Two ethicists who work in Australia are calling for what they call “after-birth abortion”. They say it is their preference to use these words instead of what it really is infanticide, because they believe a newborn infant has the same moral status as a fetus.
Their argument follows that a fetus and newborn infant do not necessarily have an immediate right to life. In fact if that child’s life is to significantly impact upon the life of the mother or other family members, then it is those people whose rights prevail.
The etheicists, Alberto Giubillini and Francesca Minerva, are using semantics to change people’s thinking about this issue. Abortion is acceptable in the minds of many in society. Abortion is especially acceptable to those in society when a pre-born child is diagnosed with Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, a heart defect or other condition. If it is okay to kill a child within the womb, then logic follows that it would be fine to kill a child presenting with these conditions after birth.
What this truely is and what it should be called is infanticide. It is murder of an innocent and can never ever be ethically right.
Society must stand up against this move to change our thinking and never bend to the whims of these so-called “ethecists”. Society must be prepared to do everything they can do protect the lives of those who are most vulnerable. Family Life International NZ does this through our Crisis Pregnancy Centre and our Therese Programme which aims to support families who have had a diagnosis of some sort prenatally.
Let’s call “After-Birth Abortion” what it is – infanticide.
The actual article which appeared in the Journal of Medical Ethics can be read here (abstract is free, full article will cost).
Email us for crisis pregnancy information (including adoption) or for support for your family during and after pregnancy with a child who has a non life-limiting condition (such as Down Syndrome or Spina Bifida) or a life-limiting condition (such as anencephaly or heart defects).
These arguments first appeared in the paper by Karl Binding and Alfred Hoche “Authorisation for the destruction of life unworthy of life” in Germany in 1920. This was the foundation for the T4 programme for the killing of new born babies with disabilities, which was the opening act of the Holocaust in 1939. Those killings specifically referred to those with Down syndrome, in the same way this paper does.
The “family aspect” for killing infants is also not new: In 1938 the Knauer family petitioned Hitler to allow the killing of a disabled baby. After authorisation was granted by Hitler the T4 decree was set in motion, launching the widespread killing of disabled infants. The practice moved on to the Gypsies and finally the Jews.
Those responsible where found guilty of crimes against humanity at Nuremberg in the “Doctors Trial”. These latest eugenic anti-life bio-unethicists are propagating the same view and they will be held accountable too.
Prayer After Birth (Acknowledgements and Apologies to Louis MacNeice).
I am now born: please hear me,
Let not the debt collectors,
Or the rights protectors,
Or the seditious insurrectors come near me.
I am now born, comfort me,
Else I fear that the human-folk may:
With clever lies debase me,
With bad science un-race me,
And with strong drugs erase me.
I am now born: please bestow me,
Among the dancing grass, babbling brooks,
Swaying trees and singing rooks,
Undiminished bright light of grace and truth,
To restore me.
I am now born, with lullabies lull me,
With warm cuddles mull me,
With deep love sustain me, and,
With silence, not gainsay me.