Abortion and Quality of life

For today’s entry in this series, I would like to address another comment which appeared on Facebook last year in response to my presence at the March For Life in Washington DC. One of my former work colleagues wrote the following:

“Pro life has to do with wanting people to live lives, including unborn children. But is the quality of life for both child and mother taken into consideration, or is it only about “saving” the life of the child?”

The question concerning quality of life is often raised in the abortion debate. The motivation behind it is good – we don’t want people to suffer, we want them to live the happiest lives possible.

Testing the argument

There are several things that I think should be said on this subject, but I’d first like to test the logic to see if it is sufficient justification for abortion. I will do this using the strategy I outlined a few days ago:

1. Agree (that the issue raised is a problem)
“I agree that we should always strive for human flourishing and a good quality of life for all…”

2. Apply (the argument to a toddler)
“… However, let’s apply that argument a little more generally. For example, if a two-year old is living in an orphanage, should we be able to kill that child? After all, the child has already been deprived of two parents, a stable home life and will face some serious challenges in his life ahead. Wouldn’t the kindest thing to be to put the child out of his misery?”

3. Ask (a dumb question)
“… I imagine you wouldn’t support such a suggestion. In that case, please excuse the dumb question, but why do you think we should be allowed to kill an unborn child, but not a two-year old?”

As I said in my previous post, the explanation as to why killing a toddler is wrong brings us back to the issue on which the abortion debate ultimately turns – the status of the fetus.

Pro-Life Obligation?

As I said at the beginning of this post, my colleague’s question is a laudable one. So while I don’t think it justifies abortion, I’d like to spend the rest of the post looking at the role the Church plays in supporting those who consider abortion.

However, before we consider that, I would like to ask another question: Should firemen be responsible for the lifetime welfare of all those whom they rescue from a fire? Does the fact that they’ve saved those people from death mean that they’re now responsible for all future care? I would say not…

How does the Catholic Church Help?

Having said that, a founding tenant of Christianity is love of neighbour and this particularly means care of the poor and vulnerable.

As a Catholic, I can point to many different Catholic charities and services who dedicate themselves to supporting women who find themselves with an unexpected pregnancy. In the Facebook thread, my friend Matthew explained:

“Catholic crisis pregnancy centers are full service. They work to provide medical care before and after birth, work to place the child in a good home if the mother is unable to keep it, provide psychiatric and spiritual counseling to the mother, and provide economic support.”

For example, the parish to which I was formally attached supported a crisis pregnancy centre a few blocks away. The young adults of the parish would regularly help out there cleaning, sorting out clothes and diapers etc. Many of the parishioners financially supported the centre.

At the March For Life last year we heard the testimony of many people who made use of these kinds of services, as well as the adoption services supported by the Church.

But what about non-Catholics?

Back in the Facebook thread, it was asked whether or not you have to be Catholic to use these Catholic support services. Matthew jumped in once more, explaining that we don’t ask whether someone is Catholic, but just whether she wants to receive the help we can offer:

“You do not have to be Catholic (or pass some sort of morals test) to use the services. If you are at a crisis pregnancy center, you need love, forgiveness, and support, not condemnation”

I think all this does show that, yes, pro-lifers do care about the quality of life of both the unborn and mothers with whom they plead to choose life.