There Are No Exceptions

By Fr. Frank Pavone
HERALD Columnist
(From the Issue of 1/25/01)

"This is my blood…It will be shed for you and for all…" (cf. Matthew 26:28). These words of the Lord Jesus indicate His universal will for salvation. He died for each and every human being who ever existed and ever will exist.

Furthermore, it was through Him that they were made. "Apart from him, nothing came to be" (John 1:3). "All things were created through Him; all were created for Him" (Col.1:16). The love of God has no exceptions; the command He gives us to love one another likewise admits of no exceptions. "Love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12). The Christian is not free to discriminate, or to exclude anyone from his or her love. Such exclusion is incompatible with the love of God Himself. This is the basis for saying that no innocent human life may ever be deliberately destroyed; this is the root and source of the unchanging truth that no abortion is ever justified.

Abortion is, according to the teaching of the Church, an intrinsic evil. It is evil by its very nature, and that evil is not altered by circumstances. To put it another way, if one lived for a million years -- or forever -- and did nothing but try to imagine circumstances that could justify a single abortion, one could never imagine one. It simply does not exist.

Every abortion, no matter what the circumstances, contradicts the law and will of God. The circumstances in which a child is conceived -- whether they were planned or not, whether they were the embrace of spousal love or the violent act of rape or incest -- can never make an abortion morally permissible. The circumstances in which the pregnancy advances -- whether the health or life of the mother is threatened or not, or whether her social or economic situation is extremely grave -- can never justify the direct killing of a child.

Human law, furthermore, can never justify a single act of abortion. There is no Court, King, Governor, President, Parliament, or Prince anywhere on earth or any time in history who can issue any decision, decree or declaration that would justify even a single abortion. When human lawmakers attempt to do so, the "law" that results is not simply a bad law; it is, in fact, no law at all, and carries neither authentic juridical validity nor any obligation to obey it.

Life can be confusing, and the temptation to compromise with evil can be great. But the teaching about abortion is as clear and direct as it can be, and is best summed up with one word: never.

Contact Priests for Life at PO Box 141172, Staten Island, NY 10314; Tel: 888-PFL-3448,
718-980-4400; Fax: 718-980-6515; email: mail@priestsforlife.org; web: www.priestsforlife.org

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