelala said:
I think that these things look very different to God than they do to us
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I agree on this fully. if only there was a way to understand how these things look to God, even partially… I guess it’s something bigger than us…
 
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