Managua, Nicaragua, Apr 19, 2007 / 08:50 am
In an interview with the CAN news agency, Cardinal Miguel Obando Bravo, Archbishop emeritus of Managua, said abortion for any reason, including for “therapeutic” purposes, is “morally a crime.”
Referring to the new law that prohibits therapeutic abortion the country, the Cardinal noted that it “outlaws abortion of any kind, under no circumstance is abortion permitted. The new law reflects the teaching of the Church on the defense of life from the moment of conception until natural death.”
In cases of a threat to the life or health of the mother, Cardinal Obando noted, “Catholic moral teaching recalls that life cannot be directly taken, whether of the mother or the child, even to save the life of another, because no good end can justify the killing of an innocent person. Therefore, direct abortion, even if for therapeutic reasons, is morally a crime,” he said.
Even though the choice of an abortion can be “dramatic and painful” for a mother, the Cardinal underscored that “even for serious and dramatic reasons, the deliberate elimination of an innocent human being can never be justified.”
“The legalization of abortion does nothing more than feed this abortion mentality. In the countries where abortion is legal, it is evident that the law has not stopped underground abortions from occurring, which supporters always claim will happen. Rather, the abortion law has led to an increase in illegal abortions,” he added.
The Cardinal also noted that those who consider “the discoveries of modern science, those who believe in human dignity and recognize the importance of human life should reject the killing of the unborn and should combat abortion in our society. A society that is not prepared to defend the beginnings of life destroys itself,” he said.
“If our lawmakers unfortunately pass laws allowing children to be killed in the wombs of their mothers, the blood of these children will cry out to from the ground to the heights of heaven,” Cardinal Obando stated, adding that the act of abortion carries with it a sentence of automatic excommunication.