Is it o.k. to pray for a conditional baptism of all soon-to-be-aborted babies?

[Immaculata]

I would like to know if there is a problem with this prayer practice. Each day in prayer, I take the water that flowed (flows) from the side of Christ and ask the Saints to act in proxy for me to conditionally baptize all the infants now living that will die this day in abortion, in immoral experimentation, by reduction procedures, or in storage banks. I say, "If it pleases You, Father, and to the extent of Your generosity, I conditionally baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit all you infants now living and known to God that will die this day in abortion, in immoral experimentation, by reduction procedures, or in storage banks. I name all the girls “Mary” and all the boys “Joseph.”

 

[Peggy_Frye]

While your prayer certainly reflects a well-intentioned and loving heart, it is nevertheless theologically problematic.

First, praying for the conditional baptism for the unborn is impossible. Conditional baptism is conferred only when there are doubts about the validity of a person’s baptism, or whether baptism was conferred validly (Can. 869 §1). As for the baptism of desire, this would apply only to “those who die for the faith, those who are catechumens, and all those who, without knowing of the Church but acting under the inspiration of grace, seek God sincerely and strive to fulfill his will” (CCC 1281). As for children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God (CCC 1261). We must always be careful to pray with the mind of the Church; to do otherwise is to go beyond the limits of revealed truth.

A prayer you might consider is Archbishop Sheen’s prayer for the unborn:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion. Amen.

Further reading:

Do Aborted Babies Go to Heaven?

Aborted Children as Members of the Church

God bless you!