OCR Text |
Show The Paper That Dares To Take A Stand Page 6 The Utah Independent October 23, 1975 Mormon condemns abortion as sinful The First Presidency of the Church of Saints issued to Jesus Christ of Latter-dafollowing statement concerning their official stand on abortion. It was printed in the Church News Section of the Salt Lake Deseret News (Jan. 27, 1973): In view of a recent decision of the United States Supreme Court, we feel it necessary to restate the position of the church on abortion in order that there be no misunderstanding of attitude. The church opposes abortion and counsels its members not to submit to or perform an abortion except in the rare cases where, in the opinion of competent medical counsel, the life or good health of the mother is seriously endangered or where the pregnancy was caused by rape and produces serious emotional trauma in the mother. Even then it should be done only after counseling with the local presiding priesthood authority and after receiving divine confirmation through prayer. Abortion must be considered one of the most revolting and sinful practices in this day, when we are witnessing the frightening evidence of permissiveness leading to sexual immorality. Members of the church guilty of being parties to the sin of abortion must be subjected to the disciplinary action of the church as circumstances warrant. In dealing with this serious matter, it would be well to keep in mind the word of the Lord stated in the 59th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants, verse 6, Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it. " Signed, The First Presidency wrong. Touching statement y Isnt abortion another means of birth control? No. Do not confuse abortion with birth conBirth control speaks of preventing new life from beginning. Abortion kills the new life trol. that has already begun. What of the population explosion? Our ratio of children per family has been declining steadily from 6.0 in 1830; and now stands at 2.45 children per family. At 2.2 or 2.3 we will reach zero population growth. At present rate, we may reach this within the next decade according to Mr. George Brown, Director of the U S. Census Bureau. The population problem of the U.S.A. is not numbers of people but overconcentration in our cities. But legalizing abortion would at least eliminate criminal abortions! This is purely wishful thinking, and a completely false statement. Consistent experience has been that when laws are liberalized, the legal abortion rate skyrockets, the illegal abortion rate does not drop, but frequently also rises. The reason consistently given is the relative lack of privacy of the official procedures. (Europe, Japan, Colorado). - In unqualified to the assistant Elder James E. Faust, terms, Quorum of Twelve Apostles of the Church of Saints (MorJesus Christ of Latter-Da- y mons), denounced abortion in a speech on The Sanctity of Life during a recent worldwide church conference held here. Quoting from counsel offered by the First Presidency of the Church, Elder Faust said, Abortion must be considered one of the most revolting and sinful practices in this day. It is the belief of those who are members of this church that human life is so hallowed and precious that there is an accountability to God on the part of those who invoke the sacred fountains of life, he said. The church spokesman added, Because it may be legal to destroy newly conceived life will never make it right It is consummately SALT LAKE CITY, Utah L.D.S. FIRST PRESIDENCY OPPOSES ABORTION It's a matter There was nary a dry eye in the room toward the end of the firs' meeting of the Study Group for legislative and Congressional Liaison, when each participant rose to give her reactions to the events of the day and a half. 'Die misty eyes developed when Dolores Grier, Harlem, N.Y., community services director, representing Harlem Associates for life, took her turn. In the course of her remarks she observed: The black woman way back in the days of slavery, even though she was raped or used by her master, did not destroy her child. She kept it and nourished it, although she knew it would be taken away from her and sold into slavery. Once liberalized cbortion is a fact, there a progressive acceptance of euthanasia and even infanticide as a "need" in a country. When we lose respect for and eliminate the safeguards protecting human life at any stage of development, we progressively lose respect for and eliminate the safeguards protecting human life at other stages of development. We could then come to accept (as Hitler said) that "useless eaters" of any age are a burden on society. Their lives must be snuffed out. Some day you may be an older person, that "useless eater." Would you want someone else to make the decision of whether you live or die? is - I had no FORT LEE, Va. (NC) to I thought take a were life. we idea going we were going in for a tumor or something. Anne Moody, a young registered nurse, was telling an audience of the first and lime she participated in an aborlast tion operation. She said she had prepared to assist in a hysterotomy, but she thought it would involve the removal of a tumor from the The following is a statement released by uterus. It was not until a live fetus landJohn Cardinal Krol, president of the ed in her hands that she realized hysterNational Conference of Catholic Bishops, otomy can mean abortion, she said. She related her experience in ain inin which he speaks of the tragic Court's of the terview with Virginia State Sen. Joseph V. Supreme consequences abortion ruling: Garllan, founding member of the Virginia The Supreme Court's decision today is Society for Human Life, before an audian unspeakable tragedy for this nation. It ence of 300 people at the Fort Lee base is hard to think of any decision in the 200 diapel here. years of our history which has had more The surgeon, she said, made the incidisastrous implications for our stability as sion into the uterus, and the infant was a civilized society. The ruling drastically jerked out and thrown to me. It landed diminishes the constitutional guarantee of in my hands. I was about two and a half the right to life and in doing so sets in feet away. I was upset. motion developments which are terrifying How large was the infant? Gartlan to contemplate. asked. The ruling represents bad logic and Anne Moody held her hands about bad law. There is no rational justification or 10 inches apart. Im not sure how for allowing unrestricted abortion up to eight the third month of pregnancy. The much he weighed, she said, but he was a boy. development of life before and after birth approximately Did the doctor is a continuous process and in making the say anything when he point the cutoff for threw the baby to you? He said, Heres a specimen. unrestricted abortion, the court seems HUMAN LIFE IS SACRED six-months-o- ld Cardinal Carberry outlines life program h more impressed by magic than by scientific evidence regarding fetal development. The child in the womb has the ST. LOUIS, Mo. During a special pro-lif- e to the life it already possesses, and liturgical service here in May, Cardinal John right this is a right no court has authority to Joseph Carberry outlined the directions he activities should take. deny. believes future pro-lif- e Apparently the court was trying to Speaking to some 1,000 persons, the carstraddle the fence and give something to dinal proposed: work be continued on seeking a everybody: abortion on demand before to unborn three months for those who want that, the amendment protect somewhat more restrictive abortion childs right to life. educational continuation of a strong regulations after three months for those the for who want that. But in its straddling act, young. program, especially the continue work to impress upon the court has done a monstrous injustice to all of the threat awareness an to the thousands of unborn children whose community human life easy access to abortion poses. lives may be destroyed as a result of this al inform people facing agonizing decision. decisions about pregnancy that there are No court and real answers to these problems preferable to can make no legislature in the land something evil become abortion. Abortion at any stage of the re institution in society of a com- something good. is evil. This is not a question of pregnancy prehensive respect for human life in all its sectarian morality but instead concerns forms. the law of God and the basis of civilized society. One trusts in the decency and When does human life begin? good sense of the American people not to The most authoritative scientific let an illogical court decision dictate to conclusion on when human life begins that has been made them on the subject of morality and in recent years, was the conclusion from the human life. (Congressional Record. Feb. First International Conference on Abortion, held in Washington, D.C., October, 1967. Approximately sixty major scientific authorities from the fields of medicine, ethics, law-- and social sciences participated as consultants in this symposium. Carefully chosen for their scientific knowledge and integrity, they presented a of race, religion, culture, and geographic backgrounds. After several days of "think tank" discussions, the medical group, made up of geneticists, biochemists, physicians, professors, research scientists, etc., came to a near unanimous conclusion (one dissension): 8, 1973, p. E 813) , What if the mother threatens suicide? cross-sectio- n "The majority of our group could find no point in time between the union of sperm and egg, or at least the blastocyst stage, and the birth of the infant at which point we could say that this was not a human life." (Blastocyst stage occurs approximately one week after fertilization, and would account for twinning.)" . . . the changes occurring between implantation, the fetus, a embryo, adult are merely stages of or a mature child, and maturation." development When the sperm and ovum unite, a new being comes into existence containing within itself a unique genetic package completely programmed for continuing development into a mature adult. Nothing will be added except time and nutrition. Each stage of development from fertilization to old age is merely maturing of what is entirely there at the start. Birth only changes a baby's dining habits, its airway and its charm. six-wee- one-week-o- Infanticide Euthanasia (Mercy Killing) BY CHARLES E. MAHON three-mont- con-sitution- Isnt abortion safer than childbirth? stages it is for more dangerous. three months at least twice as many mothers die from legal abortions as from No, in the late Even in the first childbirth. This is personal, positive action: Never again says nurse Suicide in these women is "rare" (New England Journo! of Medicine). The suicide rate that among pregnant women is only of the general female population. one-fourt- h Who decides if the mental health needs of the mother justify abortion? Over 90 of legal abortions are done for the "mental health" of the mother. In practice, the need for certification by several physicians to authorize an abortion has been a blatant, vehicle by open-doowhich has come to be a reality. Any physician can find three other physicians who will sign a document testifying to the need for an abortion. Any physician can also find three physicians who would never sign such a document. This requirement is completely meaningless. Medical opinion is deeply divided as to whether psychiatric reasons even justify an abortion. "There arc no unequivocal psychiatric indications for abortion." (Dr. Sloan, Temple University). r abortion-on-deman- d What did you do? I put him in a pan a stainless steel bowl that looks like (.o you might use to make a salad in ann then I covered him with a towel because 1 couldnt bear to .see. Did lie make any sound? He was breathing and he made soft sounds, she said. He lived for five or 10 minutes. What happened to him? He was placed in a plastic bag and sent to the pathology lab. This is a teaching hospital and the baby was put in a .iar and later was used for medical study. He was more or less 'on display'. What was your reaction? I was sick. 1 certainly never would have scrubbed for tins bad I known what was going to be done. We bad equipment to save life in that room, but it was not set up for use. That baby was not meant to be saved. What did you do? I went to my supervisor and told her I could never take part in abortion again. In my hospital, they do respect your individual conscience and rights on this, so I never did have to repeat this assign- ment. Later, in answer to a question from the audience, Miss Moody said she could not have acted on her own to save the baby's life because the doctor had already made the decision to let the child die, and the mother had decided. So, my only form of protest was to state that I would never participate in abortion again. Are there after-effec- ts to the mother? After legal abortions there is an increase in tubal pregnancies of 400; later sterility of of of Rh trouble later; of miscarriages adherent placenta; of premature' babies (15 of psychiatric compared with the usual in England). There can be inaftermath fection, blood clots, perforation of the uterus, and also later hepatitis from blood transfusions. 5; 10-15- 5); (9-5- 9 Does an unborn child now have legal rights? damright to inheritance, to blood a to get ages received while yet unborn, Yes. He has the Doesnt a mother have a right to her own body? This is not her body but the body of another human person. Since when have we given to a mother the right to kilf her children? transfusion over his mother's objection, to have a guardian appointed, and other rights of citizenship, but in some states now does not have the most basic right of all the right to life. |