Fr. Damien J. Ference in his article for U.S. Catholic, “Bring back men in black”
Pope Benedict XVI on his 85th birthday
Happy Birthday, Pope Benedict! Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!
(Jeremiah 31:33)
Wow… That awkward moment when Planned Parenthood leads “40 Days of Prayer” for abortion (a sort of flimsy and offensive imitation of the “40 Days for Life” movement which prays for an end to abortions). Here are some of their downright disgusting prayer intentions:
No, my dear. What’s really offensive is when cis-gendered men like you think you know what is best for those who own uteri. You don’t, and until you grow a uterus so you can experience the JOOYYYY of pregnancy, you never will.
“Day 18: Today we pray for all the staff at abortion clinics around the nation. May they be daily confirmed in the sacred care that they offer women.” —- What’s so sacred about helping kill another life?
Oh my, you’re quite the good samaritan, aren’t you? So you care more about some non-sentient, non feeling, non thinking embryos instead of the people who are actually helping already born people make responsible reproductive choices? The same people who are constantly under attack from your anti-choice buddies? The same ones that have their PP locations burned down because your buddies believe so highly in the “sancity of life”?
“Day 4: Today we give thanks for the doctors who provide quality abortion care, and pray that they may be kept safe.” — Quality abortion care translates to a procedure that might actually kill the mother as well as her baby. Okay. That makes sense.
Except you’re dead wrong, buddy. Now thanks to modern medicine and technology, abortion is one of the safest surgical procedures available, and is infinitely less taxing on the bodies of uteri-owners than pregnancy. Pregnancy lasts 9 months and comes with a slew of psychological and physical burdens that you will never, ever understand or appreciate.
“Day 40: Today we give thanks and celebrate that abortion is still safe and legal.” — A murder mill would enjoy this, wouldn’t it?
Abortion is not murder. Never has been, never will be.
Yet they have the audacity to not even pray for the unborn lives of those infants they willfully murder. Amazing.
There are NO infants involved in abortions. None. “Infant” is an emotionally charged word that anti-choicers like you love to use to make uteri-owners feel like monsters for not wanting to be pregnant. Stop it. All it does is make you look like an idiot.
Planned Parenthood, stick to your morbid enterprise of death and leave the praying to authentic believers.
I’m Christian and pro-choice. Come at me, bro. I can guarantee you that the Bible does not condemn abortion anywhere, even the Old Testament which infinitely more heartless and ruthless than the New Testament when it comes to your “sanctity of life” shit.
Besides, if they wanted to pray about something, it would be more prudent for them to meditate on the Fifth Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.”
Does not apply to embryos or fetuses. The Bible, like any text that has a historical context, must be read and understood within the confines of that historical context. You can’t just take one line and apply it to whatever the hell you want just because you think it will help defend your twisted and completely unreasonable moral agenda. I’d also like to mention that religion, especially Christianity, has absolutely no place in politics.
So sorry, you lose. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
First, I would like to openly thank you for entering into this frank discussion about abortion. I feel that as a nation, we must speak about important social issues that tend to instead be swept under the cultural rug. (Also, another person asked me about abortion and so I’m using my comments in response to her to answer you as well. Hopefully that’s alright.)
It seems to me that the heart of the argument here is whether or not one considers the fetus inside a mother to be alive. I can certainly understand that if someone holds the view that the fetus is merely a cellular blob, he wouldn’t be able to understand why others make a ruckus about abortion.
But for someone who views the fetus as a living being, as a distinct and important form of life, then the argument against abortion is given greater weight. Contrary to how the liberal media portrays it, The Pro-Life movement is a movement concerned with defending the dignity of each person under the concept that all life is sacred and begins at conception. We’re not all hyped about “limiting the rights of women” or “shoving down our beliefs down others’ throats.” No. Objectively speaking, abortion is a matter of life and death. Someone dies in an abortion whether we see it like this or not. However, I must tell you that there are hundreds of organizations led by the Church that offer women who are considering an abortion or who have had one the resources they need. As a Church, we stand with all women and try to help them recognize the gift of life that they have been blessed with. If a woman has had an abortion, she’s not rejected from the community as some people would have you believe. Rather, she’s welcomed, especially if she is one of the thousands of would-be mothers who regret choosing to terminate their pregnancies. Independent studies show that many women experience forms of depression and guilt after the first few weeks of an abortion. During these sad moments, individuals need to unite and help each other during the healing process. The Pro-Life movement is not about hating women. It’s about defending life.
One need not be a woman to appreciate and have a desire to protect life. To imply that a uterus is required for the latter is just sexist. Granted that I, along with all men, will never be able to become pregnant or give birth, we still can feel the emotional consequences and burdens of abortion. Also, don’t forget that there are also women in the Pro-Life movement. It isn’t just a testosterone fest.
Science will show you that from the moment that sperm meets the woman’s egg, the zygote is already genetically distinct from its mother. Therefore the argument that it’s a woman’s body so it’s her right to choose becomes invalid because she’s now trying to extinguish a life apart from her own. Her baby is already a unique individual with a unique genotype. At 18 days, the baby’s heart begins to beat. At 21 days, the baby pumps his own blood through a separate, closed circulatory system with his own blood type. In 42 days, brain waves are detected. That life is sentient.
Records show that early Church fathers condemned abortion as immoral and cited scripture to defend their positions. The Church has always and will condemn and reject the culture of death proposed by abortion. Yes, there are indeed biblical episodes where infanticide occur but there are also many instances where abortion is forbidden.
“If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely [Hebrew: “so that her child comes out”], but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Ex. 21:22–24)
The Letter of Barnabas (A Church Father)
“The way of light, then, is as follows. If anyone desires to travel to the appointed place, he must be zealous in his works. The knowledge, therefore, which is given to us for the purpose of walking in this way, is the following… .Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born” (Letter of Barnabas 19 [A.D. 74]).
Tertullian has this to say: “In our case, a murder being once for all forbidden, we may not destroy even the fetus in the womb, while as yet the human being derives blood from the other parts of the body for its sustenance. To hinder a birth is merely a speedier man-killing; nor does it matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to birth. That is a man which is going to be one; you have the fruit already in its seed” (Apology 9:8 [A.D. 197]).
And fortunately, we Catholics are not only governed by Sacred Scripture but also observe Sacred Tradition as a conduit of divine truth. Traditionally, abortion has been prohibited and its morality questioned for centuries. The faith of the apostles has been handed down to us and we shall preserve it as it is: one in which the sanctity of all human life is recognized, respected, and protected.
(Note: I’m responding to your other messages as well.)
It seems to me that the heart of the argument here is whether or not one considers the fetus inside a mother to be alive. I can certainly understand that if someone holds the view that the fetus is merely a cellular blob, he wouldn’t be able to understand why others make a ruckus about abortion.
But for someone who views the fetus as a living being, as a distinct and important form of life, then the argument against abortion is given greater weight. Contrary to howthe liberal media portrays it, The Pro-Life movement is a movement concerned with defending the dignity of each person under the concept that all life is sacred and begins at conception. We’re not all hyped about “limiting the rights of women” or “shoving down our beliefs down others’ throats.” No. Objectively speaking, abortion is a matter of life and death. Someone dies in an abortion whether we see it like this or not. However, I must tell you that there are hundreds of organizations led by the Church that offer women who are considering an abortion or who have had one the resources they need. As a Church, we stand with all women and try to help them recognize the gift of life that they have been blessed with. If a woman has had an abortion, she’s not rejected from the community as some people would have you believe. Rather, she’s welcomed, especially if she is one of the thousands of would-be mothers who regret choosing to terminate their pregnancies. Independent studies show that many women experience forms of depression and guilt after the first few weeks of an abortion. During these sad moments, individuals need to unite and help each other during the healing process. The Pro-Life movement is not about hating women. It’s about defending life.
Science will show you that from the moment that sperm meets the woman’s egg, the zygote is already genetically distinct from its mother. Therefore the argument that it’s a woman’s body so it’s her right to choose becomes invalid because she’s now trying to extinguish a life apart from her own. Her baby is already a unique individual with a unique genotype.
To argue that the Bible wasn’t even thought of as being Pro-Life until the 50s is preposterous. Records show that early Church fathers condemned abortion as immoral and cited scripture to defend their positions. The Church has always and will condemn and reject the culture of death proposed by abortion. Yes, there are indeed biblical episodes where infanticide occur but there are also many instances where abortion is forbidden.
“If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely [Hebrew: “so that her child comes out”], but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Ex. 21:22–24)
The Letter of Barnabas (A Church Father)
“The way of light, then, is as follows. If anyone desires to travel to the appointed place, he must be zealous in his works. The knowledge, therefore, which is given to us for the purpose of walking in this way, is the following… . Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born” (Letter of Barnabas 19 [A.D. 74]).
Tertullian has this to say: “In our case, a murder being once for all forbidden, we may not destroy even the fetus in the womb, while as yet the human being derives blood from the other parts of the body for its sustenance. To hinder a birth is merely a speedier man-killing; nor does it matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to birth. That is a man which is going to be one; you have the fruit already in its seed” (Apology 9:8 [A.D. 197]).
And fortunately, we Catholics are not only governed by Sacred Scripture but also observe Sacred Tradition as a conduit of divine truth. Traditionally, abortion has been prohibited and its morality questioned for centuries. The faith of the apostles has been handed down to us and we shall preserve it as it is: one in which the sanctity of all human life is recognized, respected, and protected.
Wow… That awkward moment when Planned Parenthood leads “40 Days of Prayer” for abortion (a sort of flimsy and offensive imitation of the “40 Days for Life” movement which prays for an end to abortions). Here are some of their downright disgusting prayer intentions:
“Day 18: Today we pray for all the staff at abortion clinics around the nation. May they be daily confirmed in the sacred care that they offer women.” —- What’s so sacred about helping kill another life?
“Day 4: Today we give thanks for the doctors who provide quality abortion care, and pray that they may be kept safe.” — Quality abortion care translates to a procedure that might actually kill the mother as well as her baby. Okay. That makes sense.
“Day 40: Today we give thanks and celebrate that abortion is still safe and legal.” — A murder mill would enjoy this, wouldn’t it?
Yet they have the audacity to not even pray for the unborn lives of those infants they willfully murder. Amazing.
Planned Parenthood, stick to your morbid enterprise of death and leave the praying to authentic believers.
Besides, if they wanted to pray about something, it would be more prudent for them to meditate on the Fifth Commandment: “Thou shalt not kill.”
