A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said, “Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even one year old and I’m pregnant again. I don’t want kids so close together.”
So the doctor said, “Ok, and what do you want me to do?”
She replied, “I want you to end my pregnancy, and I’m counting on your help with this.”
The doctor thought for a little while, and after some silence he said to the lady, “I think I have a better solution for your problem. It’s less dangerous for you too.”
She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request.
Then he continued, “You see, in order for you not to have to take care of two babies at the same time, let’s kill the one in your arms. That way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we’re going to kill one of them, it doesn’t matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms.”
The lady was horrified and said: “No, doctor! How terrible! It’s a crime to kill a child!”
“I agree”, the doctor replied. “But you seemed to be ok with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution.”
The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point. He convinced the mother that there is no difference in killing a child that’s already been born and one that’s still in the womb. The crime is the same!
Nice story to illustrate a point.
hmmm… very good point there.
unfortunately, there will be those who will adamantly not accept the fact that the growing foetus in the womb is anything of a human being.
that is the state of intelligence we have progressed thus far… tsk, tsk!
My initial reactions:
(1) who does the doctor think he is? Solomon?
(2) why does he not ask her what exactly the woman’s problems are? financial? lack of childcare support? marital problems at home? sick relatives? threatened with unemployment?
I have problems with this scare/moralistic tactics, because that’s what they are – they frighten someone into “behaving” without acutally convincing them.
A much better method would be to help the mother come up with solutions to her problem. For you see, even after the birth of the baby, she is still left with the same problem – that of a mother unable to cope with two small kids.
What do you think her mental condition will be then if the fundamental problems are not addressed?
Hi Anthea,
That may be true, but the fundamental problem really is to first help the mother to realise that the child in her womb is a living human being. Regardless of what the mother’s mental condition will be, consider the alternative – what would be the condition of the child if it was aborted? It’d be dead. No amount of mental condition the mother could go through could compare to that – the life and death of her child.
Once the mother has recognised that the child in her womb really is a living human person, and is determined not to kill a child of hers, then she can work to find other ways of addressing her problems, perhaps talking to a family counsellor, to family members, friends, etc. If the mother does not realise that abortion is taking away of a human life, then the option to abort will always be there, and she will not be as determined to find a solution to her problem.
God bless,
Catholic Writer
It is amazing how many people in Singapore think otherwise to the fact that the life really begins at birth, even the major religions, government agencies.
See practical examples: Embroyonic stem cell research (Singapore is a leader), Abortion laws (permits up to 24 weeks terminations, that is at about the 6 mths of pregnancy!), IVF (use of spare embryos for research, stem cells).
Truly the Catholic Church stands out in this regard in protecting human life in its earliest form. Only when we look after the truely vunerable, can we really become fully human and alive.
I put up some pictures here to illustrate my point:
http://prolife-sgp.blogspot.com/
Hi Andy,
Much of the reason behind this is conditioning by the media. There’s money to be made from ESC research, abortion, and IVF. Institutions and organizations with the financial backing push for conditioning of the masses through the media. Through an effective ongoing campaign, the minds of the masses are slowly but surely (over decades perhaps) shifted towards believing that life begins at birth, all for the money that can be made from this.
While it is true that the Catholic Church stands out in this regard in protecting human life, the Catholic Church must recognise that its voice is lacking in the secular media. It needs to engage the world more by learning how to use the media to voice the truth. In this regard, the Church has failed so far, but there is hope. Some parts of the Church have come to realise the power of the media and are attempting to use it to change minds as well.
It is not enough to say that as Catholics, we have the truth, because our responsibility is to share that truth with others in the world. If we do not do that, then we are effectively keeping a lighted lamp under a tub.
God bless,
Catholic Writer