The Ark and The Dove

Moral Convenience

"One can regard the fetus in its early stages as close enough to an innocent human being for us to abhor its destruction, but not close enough for us to deny the would-be mother the freedom to terminate it."

It's pretty binary, either the fetus is an innocent human being or it is not.  What does "close enough" even mean?  Isn't this argument the underpinning of every genocide?

The author's right, one can make that argument.  But that's just because people hold muddled and self-contradictory positions all the time.

Giuliani drives me nuts.  He no doubt thinks all sorts of government regulations concerning our bodies are good, but somehow gets in touch with his "principled libertarian" side when it comes to abortion?  The government says a woman can't smoke pot but she can kill a human being if it resides in her.

Giuliani's pro-torture and pro-abortion positions make it impossible for me to vote for him.  If he's the Republican nominee I'm voting for Testudo.

A Compromise in the Right Direction

New Abortion Bill To Require Fetal Consent

FYI, if you're not familiar with The Onion, it's a satire site.

How

The Curt Jester reminded me of what Mother Teresa said once to a country that didn't want to listen.

How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love.

She reminds us,

Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.

Bad choices

It seems that Giuliani is coming out as an explicitly pro-choice [of abortion] candidate.

The New York Times reports,

After months of conflicting signals on abortion, Rudolph W. Giuliani is planning to offer a forthright affirmation of his support for abortion rights in public forums, television appearances and interviews in the coming days.

Mr. Giuliani hinted at what aides said would be his uncompromising position on abortion rights yesterday in Huntsville, Ala., where he was besieged with questions about abortion and his donations to Planned Parenthood.  “Ultimately, there has to be a right to choose,” he said.

Just so there's no confusion.

Get Religion has a good roundup on this.  P.S. When you're a public figure, and you make it public, and declare your intention to make it public policy, it's not a "private issue" anymore.

Prevention of cruelty

In other news, if some activists have their way (not sure from the article how likely this is) the Austrian gov't may decide to give monkeys legal protection as persons (including "right to life") though it denies it to human babies in the womb. 

My head hurts just reading this because of all the half-baked philosophy going on here.

If the "99.4% similar DNA code" argument works on them, I know something that has 100% human DNA that isn't being granted the right to life.  Somehow I don't think that will move them, though.  Remember a few posts ago when I talked about the David Hume model of moral decision-making?  I think that is what is in operation here.

Capital punishment, Church teaching, & Maryland

I just noticed the column the pastor of my old parish wrote.  I think he has done a fine job of presenting the issue in terms of the Church's teaching without allowing himself to be drawn into ideological battles and of providing context with relation to war, abortion, and embryonic stem cells as other issues of respect for life and its sacredness without being drawn into conceding moral equivalencies where they do not exist.  All emphases are his own.

Dear Friends, 

As I write this column, committees of the Maryland Senate and House are deliberating a bill that would replace the death penalty with life imprisonment. Perhaps the committee vote will have been taken before you read this column.  Be that as it may, Bishop Denis Madden, the urban vicar and one of the auxiliary bishops of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, testified in favor of abolishing the death penalty.  He did this on behalf of the other bishops in the Maryland Catholic conference.  What is the moral and/or religious background to this?
    
Throughout history, our Church has recognized the right of legitimate government to resort to capital punishment.  The Church has seen this as allowable for the protection and common good of society.  However, our Catholic tradition and teaching has also challenged the appropriateness of capital punishment in a society that is capable of defending public order and ensuring public safety without this.  In other words, if non-lethal means are sufficient, then public authority should limit itself to such means.  This is more in keeping with respecting the sacredness of human life and human         dignity.
       
This last point is why Pope John Paul II spoke out so clearly against the death penalty in this era of human history.  The Church sees this as a respect life issue.  This is why our Church opposes the taking of unborn human life through abortion.  It is why our Church opposes embryonic stem cell research, since it takes the incipient human life that is present.  It is why our Church has carefully delineated the conditions under which war can be justified.  The clear and fundamental point is that human life is         sacred because it comes from and is a gift from God.  The opposition to the death penalty is part of this consistent ethic of life.  I once heard someone put it this way.  You do not promote respect for life by taking life, even of someone who has in fact taken the life of another.
       
No question, this is a very sensitive and probably controversial issue.  Those of you who have been victims of violent crime, directly or indirectly, probably are very alert to this issue. Regardless of where we as individuals stand on this, I do believe that we need to take account of the Church's teaching on human life in general as we form our conscience on this issue in particular.
                         
Father Mike                

You Can't be Any Poorer Than Dead

Pro-life is the present's biggest social justice issue.  Here's Martin Luther King's niece on civil rights.

Wrongful life suit

Someone is suing PP for failing to prevent her child from being born alive.

While this is very sad, a friend of mine contends that this is a no-win situation for PP (even a potential pro-life gain) regardless of the outcome.  What do you think and why?

Mass for Life homily

Here is the homily, given by the University of Maryland Catholic Student Center's own Fr. Bill Byrne.  Thanks for the link, Therese.

Death penalty ban?

Lawmakers in Annapolis are proposing a statewide ban on executions.  Gov. O'Malley says it's not part of his agenda, but that if the legislature can work out a bill he'll sign it.