NPR recently promoted the beliefs of a pro-abortion Catholic nun and other pro-abortion Catholics, possibly in an effort to sway on-the-fence ‘Catholics’ to vote in favor of killing preborn children.
In the article, “6 out of 10 Catholics support abortion rights despite church’s stance, study shows,’ journalist Katia Riddle spoke with Sister Barbara, who did not share her last name, said Riddle, because “[s]he fears retribution from her local archdiocese for publicly expressing her beliefs on reproductive rights. She doesn’t agree with the church’s position that abortion is a sin and should be illegal.”
What Sister Barbara and the Bible say about abortion
Sister Barbara said she doesn’t see abortion — which is the intentional and direct killing of a human being in the womb — “in just absolute real terms,” and though “she wouldn’t personally choose to end a pregnancy,” she has never been in the situation of someone who has been raped. And though she did not state that she supports abortion in cases of rape (which discriminates against certain humans based on the manner of their conception), she does support a pro-abortion Missouri ballot measure to enshrine abortion as a “right” under the state constitution.
This means Sister Barbara supports abortion at any time for any reason, and she claimed that the Bible doesn’t say anything explicitly about abortion.
The Bible, however, has a lot to say about the sanctity of life in the womb, including when God tells Noah, “Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed, for in his own image God made humankind.” Humans in the womb are just as much members of the human species as those who have been born.
In addition, unjust homicide is condemned in Exodus 23:7 (“Do not kill the innocent”) and in Matthew 5:21 (“You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.”) The Bible also states that God knows preborn humans and gives them a purpose prior to their birth in Judges 13:7 and Galatians 1:15. The references to life inside the womb and how God is against killing innocent humans are numerous, including in the story of the visitation.
In addition, the Catholic News Agency explained:
Several examples of teaching which span the first three hundred years of our Church include the following: The “Didache” (“The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles,” c. 80 A.D.) asserted, “You shall not procure abortion. You shall not destroy the newborn child.” The “Epistle of Barnabas” (138) also condemned abortion.
Athenagoras (177) in his “A Plea on Behalf of Christians” (a defense against paganism) emphasized that Christians consider as murderers those women who take medicines to procure an abortion; he condemns the killer of children, including those still living in their mother’s womb, “where they are already the object of the care of divine providence.”
Tertullian, (197) in his “Apologeticum” likewise asserted, “To prevent birth is anticipated murder; it makes little difference whether one destroys a life already born or does away with it in its nascent stage. The one who will be man is already one.” In the year 300, the Council of Elvira, a local church council in Spain, passed specific legislation condemning abortion (Canon 63).
Abortion is not compassionate
Riddle wrote that Sister Barbara “fell in love with Catholicism for its practice around compassion and service, not politics.”
It is not an act of service nor is it compassionate to tell a woman facing challenges during pregnancy that her child is better off dead than allowed his or her own right to life, given by God. On the contrary, it is pro-lifers who show compassion when their acts of service towards women and children lift women up, provide families with the support they need, treat preborn babies as the valuable human beings that they are.
In addition, abortion is not a political issue — or at least it shouldn’t be. It is the homicide of an undelivered human being. Whether or not a person or a group of people is worthy of human rights (such as the right to not be unjustly killed) should not be up to a vote or up for debate. All humans deserve human rights, and the first and most important is the right to life. Legalized abortion denies that right to an entire group of human beings. The Catholic Church recognizes what science proves — that human life begins at the moment of fertilization.
Since the Catholic Church knows and teaches that killing innocent people is wrong, as U.S. law also states, it knows and teaches that killing innocent people in the womb is equally wrong.
Women of the Church
Riddle also spoke with 81-year-old Alice Kitchen, a woman who said she used to be a nun until “the turning point” when she said she realized “that the church I belonged to doesn’t recognize women.” She is no longer Catholic and spends her time outside of stores like Costco, wearing a pro-abortion sandwich board and gathering signatures for the pro-abortion ballot measure.
The Catholic Church does, however, “recognize women.” The Church teaches that men and women are intrinsically equal and valuable. Women have a central role in the Church and some would argue that it was Christianity that ended women’s treatment as second-class citizens. From the Virgin Mary to St. Mary Magdalene to the religious sisters and saints of today, women have always been a part of Christ’s mission. In fact, in Genesis 3:15, God promised that through the offspring of woman — Eve — the redeemer of all mankind (Christ) would come.
Catholic Columnist Bob Sullivan explained, “Since the earliest days of the Church, Catholics have been taught that women have a dignity equal to that of men and that all of us are created in the image and likeness of God. Catholicism’s respect for women is not a relic of the past, it is today’s objectification of women which is on the wrong side of history. But radical feminists and progressives would not believe this even if you could get them to listen.”
Riddle also spoke with a Catholic woman in Costco’s parking lot who said, “The church hasn’t really studied these issues [reproduction and abortion]. They have no idea what they’re doing.” Yet, the Church has long looked to scientific evidence that points to life beginning at fertilization, and the Society of Catholic Scientists explained, “The Catholic Church has been a friend of science and has contributed greatly to it in many ways.”
Sure to include at least one young person in the story, Riddle spoke with Mary Helen Schaefer, a student at the Jesuit Saint Louis University who is pro-abortion because “it happened to someone personal in my life and that I, like — you know, that I love so much.” Having a loved one who chose abortion does not make abortion justifiable (likewise, having a beloved brother who is convicted of murder doesn’t somehow justify murder); it simply means you likely know someone who is suffering from the trauma of abortion whether they say it aloud or not.
Photo: Reddit user brazen 177 (10-week aborted baby by abortion pill)
Six in Ten Catholics
Riddle did speak with Catholic Deacon Sam Lee, who heads up the pro-life group Missouri Stands with Women. He told her that he was unsurprised that some Catholics support abortion. “Catholics aren’t that much different than anybody else,” he said, “and they’re subject to all the influences that are in the culture.”
But whether or not Catholics actually support abortion is still questionable despite the Pew poll results. Neither the Pew Research Center nor NPR asked or reported on whether or not each of the Catholics surveyed actually attends Mass every Sunday or receives the Sacraments on a regular basis.
Are these Catholics practicing Catholics? NewsBusters suggests they aren’t, and posits that if the Pew Research Center asked practicing Catholics about the killing of preborn children, the majority would be against it.
