Buenos Aires, Argentina, Sep 13, 2007 / 09:01 am
The Family Ministry of the Archdiocese of Parana (Argentina) has issued a statement underscoring that “abortion is never the solution for affirming or recovering the dignity of women.”
The statement was issued in response to the case of a 19 year-old handicapped girl who has been authorized by the courts to undergo an abortion because she conceived through rape. The statement emphasized that in this case, “the aberrant fact that has harmed the dignity of women is the rape” which “we strongly and firmly condemn.”
“Abortion is always a crime against an innocent person,” the statement indicated. As Blessed Mother Teresa said, “abortion is just as dangerous a threat as war, as innocent victims are turned against who have no voice to defend themselves.”
The statement also pointed out that the reasons used to justify abortion are not sufficient for nullifying a fundamental fact: the life of someone, of an unborn person, with all of her dignity, richness and respect is at risk.
“Only God is Lord of life and death. Nobody can arbitrarily decide who should be born and who should die,” the statement stressed. “To lay claim to this is the greatest act of discrimination that there can be.” The statement also affirmed that when there is a pregnancy, “the question ceases to be a private one and affects society itself. Children are not things, the exclusive property of those who engendered them. They are a gift to all of society.”
The Ministry for the Family pleaded to “allow this innocent child to live,” and offered “assistance to help the family during the pregnancy, birth and childhood of this person who is already alive among us. As the Church, we want to accompany those who are in such difficult situations as this one.”