Planting the Seed of Life – Part 4

Deacon Pedro

July 11, 2011
I’ve been telling you about a conversation I had with a friend. The “ProLife” conversation is probably one of the most important ones that we should be able to have. But, most of us do not have the facts or the confidence to do so. So, here’s part 4 of that conversation. But first, you should read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
[singlepic id=38 w=320 float=right]She was thinking about this now. Perhaps she had run out of arguments. I continued, "So? you wouldn't kill a disabled person, even if they had no clue about who they were or their surroundings. You wouldn't kill a new-born baby, even if it was severely disabled, or even if his father was the guy who raped you. You wouldn't kill a Siamese twin because it's attached to somebody else and you wouldn't kill someone who is dependent on someone else...but you would have an abortion."
"Not necessarily", she said quietly.
"But you think that it's okay for someone else to have one."
"If they want to."
"Would you beat your kids?"
"What?"
"Would you beat your kids?"
"But it's ok for your neighbour to beat her kids if she wants to?"
"No. What are you talking about?"
"Is it ok for your neighbour to take her new puppy to the backyard and hack it to death with a meat cleaver?" I didn't let her answer. "No, it's not okay. But it is okay for her to have an abortion, if she wants to."
"It's not the same," she said.
"Why not?"
"Because her kids are kids -- it's not a fetus!"
"Don’t you see what you are saying? If you want the baby, then the fetus is a human person, but if you don't want the baby then that makes her a non-person? Where's the logic?"
"You can't make people have children if they don't want to."
"I am not making anyone have children. The issue is not about over-population or about poverty. C'mon, there are lots of support systems out there for families who are poor and there is no overpopulation problem. People are starving in developing countries because of poor distribution of wealth. They are starving so that you and I can have our two cars and our chocolate and coffee and diamonds. Abortion has nothing to do with these things. It has to do with the life of an unborn baby. If you saw your neighbour beating her puppy to death, you would call the police. Why then, is it ok for someone to have an abortion?"
"Because it's not the same."
"Because a fetus is not a human person?"
"You can't prove it."
"You can't prove that it isn't. So isn't it better to err on the side of life?"
"Not if you're the woman who has to support that baby?"
"That's a lot of bull. If a woman doesn’t want her baby she can put him up for adoption. There are tons of pro-life pregnancy support centres willing to give that woman, and man, what they need to make a go at it. That's much more than what you get at Planned Parenthood. They say it's your choice, but it's also your problem. You deal with the aftermath of having an abortion. You deal with the depression that follows. You deal with the breast cancer that you might develop because you interrupted a pregnancy…And if you choose to keep the baby – do they help you?" I was beginning to get tired.
"I just don't think it's the same thing," she said. I think she was also getting tired.
I answered, "We know, scientifically, that a human embryo is a human being. And we know, that because it's a human being, it must be a human person. To this date, we have not come across a human being who is not a human person. We know for sure that it has the potential to do everything you and I can do. Why is it okay to kill it? It's not okay. Abortion is murder. There's no argument."
She thought about this. "I never thought about it this way."
“Neither had I. But now that I have, I can't let people like you continue to think that a woman has a right to choose."
She looked at me, “The Church doesn’t allow for abortion under any circumstances?”
"No. Abortion is murder. Murder is murder, no matter the circumstances."
"What if the mother’s life is in danger."
"Then the Church says to do what the medical profession does already: they go in trying to save both the mother and the baby: two lives. If in the process of saving both lives, the baby dies, that’s not abortion. It’s the same if the mother died but the baby lived."
She looked at me in a way she hadn’t ever looked at me.  I’m not quite sure what was going on in her head. I knew she wasn't completely convinced yet, but at least, perhaps the seed was planted. Maybe she will be moved to go and find out more.
I've had this conversation replaying in my mind for years now. It hasn’t happened yet. I wish it would have been a real conversation. Maybe one day.
Maybe you can have this conversation too.
Remember, life was chosen for you. Now, you too, choose life!
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CNS photo/Debbie Hill