DEACON FOR LIFE

Were there to be no support in the whole history of ethical and moral thought, were there no acknowledged confirmation from medical science, were the history of legal opinion to the contrary, we would still have to conclude on the basis of God's Holy Word that the unborn child is a person in the sight of God. He is protected by the sanctity of life graciously given to each individual by the Creator, Who alone places His image upon man and grants them any right to life which they have.

Thursday, November 3, 2022

Forced abortion, the family, and conscience rights

Foundations newsletter

November 3, 2022

Foundations is a semi-monthly online publication of Personhood Alliance Education that informs and equips Christians on issues of life for the 21st century.

Personhood in the news

We can't close our eyes on the issue of forced abortion

We can't close our eyes on forced abortion

An overlooked angle on the abortion debate emerged in the European Court of Human Rights last month. The court found that the human rights of a 20-year-old woman were violated when her parents and doctors forced her to have an abortion. Subsequently, police refused to press charges. While little work has been done on the prevalence of forced abortion, evidence shows up to 60% of women who have had an abortion experienced pressure to do so.

The family is designed by God, not culture

Children need their moms and their dads. Moms need their husbands, and dads need their wives. These needs aren’t fake, socially constructed or culturally conditioned. It always requires one man and one woman to make a child, and civilizations always require the birth of new children to survive. Our society is in the midst of a decades-long experiment with language, especially the word family. But can the definition of family change? No.

Canada fails to protect doctors' rights

The Protection of Freedom of Conscience Act failed in Canada’s House of Commons by a huge margin of 203 to 115. The act was introduced to prevent healthcare workers from being forced to participate in euthanasia and assisted suicide. The ruling effectively excludes pro-life doctors from practicing their profession and pro-life students from entering medicine. Freedom of conscience is not a hill to die on in Ottawa.

Personhood on the ground

Personhood Amendment push in Georgia

A broad-based and diverse coalition of Georgia pro-life organizations today delivered more than 4,000 petitions calling on Governor Brian Kemp to convene a legislative special session to adopt a Personhood amendment to the state constitution.

"Pre-born children are still dying in the womb in Georgia because of flaws in the heartbeat law. Governor Kemp has the power to end this tragedy by taking the lead in adopting such an amendment," said Ricardo Davis, president of Personhood Alliance affiliate Georgia Right to Life (GRTL).

A Personhood amendment will provide protection, equal justice, and equal rights for all innocent human life at any stage of development, age, medical condition, manner of conception or race. Please pray that God will move in the hearts of Governor Kemp, Attorney General Chris Carr, legislators and citizens to bring an end to the bloodshed of innocent pre-born children in Georgia.

Sign the petition

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LIFE IS SACRED

An example of the traditional magisterial teaching which indicates that it is never morally licit to intentionally kill a child through abortion in order to “save the life of its mother” comes from the teaching of Pope Pius XII:

“Every human being, even the infant in the mother's womb, has the right to life immediately from God, not from the parent or any human society or authority. Therefore, there is no man, no human authority, no science, no medical, eugenic, social, economic or moral ‘indication’ that can show or give valid juridical title for direct deliberate disposition concerning an innocent human life-which is to say, a disposition that aims at its destruction either as an end in itself or as the means of attaining another end that is perhaps in no way illicit itself. Thus, for example, to save the life of the mother is a most noble end, but the direct killing of the child as a means to this end is not licit.”