Obama at Notre Dame

Posted May 17, 2009

It is wonderful to see Catholicism centre stage on the abortion issue once again. In a society where the “pill” has waged battle on the “communion host” it may be time, once again, to evaluate humankind’s commitment to human rights and redefine what is human. As one commentator suggested, “Fetus Rights” are the “Civil Rights” of today’s ethical and moral debate.

So what about the fetus? Fundamentally there is a great difference between giving life and giving birth. There appears to be little dialogue on the topic of procreation and what collaborative effort God plays in the conception process. While some may argue that the sexual process is driven by natural instinct, others may argue that nature is God’s alchemic agent.

In a world filled with hate, war, famine, disease and corruption there may no better time than now to tackle the abortion dilemma. Is it fair to compare euthanasia to abortion? Is it fair to compare a human cell to a living body? What are the characteristics of a human being? Science appears to have resolved these issues for us already. We know that through the “cloning” process we can achieve life-form replication. In fact, one cell can reproduce any specific life form or organ. We may therefore conclude that the cell is the human body and the fetus is life.

The topic of stem-cell research really puzzles me. Cloning appears the more obvious choice for sustaining life because cloning provides science the ability to replicate any organ. Case in point, a man with a bad heart would not need a heart transplant but rather a new cloned heart. The only real dilemma with cloning is the absence of the womb. Thinking positively, God may have given us a way out – a way to give birth and sustain life if humankind is no longer capable of doing so.

After all, understanding life and death is about understanding God and immortality. We may never find that special elixir that brings forth the ‘philosopher’s stone”, but we do have the human cell. Oddly and paradoxically the only immortal cell is the cancer cell. Luckily for mankind, God still has not pulled the plug on our ability to reason, but His patience appears to be waning.

Thank you,
Joseph Pede