How I wish we could love little, helpless , dependent children, instead of being so threatened by them.
She just might not be speaking figuratively. For example, in the summary of Sacred Choices, a book edited by Daniel Maguire that surveys what it says are positions within various religious traditions.
Judaism, like most religions, begins with the mandate to "choose life." It recognizes however, that choosing life can at times mean choosing death, as in cases of killing in self defense. There can, according to Judaism, also be occasions to defend values essential to life by choosing an abortion.
That juxtaposition certainly seems to associate abortion and killing justified by self defense.
In the book "Contemporary Halakhic Problems," the Jewish (Orthodox) understanding comports precisely with that of the Catholic (orthodox): removal of a life-threatening (e.g., tubular) fetus is permissible under the 'double effect' teaching of TA.
ReplyDeleteThis is 'self-defense,' and it is also 'in extremis.' And, of course, the INTENTION is to defend the life of the mother, NOT to kill the child.
Maybe that's why one of his children commited suicide and the other is a Muslim (so I hear). Pray for this poor man!
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