Dear Robert,
You are right. I have never had a discussion with a mormon before, since I am not from the US. In fact, I know about Mormonism from many posting suggested to me. This thread is about the so called “Killer Law” by Zerinus in Nicaragua, and he related it by linking it with Catholicism. I asked him sincerely of what the Mormon is doing to prevent the “abortion” there in Nicaragua. Instead, he asked me to start another thread. After all, all the discussions has changed into the abortion issue. He even began “attacking” other by self determination and self conclusion and even to the point of replacing God who determine anybody eligible of enterinng heaven. Glad you bring your thought up. I think that not all Mormon is like him?
No, not all are. However, having hung out on a Mormon board for a while as the token Catholic, Zerinius is not atypical in his approach to discussion of LDS doctrine and its (to borrow an orthodox term) economia. They don’t see the exceptions as changing the base nature of the doctrine, and as a rule, the Mormons I’ve known tend to see things as far more “Black or White” than most Americans, and discount exceptions.
So while the LDS church does permit abortion in some limited cases, most of the Mormons I have known would state that the LDS church doesn’t allow abortions, even though they permit some abortions.
Mormons, also, as a general rule, tend to be rabidly fanatical in their apologetics and in defending their faith. Even when this leads to odd behavior, such as Zerinius’ denial that the LDS church allows abortion.
And while Nicaragua may or may not have barred tubectomy in cases of ectopic pregnancy (which is the closest thing to abortion allowed under Humanae Vitae), and may or may not have barred a D&C in the case of miscarriage, neither of those is barred by H.V. as the expressed teaching of the Catholic Church.
Zerinious’ claim that this puts the life of the baby over that of the mother is not true; the pursuit of medically needful therapies, even when they may result in
risks of fetal injury or death, are a matter for the family to weigh… but Catholics are required to take into consideration that the fetus IS a human being and is alive… but if the mother dies before 20 weeks gestation, the fetus dies as well.
I faced this very kind of issue with my wife 4 years ago. She was diagnosed with Wegener’s Vasculitis, an autoimmune disorder with a very poor prognosis, and no journaled cases of successful pregnancy outside of remissions. The treatment options were:
- Cytoxin: an extremely effective immuno-suppressant that is also an abortifacent.
- prednisone: milder but far less effective immuno-suppressant.
- no treatment: guaranteed blindness and probably death within a year.
- Abort and use multi-drug cocktail of Cytoxin, prednisone, and other immuno-supressants with teratogenic properties.
This was in the 5th month of pregnancy.
The choice: #2 was the only one that I, as a Catholic, could put my support behind. (My pastor at the time, a canon lawyer and theologian, agreed with that.) My wife agreed that it was the best choice.
Actually, it wasn’t just prednisone. It was prednisone and prayer.
Ella was born in March of 2004, healthy and apparently none the worse for wear from the prednisone.
The next week, my wife started her course of multi-drug cocktail. She is currently in remission, and off medication for the last 9 months.
I keep praying.
