Doctrina de la iglesia y despenalización del aborto: algunas reflexiones

Abstract

The teaching and the position of the Church with respect to a life in the verge of being born is, above all, an eminently positive and constructive affirmation: in other words, homage to the greatest work of creation: giving life, bringing life from nothing, from the void. The current debate and modern ethical judgment relating to the depenalization of abortion in Colombia has become, once again, an object of public discussion while adopting increasingly refined tones and expressions. Both motivations and arguments in this sense are more and more abundant and sophisticated, In the sphere of the debate on bioethics itself, the term “antitongue” (“antilengua”) was introduced to refer to a language that changes the meaning of words. This is the case of having replaced the term abortion with either the so called “voluntary pregnancy interruption” (locally known as the IVE) or “medical interruption of pregnancy” (the IME). Along this lines, the article attempts to consider in a brief way some of the causes used to favor a pro-abortion culture. Finally, the deepest root of the so called “culture of death” is in the eclipse of the meaning, sense or singifcance of God and, therefore, in the eclipse of the meaning, sense or significance of human being. The systematic violation of the right to life, and of any fundamental moral principle, does inevitably lead to the gradual blurring of conscience, as well as to a practical materialism from which individualism, utilitarianism and hedonism are fed and disseminated. In this way, the values of the human being are changed and replaced with those relating to having, possessing, or with sheer pleasure. The only end or purpose that seems to count is material wellbeing, a quality of life construed as mere economic efficiency, unbridled and insatiable consumerism, and the rejection of any kind of suffering, solely to end up capitalizing on sexuality and connivance, thus giving aside the rule that allows us to tell the difference between good and evil. In the light of these assumptions, the article addresses the subject of moral judgment on the practice o induced abortion, and some reflections are made about the teachings of the Church on this matter.