Standing For the Pro-Life Position to a Dark and Cruel Fault
By Will McCorkle

Recently, a call was made to the Vatican to excommunicate doctors in Brazil who approved an abortion of two fetuses carried by a 9 year old girl who was raped by her stepfather. The head of bioethics at the Vatican refused to condemn the doctors and said their position was justified. Many deeply conservative pro-life Catholics are outraged by this decision. However, the question I have is this: When do we stand for a position to a fault? When in the name of being just and right do we become cruel and unmerciful?

More than likely if the nine-year girl was forced to go through the pregnancy she would have died a horrible and extremely painful death. However, many people were more scared of what this would do to the ideology of the pro-life movement than to the life of the poor nine year old. You can see this in very Catholic countries such a Nicaragua, where it is illegal to have an abortion, even to save the life of the mother (though of course, everyone just has it done in some back ally).

This is the danger which I see apparent in the pro-life movement and every other ideological movements. Often, the ideology trumps compassion, mercy, and humanity. We have to be very careful that we do not let good (trying to lower the abortion rate) become a type of evil (forcing a 9 year old girl to die to preserve the “sanctity” of life). While I do think the issue of the sanctity of life is important, it does not trump every other issue dealing with humanity, mercy, and justice. At the end of the day, I stand without apology saying that I would rather preserve the life of the nine-year-old girl above all else. I applaud people for standing by beliefs, but let us hold our beliefs with somewhat of a loose grasp that we are willing to suspend them to make room for compassion.

This article was written by William McCorkle. He writes a blog on progressive social action and the search to find the true essence of the Christian faith at http://www.essencerestored.com. If you are interested in contacting the author, you may contact him at wdmccorkle@gmail.com.

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