Infanticide

God’s Gift and a Pair of Scissors

Published Tuesday, December 18, 2012 A.D. | By Donald R. McClarey

All this He saw and, pitying our race, moved with compassion for our limitation, unable to endure that death should have the mastery, rather than that His
creatures should perish and the work of His Father for us men come to nought, He took to Himself a body, a human body even as our own.

Saint Athanasius, On the Incarnation

A pair of scissors saved a “preemie’s” life in England:

But when they put her on the scales she weighed 1lb, the minimum weight for a baby to be considered viable, so they fought to keep her alive.

It was only when she was safely on a ventilator that doctors discovered a pair of scissors had been accidentally left on the scales and that Maddalena actually only weighed 382g.

The baby is doing fine now.

Maddalena’s mother Kate, 31, of Lewes, East Sussex, told The Sun: ‘We never thought we’d ever bring Maddalena home.

‘She now weighs 5½lbs and is getting stronger by the day. She’s our little miracle and we’re so glad to have her home in time for Christmas.’

She and her husband Renato, a plumber, had already suffered heartache when Maddalena’s twin Isabella died a few weeks after the sisters were born. Continue reading →

Dr. Mengele Can Empathize

Published Wednesday, February 29, 2012 A.D. | By Donald R. McClarey

“After birth abortion” sounds like a catchy substitute for words like “infanticide” and “murder” doesn’t it?

Alberto Giubilini with Monash University in Melbourne and Francesca Minerva at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne write that in “circumstances occur[ing] after birth such that they would have justified abortion, what we call after-birth abortion should be permissible.”

The two are quick to note that they prefer the term “after-birth abortion“ as opposed to ”infanticide.” Why? Because it “[emphasizes] that the moral status of the individual killed is comparable with that of a fetus (on which ‘abortions’ in the traditional sense are performed) rather than to that of a child.” The authors also do not agree with the term euthanasia for this practice as the best interest of the person who would be killed is not necessarily the primary reason his or her life is being terminated. In other words, it may be in the parents’ best interest to terminate the life, not the newborns.

The circumstances, the authors state, where after-birth abortion should be considered acceptable include instances where the newborn would be putting the well-being of the family at risk, even if it had the potential for an “acceptable” life. The authors cite Downs Syndrome as an example, stating that while the quality of life of individuals with Downs is often reported as happy, “such children might be an unbearable burden on the family and on society as a whole, when the state economically provides for their care.”

This means a newborn whose family (or society) that could be socially, economically or psychologically burdened or damaged by the newborn should have the ability to seek out an after-birth abortion. They state that after-birth abortions are not preferable over early-term abortions of fetuses but should circumstances change with the family or the fetus in the womb, then they advocate that this option should be made available. Continue reading →

Real Sex vs. the Contraceptive Mentality (Part 2)

Published Tuesday, June 22, 2010 A.D. | By DarwinCatholic

[Continued from Part 1]

Restraint, Relationships and Planning Parenthood

When I say that we “naturally want to avoid having children” at certain times, I would imagine that the image that comes immediately to mind is of birth control, abortion or infanticide, and most traditional societies have seen these in some form or other. However, I’d like to turn our attention to something so basic and so prevalent that we don’t think about it much.

From an anthropological point of view, the entire structure of our romantic and family relationships serves as a way to control childbearing, limiting it to situations in which offspring can be supported. Consider: Requiring that young women remain virgins until marriage ensured that children will not be born without a provider. Nor was the decision to marry, when it came, a strictly individual affair. Marriage was negotiated and approved by the wider families, because the families were in effect committing to help support the new family unit being created. Many cultures also required the husband’s family to pay a “bride price”, not simply as compensation for the lost contribution of the daughter to her own family, but as proof that the husband was of sufficient means to start a family.

Once in place, this set of cultural mores and laws provided an easy way to adjust to want or plenty:

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Palin Responds to Family Guy Attack on Trig

Published Tuesday, February 16, 2010 A.D. | By Donald R. McClarey

Sarah Palin and Bristol Palin respond to the vile Family Guy attack on Trig, her son with Down’s Syndrome:

People are asking me to comment on yesterday’s Fox show that felt like another kick in the gut. Bristol was one who asked what I thought of the show that mocked her baby brother, Trig (and/or others with special needs), in an episode yesterday. Instead of answering, I asked her what she thought. Here is her conscientious reply, which is a much more restrained and gracious statement than I want to make about an issue that begs the question, “when is enough, enough?”:

“When you’re the son or daughter of a public figure, you have to develop thick skin. My siblings and I all have that, but insults directed at our youngest brother hurt too much for us to remain silent. People with special needs face challenges that many of us will never confront, and yet they are some of the kindest and most loving people you’ll ever meet. Their lives are difficult enough as it is, so why would anyone want to make their lives more difficult by mocking them? As a culture, shouldn’t we be more compassionate to innocent people – especially those who are less fortunate? Shouldn’t we be willing to say that some things just are not funny? Are there any limits to what some people will do or say in regards to my little brother or others in the special needs community? If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family yesterday, they failed. All they proved is that they’re heartless jerks. – Bristol Palin”

- Sarah Palin

Perhaps it is partially because I have an autistic son, but words literally fail me to adequately describe people evil enough to mock a handicapped child because they differ with the mother of the child politically.

Sanger: "We Want To Exterminate The Negro Population"

Published Tuesday, February 9, 2010 A.D. | By Tito Edwards

“We Want To Exterminate The Negro Population”

– Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood. [1]

Continue reading →

More on "Ecoscience"

Published Monday, July 13, 2009 A.D. | By The TAC Editors

I wasn’t sure whether or not to post this as an update to my earlier post on John Holdren, but I thought it was interesting enough to warrant its own posting.

I’ve read some of the scanned pages of Ecoscience, the 1977 book co-authored by Holdren that calls for horrifying coercive measures for population control. Interestingly, Holdren & Co. felt the need to address pro-life arguments in their book. Their moral reasoning only proves, yet again, how dangerous (not to mention illogical) some ‘scientists’ can become when they venture into moral philosophy. This provides us an opportunity to take a tour through the inhuman humanism condemned by Pope Benedict in Caritas in Veritate.

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Obama's Science Pick: A Violent Enemy of Human Life

Published Sunday, July 12, 2009 A.D. | By The TAC Editors

I do not believe I was morally wrong or politically naive to personally give President Obama the benefit of the doubt and, until he proved otherwise, accept his claims of wanting to ‘work with’ pro-lifers at face value. I believe prudent and ethical politics, as well as the requirements of Christian charity, placed such an obligation on me, though I understood why some Catholics strongly disagreed. Even just recently I wrote a blog suggesting that we should not engage in nasty rhetoric against the president – and for the most part, I still believe that.

But with Obama’s selection of Dr. John P. Holdren to “Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy”, among a few other high positions – and with the recent revelations of what this man, along with his co-authors, advocated in a 1977 book called Ecoscience (of which I was entirely ignorant), I believe the benefit of the doubt has just been cut.

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Uncomfortable Truths

Published Monday, June 1, 2009 A.D. | By The TAC Editors

This post has nothing at all to do with whether or not the murder of George Tiller was morally justifiable or not. That needs to be said upfront. My initial reaction was a bit hasty, and I like others have foot-in-mouth disease. Being a passionate writer who is used to speaking his mind openly has its advantages and drawbacks. If I had a nickel for every statement I made that I later regretted, I’d be having too much fun with my millions to bother posting here at AC

What I do want to more fully understand is exactly how, or perhaps more importantly, why, this event will have disastrous implications for the pro-life movement. I understand that, on one level, it may serve as a pretext for a government crackdown, on restrictions against free-speech, and the like. That is a legitimate concern. What I do not understand is the argument that there are actually people out there whose position on abortion, which in turn hinges upon their position about the ontology of the unborn itself, will change as a result of this.

Continue reading →