IN his encyclical Evangelium Vitae, Blessed Pope John Paul II rightly des-cribes today’s society as a “culture of death”.
The natural family, which is the basic unit on which human societies are built, is under attack from many fronts.
The family has been designed by God to be the safe haven for human beings to grow, to be nurtured and to learn to love.
Children are now the most vulnerable members of society because in the womb, they are unseen, unheard and unprotected.
The right of every human being to live has to do with the fundamental principles of morality and basic justice.
It is quite immoral to speak of justice and then to deny the unborn the right to live.
Justice must begin from the moment of conception to the last breath taken naturally.
The right to be born is and must be extended to all human beings. No other human right is as important as the “right to live”.
Abortion affects not only the men, women and children in a family but also the society in which the family is situated.
Society is grieving and is deeply suffering from the after-effects of the inhuman act of abortion.
Abortion, after all, is a death experience; an innocent defenceless life has been terminated, denied the life intended for him or her by the Creator.
The gift of motherhood and fatherhood should be encouraged. Children are, after all, a precious blessing from God.
It is time to tell those in government to stop funding abortion (up to six months) through Medicare which is the taxpayer’s money.
Federal government must stop legalising drugs such as the “morning-after pill”, RU- 486, and make it so easy to access.
It would be better to spend the money to educate the community (society) about the value of all human life, explaining how the real and possible dangers of abortion haunt society with anxiety, guilt, shame, drug and alcohol abuse and suicide.
Society is seriously affected by this moral issue.
Blessed Mother Teresa was absolutely right when she said “abortion is the greatest destroyer of peace”.
Recently Pope Francis said: “Even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in His own image, destined to live for ever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect”.
It is not just our right but our duty as Christian Catholics to speak out when the survival of any human life is at stake.
Carmen Zammit
North Mackay, Qld
