Catholics and Abortion

Sadly, Ireland has chosen to legalize abortion. Most people say this is a win for women's rights. However, it is actually killing millions of women every day. Maybe not fully grown women, but millions of future women. 

Women keep chanting, "My body, My Choice"... but it isn't their body that's being ripped apart. It isn't their body being killed. It isn't their choice being erased.

This is a side by side of a 4D ultrasound of a baby in the womb vs when the baby has been born. Do you notice much of a difference? Other than where the baby temporarily resides, what is the difference between the child in the womb and out of the womb? He still has the same nose, the same lips, the same eyes, the same chin, the same chubby arms, the same 10 fingers and 10 toes. The baby that is born is the same child inside the womb in every way.

This child, even in the womb, has it's own body, it's own heartbeat, it's own brain that is growing and learning, it's own completely unique, one of a kind genetic makeup. It is its own individual person. the child has its own identity completely separate from the mother's. It is not HER body... it is a separate life's body. That life has a spirit, that life has a choice... but can't speak for itself. The baby's only advocate wants her choice to supersede the choice of the most innocent.

It has been scientifically proven that a child can learn in utero. That's why doctors now tell you to play music for the unborn child, to talk to the child, it's why they believe a newborn who has never met their mother, calms down at her touch and her voice, because they learned who she is in utero and know her.

It's been scientifically proven that an unborn child (or fetus) can feel and react to physical stimulus, including when someone presses on the mother's belly... and by the time most babies in the womb are aborted, they already have the ability to feel pain. So as their limbs are being ripped away from their tiny bodies, they are feeling every second of it

.

A child that is unborn would not be okay with dying. Their sole purpose is to survive, to grow, and to be born. Yet that right to choose what to do with THEIR body is taken away from them.

Gianna Jensen was aborted. In fact, she was a late term abortion. Her mother went to planned parenthood where they injected a solution into the womb. This solution is inhaled by the fetus, and after ingestion starts to burn the fetus from the inside out until death. in 24 hours, the mother will deliver a dead child. Everyone says, "it's okay cause it's not a life until it's outside of the womb, so if it dies in the womb, it's not murder."

Gianna Jensen was meant to die in a horrific way, in an excruciatingly painful way (Because, again... not only was it scientifically proven that fetuses much younger than she was at the time of her abortion, can feel pain... but it's scientifically proven that an infant feels greater pain than adults because their nerves are hypersensitive until a certain age after birth)... so for that fetus being injected with this solution, the pain must be indescribably bad. 

She was unborn... she was to die in her mother's womb... but miraculously she is still here to talk about how grateful she is for her life. She was adopted by loving parents and thanks God every day for allowing her to live. Not her mother... GOD. He pulled her through the attempted murder and allowed her to be born and adopted by a wonderful family who accepted her even though the attempted abortion left her with medical issues (The abortion caused her to have cerebral palsy). Today she still speaks at pro-life events. Her survival proves she was a life inside the womb. If she were not a life, she would have easily expired from the abortion.

the word "abort" means to bring to a premature end. You can only end something that has begun. So to abort a baby is to end a life that has begun. By the very definition of abortion, you have to acknowledge that it is a life you are ending.

Then there is the rape argument. "Why victimize the woman more by forcing her to have a child of a rapist?"

That argument is flawed.

1. statistics show that the vast majority of abortions are after the fact birth control, not rape or medical emergency. These statistics were before modern medical advancements. Thanks to modern medicine, pregnancies that were once life and death for a mother, can now be managed without abortion, and with the morning after pill being given after a rape to stop conception, the statistics today for rape/medical emergency has dropped even lower than before... meaning the main reason for an abortion is because two consenting sexual partners (whether adults or teens) could not control their urges and had an oops that an innocent life has to pay the price for.

There is a reason the bible warns against sexual promiscuity outside of marriage. St Paul even says if someone can not control their sexual desires, it is better for them to be married and indulge with their spouse, than to suffer the fires of hell for indulging in sexual immorality. The sin of abortion is another reason for not indulging our carnal desires outside of the bonds of marriage.

So the rape argument is moot as it is statistically the lowest cause of abortion. Today it is less than 1%.

2. A child is completely innocent, and half of the genetic code belongs to the mother. To kill a child for the vile sins of the rapist would be like: a mother of 4 driving drunk kills a state trooper in an accident... so they go to the children's school, take one out of class, and have the child executed because of the mother's crime.

Should an innocent child be put to death because of a wrong the mother did? So why should an innocent unborn child who did nothing wrong in the world except try to exist, be put to death? Especially when there are so many families that would want that child. 

Of course it is sad that there are "Catholics" and "Christians" who support "women's rights" to rob a future woman of her rights. I put the words Christian and Catholics in quotations because they are not truly Christian or Catholic since the bible is VERY clear about how God feels about life. Children are lives, even if they are unborn. God is clear about that in the bible. So if an unborn child is a life, killing that child is murder which is a mortal sin according to God's commandments. So abortion is abhorrent to God.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart" - Jeremiah 1:5

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." - Matthew 19:14

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. - Luke 1:41

This is why Catholics oppose abortion. They are life. Even in the womb, John the Baptist leapt at the presence of Mary and the fruit of her womb, Jesus.

God knew us before we were even conceived! Jesus, who started life as an unborn baby himself, states that heaven belongs to the children such as the ones he brought to himself. Elizabeth's unborn baby leaped in her womb with joy... for an unborn infant to leap in the womb at the presence of Mary and the fruit of her own womb, Jesus... that means Elizabeth's unborn child (John the Baptist), was alive and feeling emotion.

God is very clear that even an unborn life is still a life. And he knew our soul before it even was a spark in our parent's eye.

So if you are Christian, you must oppose abortion, or you are opposing God. Even if you never have an abortion yourself, to support the right is to condone the act, making you complicit in this grave sin as if you HAVE committed the act yourself.

Pray for life.

Pray for those who support abortion that their eyes may be opened before it's too late.

Pray for those who commit abortion that they may seek true redemption through the blood Christ shed on the cross at Calvary for all of us.

Pray for those who have the courage to give life a chance.

Pray for mothers.

Immaculate Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Christ's Birth - an Unplanned Pregnancy?

So whoever runs “Ask a Catholic Priest” on Facebook, is having a very hard time with people disagreeing with him. He is acting all persecuted and even claimed he's being called a heretic. (No one that I personally saw called him that.) Being wrong (or perceived wrong) doesn't make someone a heretic.

He posted a Meme of Christ's Manger bed, and the caption read: “An Unplanned Pregnancy Saved the World.”

Now it caused a few people to scratch their heads. No one disagreed with the pro-life sentiments other than, Our Lord's birth should not be equated with sexually active couples (whether married or living in sin... because in the Catholic faith, premarital sex is still a sin.) who have an “oops” and find themselves pregnant when they weren't planning on having children at that time (or ever). 

That is a false teaching to say our Lord is unplanned.

Our Lord, God the Son, was planned since Adam and Eve's banishment. God always knew he would send his Son to redeem what Adam and Eve had done. There would be a new Eve (Mary) and a new Adam (Jesus) who would be the shining examples of what he meant his creations to be. Loving, obedient, faithful, and Christ's sacrifice would offer us redemption and conquer death which was thrust upon us because of Adam and Eve's disobedience.

The priest (I assume it's a priest since it's called “Ask a Catholic Priest”) became indignant and stated he wasn't talking about God, who is all knowing. He was talking about Mary. That it was an unplanned pregnancy on her behalf.

Wrong again Padre. Far be it from me to argue Theology with a priest as I am no expert... but Mary planned on having Jesus. It was a split second decision but a planned one none-the-less.

Mary did not find herself “accidentally” pregnant with an unwanted or mistimed child. In fact, when St. Gabriel the Archangel appeared to her, she wasn't even pregnant yet. Right there is the key to whether this was planned, or unplanned. SHE WAS NOT PREGNANT YET.

She was surprised, for sure. “How can this be? I have not known a man.” (IE she was a virgin) and hearing the angel tell her she was to BECOME pregnant (not that she already was) was confusing. How could she become pregnant if she's never been with a man and would not be as she was not yet married. (She wasn't about to commit a sin.)

Gabriel explained (again, she's not yet pregnant) that with God, all things are possible, in fact... her cousin Elizabeth who was of advanced age and barren, is now with Child. He then explained that (if she said yes, cause Mary still had free will to reject this miracle from God) The Holy spirit would come to her, and that God would overshadow her. So he explained on how she would come to be with child.

Mary, STILL NOT YET PREGNANT, said, “I am a servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you have said.”

So the angel came to her, explained to her what God wanted of her, how it would be done, Mary agreed... THEN she became pregnant. The moment she had foreknowledge that she would become pregnant by saying “yes” to God's miracle... The pregnancy was PLANNED on every end. On God's end since time began... and now Mary's, who was awaiting the miracle to happen, willingly.

If she was willingly awaiting the Holy Spirit to come to her, and God to overshadow her, awaiting the moment she would become with child, how was it unplanned at this point?

Again, this is nothing like two sexually promiscuous teenagers who accidentally become pregnant. She was told it was what God wanted, the angel laid out how it would happen, she agreed to it, THEN became pregnant fully knowing it was about to happen and willingly accepting and desiring it.

Well, this didn't sit well with the priest who told me to “look up the definition of unplanned”. And that “free will is a matter of faith and has nothing to do with the unexpected pregnancy.”

Uh... Free will is TRUTH, not faith. Even atheists understand we are free to make our own choices and live with the consequences. And since Mary was also imbued with free will, she had the chance to back out before she ever became pregnant. The fact that she agreed to it before the pregnancy happened, shows that using her free will, she planned on following through with God's request of her. Kind of how a husband and wife decide it's time to have a child... only a little faster.

And I did one better than simply looking up the definition of “unplanned” since a single word's meaning can change depending on its use.

I looked up the definition of “Unplanned Pregnancy.” According to most sources including the CDC:

“An unplanned pregnancy is an unintended pregnancy that is reported to have been either unwanted (that is, the pregnancy occurred when no children, or no more children, were desired) or mistimed (that is, the pregnancy occurred earlier than desired).”

So lets walk through that definition.

Was Christ an unintended pregnancy? No. His birth was predestined since the beginning of time, and since St. Gabriel explained in detail to Mary what would happen, she intended to have it be done to her as it was said. So Christ was an intended pregnancy.

Was Christ unwanted? No. When Mary agreed to be mother to the Word Incarnate, she wanted that child and already loved him before he was even concieved in her womb. Just knowing was enough for her to want him and expect him.

Was Christ mistimed? No. It was exactly as God had perfectly planned. He hand chose Mary before her birth... she is the immaculate conception, meaning she was born free of Original Sin so that she would be a clean and sinless vessel for the Son of God to be born. And yet, Mary still had that choice, and she was ready to accept Jesus as her child. The timing was exactly as it needed to be.

So Mary's pregnancy and Christ's birth does not fit into the definition of an unplanned pregnancy by any stretch of the imagination.

And again... while I don't disagree with the pro-life sentiments, it is a false teaching to place our Lord and Savior on the same level as a scared teenager who finds herself unwantingly pregnant through her own promiscuity (as most teenage pregnancies happen). An unplanned pregancy is a couple, whether through promiscuity outside of the sacred bonds of marriage, or even within a marriage, actively avoid trying to have a child while still fulfilling their sexual desires, then have a whoops.

That is NOT Christ's conception or birth!

I have suddenly found that my posting privileges on that site are gone.

I'm not a theological expert by any means... But it would seem like common sense that Christ was planned, was wanted by Mary the moment she said 'yes' before she was even pregnant with him, and that he came at the intended time as he will one day return on a cloud of Glory from Heaven, at the intended time.

As I stated before I got kicked off the page: “Vatican II: Spreading nonsensical theology since the 60s.”

That said, there is nothing more precious than a life, and even an unexpected pregnancy can be a blessing. Whether it's a blessing on the family, a blessing on an adoptive family who can not have children of their own, a blessing on a community (the child could grow up to be a charitable business owner) or a blessing on the world, (The child could grow up to be the person who cures cancer, who ends hunger, or who is set to be the next St. Francis, St. Therese, St. Padre Pio...)

The life of a child is precious and should never be unwanted, even if unplanned. If you find yourself in a situation where you are pregnant and can not care for a child... please, still consider life, consider adoption. There are many Catholic services available to help you through either the adoption process, or the transition for if you choose to keep your child. Adoption changed the life of my cousin who couldn't have children of her own. It also changed the life of a child my mom's cousin adopted and raised as her own.

A friend of mine had an unplanned pregnancy, she was left by the man she trusted who fathered the child, but she raised that child and sacrificed much for that child, and now he's a man who is returning the favor to her. There was so much love that she never expected when she was in her panicked state of mind.

So, this argument about the meme aside, remember that life is precious. So precious, Jesus came to us as a little innocent infant who grew into something unimaginably great. So great, his sacrifice and ressurection has saved us from death, has brought us redemption, and a way into heaven for an eternal life of peace and love. Obviously, There will only ever be one Savior, but every child born has the potential to be something wonderful, just waiting to do good in the world in Christ's name. It just takes faith, hope, love, and sacrifice. 

God Bless

Happy Advent.