Before I begin what will likely be one of my lengthier posts (consider yourselves warned), I want to restate my position on Roe v. Wade and abortion in general. I believe that abortion is objectively immoral; that is, that there is never a case in which abortion can be morally justified, regardless of the circumstances involved. I believe that Roe was wrongly decided and that there can never be any legal justification for a violation of the right to life, which is the most fundamental human right from which all other human rights are derived. Nevertheless, I value the health and lives of women enough to believe that overturning Roe, even though it was wrongly decided, would constitute a serious risk to a significant number of pregnant women who would seek illegal and unsafe underground abortions.
So while I have no respect for Roe v. Wade and believe that the choice to have an abortion is always immoral, I do not advocate for the overturning of Roe at this time. I believe instead that we should work to reduce and eventually eliminate the economic and social pressures which lead women to seek abortion, working to create a culture of life in which all human life is welcomed and respected.
This puts me outside of both the pro-life and pro-choice camps, although for the record I do consider myself pro-life. I'm fine with the fact that I do not belong to either of these movements, and I think it does lend some credibility to what I have to say since it is evident that I am not approaching this from a position of ideological loyalty. My opinion is nuanced and I like to think I keep an open mind, listening to what both sides have to say and offering my own opinions only after careful consideration.
It is from this non-ideological perspective that I hope to approach this issue.
The most fundamental problem with Rob's post is that it is based upon a factual error. Rob states at the very beginning of his post that the problem with the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act is that "it contained no exception if the life or health of the mother required it" (emphasis mine). In fact, however, Section 3a of the act explicitly states that the ban on partial birth abortion "does not apply" if it is "necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself." Clearly, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act does contain an exception for the life of the mother -- Rob is simply in error here.
This critical error undermines much of the rest of Rob's post, which is based primarily upon what the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act would mean without an exception for the life of the mother. Rob does point out that there are risks to both the life and health of the mother in every pregnancy, but these everyday risks cannot possibly constitute sufficient reason to permit a partial birth abortion. If these everyday risks were to become more verifiably serious in the third trimester and if they were to constitute a serious threat to the mother's life, the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act would allow a partial birth abortion. It is also important to point out that partial birth abortion itself carries with it a number of risks to the mother, as Rob, to his credit, has pointed out.
What about the health of the mother? Why didn't Congress include an exception for the health of the mother? After nine years of investigation, Congress has determined that it is unnecessary to include an exception for the health of the mother. By his own admission, all of the health risks that Rob brings up in his post, including the frequently mentioned mental health risks, can be addressed well before the third trimester and with other abortion procedures. Any serious health risk that would arise in the third trimester would likely also be a threat to the mother's life, so that the ban would not be applicable. This does beg the question: If partial birth abortion would never be necessary for the health of the mother, why not just include an exception for the mother's health anyway and appease the federal courts?
The reason is that pro-choice advocates and doctors frankly cannot be trusted. There is a very real probability that a broad health exception would be abused, allowing doctors to perform partial birth abortions for virtually any reason as long as they can cite some vague health reason, including vague appeals to mental and emotional health. A broad health exception would undermine the authority of Congress to govern, and the continued insistence upon this requirement by the courts would upset the balance of power between the judicial and legislative branches of government. The courts can interpret the Constitution, but they cannot so severely limit the Congress that the legislative branch's power to make law is effectively crippled -- and that is exactly what a broad health exception has done and would continue to do. It is imperative that such a broad exception be left out of this ban.
There are two other, more specific problems with Rob's post:
- Rob mentions that partial birth abortion is the preferred method for dealing with a child who dies late in utero, and that the application of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act may prohibit such uses of partial birth abortion. This is not the case. The act makes clear that the ban only applies when a "physician . . . knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and thereby kills a human fetus" (emphasis mine). Later in the act, it is again made clear that the fetus must be "a living fetus."
- Rob also mentions the possibility that "a mother, grieving over the loss of her child" might have to face prosecution. Again, this is not the case. The act only applies criminal penalties to doctors, and explicitly states that "a woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is performed may not be prosecuted".
Finally, Rob made a comment in his post that I can't let go:
Some Catholics have even argued that because sex carries the taint of sin with it, and because the mother chose to have sex, the mother should be willing to die rather than be a participant in the death of an innocent -- even if in dying the child will also die.
I would love to be introduced to these Catholics. If they truly exist, and I apologize for having trouble believing that they do, they are no doubt products of an era in the Church when the faithful were improperly catechized, because what is described in Rob's post is not Catholic teaching by any stretch of the imagination.
Catholic teaching regards all human activity since the original sin as having the taint of that original sin and the potential for more sin, and sexuality is certainly not exempted. But there is no special taint that comes with sex that would require a woman to give up her life, and such an idea has no basis in Catholic teaching. In fact, according to the principle of double effect, if the unintended loss of a child's life is necessary to save the life of the mother, then saving the life of the mother is morally licit even if it would result in the unintended loss of the child's life.
Rob may be referring here to St. Gianna Beretta Molla, canonized in 2004, who opted for risky surgery to remove a uterine fibroid (a benign tumor on the uterus) rather than opting for the low risk hysterectomy which would have saved her life but would have cost the life of her child. St. Gianna died as a result of the surgery, but her child did live. It is important to point out that even though St. Gianna's self-sacrifice is rightly considered a heroic virtue, she was not bound by Catholic teaching to choose the risky surgery over the low risk hysterectomy; she could have morally chosen the hysterectomy, and by all accounts she knew that she could have made this choice. Furthermore, St. Gianna was a doctor. She was fully aware of the risks involved in the surgery, and chose to take the risk anyway.
Far from making an ignorant choice based upon a misunderstanding of Catholic teaching, St. Gianna went above and beyond the moral requirements and entered into the same love lived by the Lord Jesus, love which is totally self-giving and does not count the cost. Because she so selflessly gave herself that her child might live, the Church believes that she now lives in the eternal love of he who gave himself that all of the Father's children might live. That is why St. Gianna was canonized. The beauty of St. Gianna's love is that it was freely chosen; it was not imposed upon her by the Church.
In any event, now that I have clarified Catholic teaching on the principle of double effect, I would respectfully ask Rob to amend his post to reflect a more balanced approach to what the Catholic Church teaches and what Catholics believe.
I think what Rob's post and my response illustrate is the importance of knowing and sticking to the facts when it comes to issues as controversial as abortion. Although I am not familiar with UnSpace, there is no doubt in my mind that Rob is a very intelligent individual and that he is striving to live an upright life committed to social justice. I don't hold the errors I've cited against him, and I hope that my pointing them out doesn't become a source of conflict between us. With all of the ideological posturing going on between the pro-life and pro-choice movements, it's easy to pick up on misinformation dressed up to look like fact. Goodness knows I've picked up plenty of misinformation myself and believed that it was factual. The important thing is being open to further discussion and correction; I'm confident that Rob will be open-minded enough for that, and I hope that I will be as well.
To conclude, all of my readers know how loathe I am to support any Republican-led initiative. I see alterior motives in virtually everything the Republican Party does, and the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act is no exception. I know that Republicans hoped and continue to hope to use abortion and the controversial issues surrounding it to divide and confuse the electorate, and I have trouble believing that most Republican politicians are very concerned about respecting the dignity of human life given their abominable record with helping the most poor and vulnerable among us. That doesn't change my conviction that a ban on partial birth abortion is not only reasonable but morally imperative, that this ban is reasonable and meets the requirements of the Constitution and Roe v. Wade, and that this ban should be upheld as constitutional. While I am reluctant to join with Republicans on any matter, my conscience does not allow me to move in any other direction when it comes to this issue.
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