Guadalajara, Mexico, Jan 24, 2008 / 01:52 am (CNA).- The Archbishop of Guadalajara, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez, called on Catholics this week to reject the legalization of abortion and especially its spread across Mexico under pressure from international organizations such as the United Nations.

In his weekly column, the cardinal underscored that “the media reported a few days ago that a high official of the United Nations praised the two states and the Federal District for having legalized abortion.”

“She praised them and at the same time urged all the states of the country to do the same, so that throughout Mexico killing could go unpunished,” the cardinal said.

“It must be said first of all that abortion is a crime; that should be clear.  It goes against the human being and life, which is sacred. God our Lord left us a commandment: ‘Thou shalt not kill,’ and therefore we should respect the lives of others, as well as the lives of the unborn, who are human beings and have the right to life,” he explained.

However, he warned, some people can be convinced by the reasons put forth by abortion supporters. “Therefore, I want to speak about them.”

“Among the reasons they put forth, the most popular one right now is the right of the woman to decide about her own body,” Cardinal Sandoval said.  “The appendix will be there throughout one’s life, unless it is removed; the same thing with the kidneys, the liver, these things are indeed part of the body,” he went on.  “The child in the womb is another human being who also has the right to life and is there only temporarily.  He dwells in the womb of the mother for several months in order to come into the world and fulfill his destiny.  He does not belong to the mother, so she does not have the right to do what she wants with her body,” the cardinal continued.

“Abortion is also justified for reasons of deformation,” he said. “This would be to return to the barbaric times of Sparta where, in order to preserve the purity of the race, those who were born deformed, sick or weak were killed.  Hitler not only tried to kill the Jews, he also tried to ‘purify’ the German race, and he unscrupulously did away with many sick and handicapped people.”

“Those without physical defects are not the only ones who have the right to life; so do those who have a physical deficiency, as they too are human beings.  There are extraordinary examples in this world of people with some kind of handicap who are very productive, who excel in many things, because they have the drive and great talent,” Cardinal Sandoval explained.

“Let us remain, then, with the fundamental idea: abortion is killing, killing is a crime condemned by God’s, by man’s law and by the Constitution of Mexico.

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