Spiritual Reflections at, TX US - Rights of the Unborn Child...

Why America Exists By Rev. Frank Pavone John Adams, Second President of the United States, declared, “You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe." What is the first responsibility of those in government? It is to recognize their place. They are guardians of rights which pre-exist them and the government itself. Some say the government should not be involved in the abortion decision. They do not realize how right they are. The government got "too involved" in the issue when it decided in Roe vs. Wade that it could deprive the unborn of their right to life. Now, government must step back and realize that it does not have the authority to either bestow or take away the unalienable right to life. The goal here is not simply to have all abide by the norm. It is, rather, to recognize that the norm is beyond the power of any government or political party to change. Government leaders, furthermore, must lead. While forging a consensus is a key part of political activity, there are some fundamental issues of justice that cannot wait for a consensus. When a segment of the human family is being put to death legally, the leaders cannot wait for enough people to agree that the victims should be protected. The Holy Father and our bishops have commented on the responsibility and destiny of America in this regard: "Every human person - no matter how vulnerable or helpless, no matter how young or how old no matter how healthy, handicapped or sick, no matter how useful or productive for society is a being of inestimable worth created in the image and likeness of God. This is the dignityof America, the reason she exists, the condition for her survival - yes, the ultimate test of her greatness: to respect every human person, especially the weakest and most defenseless ones, those as yet unborn" (Pope John Paul II at the Detroit Airport on Sept. 19, 1987). "As we tinker with the beginning, the end and even the intimate cell structure of life, we tinker with our own identity as a free nation dedicated to the dignity of the human person. When American political life becomes an experiment on people rather than for and by them, it will no longer be worth conducting. We are arguably moving closer to that day" (US Bishops, Living the Gospel of Life, 1998, n. 4). “In a striking way, we see today a heightening of the tension between our nation’s founding principles and political reality. We see this in diminishing respect for the inalienable right to life and in the elimination of legal protections for those who are most vulnerable. There can be no genuine justice in our society until the truths on which our nation was founded are more perfectly realized in our culture and law" (ibid., n.14). STEM CELL RESEARCH Confused About Stem Cell Research? If you are like most of the public, you are somewhat confused about all the debate on "stem cell research." What is a "stem cell?" Why would the Church be against research? Why is the whole matter such a controversy in the first place? A "stem cell" is a cell that is capable of growing into any type of cell in the body. Such cells may be helpful in treating disease. The problem, however, is that in one method of obtaining these cells, human lives, in their earliest stages, are being destroyed in the process. This is not a debate about whether or not we should do research to assist the perennial fight against disease. The Church does not oppose research. But the task of research, the efforts to cure disease, and the ability to manipulate nature has certain moral parameters. Consider some history. The prosecution in the World War 11 War Crimes Trials pointed to a key source of the deterioration of ethics that resulted in the Nazi killing program. That book was "The Release of the Destruction of Life Devoid of Value," by Karl Binding and Alfred Hoche. Hoche was a doctor of medicine. He writes: "A child was sick with a rare and scientifically interesting brain disease and was almost certain to die within 24 hours. If that child would die in the hospital, I would have the opportunity by autopsy to find out the reason for the sickness... It would have been easy to give the child an injection of morphine to hurry his death by a few hours. I did not because my personal desire for scientific research was not an important enough good to overcome the obligation of medical ethics. It would have been a different question, however, if to decide as mentioned in the present case would have resulted in the saving of many lives. The question would have had to be answered yes because of the higher good." This philosophy,that we can kill to advance medical progress, led to numerous experiments on innocent people. In the portion of the war crime trials dealing with the medical experiments, the prosecution stated: "The defendants in this case are charged with murders, tortures and other atrocities committed in the name of medical science." Experiments mentioned in the official U.S. Government publication summariz- ing the Medical Case include "High Altitude experiments," "Freezing experiments" and, mustard gas experiments." In one example, the subject's legs had to be deliberately crippled to obtain the medical data. Some say that the embryos destroyed in today's research aren't human. That simply contradicts scientific fact. The widely used medical textbook The Developing Human, Clinically Oriented Embryology, 6th Edition, Moore, Persaud, Saunders, 1998, states at page 2 that "The intricate processes by which a baby develops from a single Cell are miraculous.... This cell (the zygote) results from the union of an oocyte (egg) and sperm. A zygote is the beginning of a new human being...... At page 18 this theme is repeated: "Human development begins at fertilization (emphasis in original)...... Ultimately, however, the debate here goes beyond the fate of the embryos themselves. It involves the very meaning of human life, and whether some humans may be destroyed for the sake of others. And the world has gone down that painful road before. (Contact Priests for Life at P. 0. Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel:(888) PFL-3448, (71,8) 980-4400; Fax: (718) 980-6515; email; mail@priestsforlife-org; web: www.priestsforlife.org) (Father Frank Pavone is the national Director of Priests for Life. You may contact him at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel: (888)PFL-3448, (718)980-4400; Fax: (718)980-6515; E-mail: mail@priestsforlife.org; Web: www.priestsforlife.org)

(Back)