Ethical implications of miscarriage

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fhkjds

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I’ve been looking around online and seen estimates that between 30%-80% of fertilized eggs do not implant in the uterus. And once they implant, 10%-20% of pregnancies will end in miscarriage. Still more children die in childbirth.

According to Catholic moral teaching, human life is to be protected from the moment of conception. That’s when human life begins. Why, then, did God design the human body in such a way that MOST human beings (according to some estimates) don’t make it to birth alive? Is heaven mostly full of souls that didn’t even get born? It makes no sense to me and this has been causing me a lot of cognitive dissonance.

Can anybody shed some light on this?
 
I don’t understand why this is an issue.

God is the author of life. Our souls are immortal. Our existence on this earth, whether a few minutes or 100 years is quite limited compared to eternity.
 
And, keep in mind that defects of the body are a result of Original Sin.
 
Corki said:
Human imperfections, disease and death entered the world as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve.
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That implies that the human body was perfect before this. So where is the scriptural evidence that God altared our bodies to make us less perfect? If Adam and Eve never sinned, would they have conceived on the first try?

The only thing God did, that I know of, is increase pain in childbirth.
 
LemonAndLime said:
That implies that the human body was perfect before this. So where is the scriptural evidence that God altared our bodies to make us less perfect? If Adam and Eve never sinned, would they have conceived on the first try?

The only thing God did, that I know of, is increase pain in childbirth.
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He also cursed the Earth itself when speaking to Adam in Genesis. Not to mention that Adam and Eve “fumbled their crowns” and Satan took them up.

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.” - Romans 8:20-24 RSV-CE
 
LemonAndLime said:
That implies that the human body was perfect before this. So where is the scriptural evidence that God altared our bodies to make us less perfect? If Adam and Eve never sinned, would they have conceived on the first try?

The only thing God did, that I know of, is increase pain in childbirth.
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Romans 5:12

CCC 400
400 The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul’s spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination.282 Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man.283 Because of man, creation is now subject “to its bondage to decay”.284 Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will “return to the ground”,285 for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human history.286
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LemonAndLime said:
That implies that the human body was perfect before this. So where is the scriptural evidence that God altared our bodies to make us less perfect? If Adam and Eve never sinned, would they have conceived on the first try?
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Please read the Catechism section on the Creed, specifically creation, the fall, and Original Sin. God did not alter our bodies, sin did. The preternatural gifts given by God were withdrawn, leaving us vulernable to death and disease.
 
1ke said:
This is news to you?
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I asked if you would care to explain your comment.

"And, keep in mind that defects of the body are a result of Original Sin. "

This comment was read by me to mean you are saying disabled people born with birth defects are the result of original sin.People who become disabled in their lives through perhaps a stroke or accident are becuase they are paying for original sin.

As I said I did ask you to clarify your meaning to your comment,you chose not to.
 
tbcrawford said:
I asked if you would care to explain your comment.

"And, keep in mind that defects of the body are a result of Original Sin. "

This comment was read by me to mean you are saying disabled people born with birth defects are the result of original sin.People who become disabled in their lives through perhaps a stroke or accident are becuase they are paying for original sin.
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That’s true. Had Adam not sinned in the Gardent, our bodies would still be perfect. There would be no such thing as a disabled person without Original Sin.
 
fhkjds said:
I’ve been looking around online and seen estimates that between 30%-80% of fertilized eggs do not implant in the uterus. And once they implant, 10%-20% of pregnancies will end in miscarriage. Still more children die in childbirth.

?
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don’t know if the numbers are right but it is simply a fact of life on this planet, and like all evil, a consequence of original sin. The reasons are biological, not theological. It should logically follow that the less likely any conception is to be carried to term, born healthy, and live to adulthood, the more we should value life. To take means to prevent that at any stage deliberately is even more horrendous when viewed at the backdrop of the fragility of life. Read all of Genesis. all creation is disordered through original sin, that is why “all creation groans” and eagerly awaits the Messiah as the prophets and fathers tell us, and rejoice in his birth and long for the completion of his kingdom when all will be restored to its original perfection.
 
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