Abortion Horror in Italy
Occasionally, those who promote or perform abortions go beyond merely making statements to betray the moral rot and absurdity inherent in their claims. They carry out unusual, shocking violence toward defenseless pre-born children. Pro-life advocates are taking note of one such occurrence in Italy. Recently, Italian doctors killed the “wrong” child after a 38-year-old woman requested to have one of her pre-born twins aborted (O’Brien, 2007; “Abortion of Wrong…,” 2007). Instead of taking the life of the twin suffering from Down Syndrome, doctors accidentally aborted the healthy baby (O’Brien). The twins had changed places inside the womb (Hooper, 2007). Remarkably, after discovering the error, the mother returned to the San Paolo hospital in Milan for a second abortion, and then reported the doctors to the police (“Abortion of Wrong…”). Now, both children are dead, and the Milan prosecutor’s office does not expect to charge hospital personnel with criminal activity (Hooper).
Paolo Binetti, a Catholic senator and member of Italy’s national bioethics committee, said: “What happened in this hospital was not a medical abortion but an abortion done for the purposes of eugenics” (O’Brien, 2007). The Italian case reminds us that nearly all abortions are for the purpose of making life easier for adults (see “Abortion: Medical…,” n.d.). A pregnant woman may give herself many reasons for choosing death instead of life, but in the vast majority of abortion cases, we may summarize all such reasons in one word: convenience.
The Italian Catholic Church is preparing for a legal fight to reevaluate and potentially change Italy’s 30-year-old abortion law, which relegates abortion to the first three months of pregnancy except in cases where the pre-born child is “malformed” (“Italian Church…,” 2007; “The Legalization…,” 1978). The case of the twins, who were 18 weeks old, suggests that enforcement of Italian abortion law is ineffective. Binetti concluded: “I think that after 30 years it’s time to look again at the abortion law” (“Abortion of Wrong…,” 2007). Indeed, the ethical, philosophical, and biblical problems with abortion demand that all laws, which allow abortion, be replaced with sensible, moral alternatives (see Miller, 2003).
REFERENCES
“Abortion of Wrong Twin Rekindles Debate” (2007), [On-line], URL: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/28/content_6619565.htm.
“Abortion: Medical Facts” (no date), National Right to Life, [On-line], URL: http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/index.html.
Hooper, John (2007), “Italian Police to Investigate Abortion of Wrong Twin,” [On-line], URL: http://www.guardian.co.uk/italy/story/0,,2156813,00.html.
“Italian Church Spoiling for Another Fight Over Abortion After Botched Selective Abortion” (2007), International Herald Tribune, [On-line], URL: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/04/europe/EU-GEN-Italy-Abortion.php.
“The Legalization of Abortion: Law 194 of the Italian Republic” (1978), Columbia University, [On-line], URL: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/degrazia/courseworks/legge_194.pdf.
Miller, Dave (2003), “Abortion and the Bible,” [On-line], URL: https://apologeticspress.org/articles/1964.
O’Brien, Elizabeth (2007), “Italian Hospital Aborts Healthy Twin and Leaves Handicapped Sibling,” [On-line], URL: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/aug/07082709.html.
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