Catholic Medical Quarterly Volume 72 (3) August 2022
Roe vs Wade: rejoicing and a note of caution
Dr Adrian Treloar
The
overturning of the Roe v Wade judgement in June 2022, is a huge landmark
in the fight to end abortion. There is much to celebrate and we can and
should hope that many babies will be saved. As the John-Paul II Academy
for Life and the Family pointed out, abortion is a kind and gentle
descriptive word for a barbaric act which involves killing innocent unborn
children. In surgical abortion bodies are dismembered. In medical
abortion, healthy children are ejected from the womb.
In America there are 6-800,000 abortions a year and that does not count those caused by Intrauterine Devices or medicines that prevent implantation. Over the 45 years since Roe vs Wade, many millions of babies have been aborted. But we should add a note of caution to the celebrations that have surrounded the US Supreme Court judgement. Where abortion is less available, it is even more imperative that women who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant are well supported and when necessary, housed, fed and clothed. We must be truly compassionate to all women who find themselves in crisis. The work of charities such as Life, the Good Counsel Network and the Sisters of the Gospel of Life (among many more) should be central to our vision for how we can and should respond to women in need and to women who want and seek help.
Our Blessed Lady received emergency accommodation from the Inn-Keeper on that Holy Night. We must open the door of support to the new-born Christ. As her Son later told us “as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me.”
For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat;
I was
thirsty, and you gave me to drink;
I was a stranger, and you took me
in:
Naked, and you covered me:
sick, and you visited me:
I was
in prison, and you came to me.
Then shall the just answer him, saying:
Lord, when did we see thee hungry, and fed thee; thirsty, and gave thee
drink? And when did we see thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked,
and covered thee?
And the king answering, shall say to them: Amen I say
to you, as long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did
it to me.
Matthew 25: 35-38, 40