Cardinal Keith O'Brien Challenges Scottish Prime Minister to Review Abortion Laws
Jul 10, 2007
Says that fighting poverty in third-world countries, but ignoring the unborn, is "hypocritical".
EDINBURGH, Scotland, July 9, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh and head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, has urged Scotland's Prime Minister Gordon Brown to review the abortion laws and join him in defense of life, the Scotsman Reports.
In an article to the Scotsman, the Cardinal stated that abortion is not solely a political debate, but a "profoundly moral question". He stated, "Abortion is neither political nor medical, though clearly it has implications in these spheres. It is about morality and the destruction of human life."
Urging that the abortion debate should be once again brought to the forefront, O'Brien challenged the "contempt", or apathy of people towards the number of abortions taking place. He stated, "Familiarity has bred contempt. It is a contempt, which must be challenged. I believe the time has come for a wide ranging and open debate in this country about abortion. It should not be dominated by our political elites or medical professionals, by religious leaders or pressure groups, but should be open to all."
He emphasized the need to support women who are contemplating an abortion as well as those who have endured one. He also asked why "a conspiracy of silence prevents their sad and wounded voices from ever being heard," and why public funding does not go towards supporting women with crisis pregnancies, but rather towards helping them procure abortions.
Finally, calling for a review of the existing abortion law, he challenged Prime Minister Brown to join him in "support of human life in another sphere-the defense of life as yet unborn. In the case of life in the womb it is unarguable that, from conception onwards, human life has begun. What exists in the womb is not 'a potential human being', but rather 'a human being with potential'".
While commending Brown's admirable work to abolish poverty in third world countries, the Cardinal noted that ignoring the unborn at the same time is hypocritical. He stated, "Our compassion towards the newborn and starving child in Darfur or Eritrea is surely hypocritical and hollow if we wantonly ignore the needs of their unborn counterparts in Dunfermline or Edinburgh who, through abortion, face the end of their short lives just as certainly as if they were born into poverty and malnutrition on the other side of the globe."
"Yet isn't compassion for our fellow human beings indivisible? Doesn't it apply to all or to none? And doesn't our failure to apply it equitably leave us guilty of expediency, hypocrisy-even sinful negligence?"
The Cardinal's article referred back to a public statement he made against abortion this May in St. Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh. During a homily on the 40th anniversary of the Abortion Act, he condemned abortion as an "unspeakable crime" and the "wanton killing of innocents". He also described the misinformation surrounding the1967 Abortion Act as "a pack of lies-lies and misinformation masquerading as compassion and truth". He also warned Catholics, including politicians, that cooperating in abortion sets up a "barrier to receiving Holy Communion" (See http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/may/07053102.html).
O'Brien's words are especially pertinent at a time when the abortion debate in the UK is reviving. This is partly due to the fact that increasingly advanced technology can allow for the survival of babies born prematurely (21 weeks). At present abortion is legal up to 24 weeks gestation or until birth if the mother's life is in danger. In order to procure an abortion, however, a woman must have the consent of two doctors, a process that can delay an abortion by seven weeks, the Scotsman Reports.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien Challenges Scottish Prime Minister to Review Abortion Laws