Direct Destruction is not the Answer

I was contacted by a friend regarding the article Nebraska Couple Watches Their Baby Die Because of New Law and asked to share my thoughts on it and their desire have the baby aborted.

After writing it, I thought I would share it, so here it is:

Dear ...,

My thoughts on the subject...

It is obviously a heart wrenching subject, and it is always emotionally charged when anyone speaks about the suffering of a child, but that does not, in my opinion, allow or justify the destruction of innocent human life.

It could be argued that the baby was not likely to survive because of its age, 20 weeks, which is in part true, as I have never read of any case of any baby surviving that was below 22 weeks; nevertheless, that still does not justify the mercy killing of a baby. Essentially, that is what it would be, if were not be considered direct abortion, then we would have to consider it euthanizing in some abstract form; however, the end does not justify the means. The end in this respect is to avoid the suffering of the baby, but the means to accomplish this end is the murder of the child and to justify this the argument is being pursued that the baby would die anyway.

It is common in this modern age, quite often devoid of the spirtual understanding of human being, to avoid suffering at all costs and be unaware that there is a spiritual dimension to suffering. Even in the case of a child, their sufferings can be joined to the sufferings of Christ on the cross and play a role in redemption in humanity. Suffering is never without purpose, but even in this particular case, if the child is going to die, then it would be the duty of the doctors to keep the child comfortable, but the direct taking of life, in my opinion would be morally reprehensible.

The fact of the matter is death comes to us all, but if we allow people terminate or eliminate all who are close to death or terminally ill, we will have essentially embraced the culture of death. Suffering in all cases will be avoided at all costs and the proverbial slippery slope will become apparent. There becomes the notion that human life is good until it become troublesome or difficult; as a result, agencies like Dignitas flourish. It is the trivialization of the divine image of human person. The truth of the matter is that our life is not ours to take, it belongs to God and it must be honored in the way that it is lived and in the way that it is ended; essentially, it is improper for us to destroy what is not ours. Situations such as the terminal illness or imminent death test the boundaries of our love, but it is a candid reminder that we are called not only to love our family and friends, but also our God and respect the order and life which He has created and also trust in His mercy.

This case is indeed tragic and as I mentioned all suffering and death of the innocent is, but what is more tragic is their direct destruction of the most vulnerable in society and the erosion of the divine image of the human being. We must alway be careful not the let the best of intentions lead us down the wrong path.

Yours in Christ,