A Saint?
The Pope has just created a 20th Century saint, Gianna Beretta Molla. This lady refused to have an early abortion when diagnosed with cancer in 1962. She was warned that continuing with the pregnancy would almost certainly end in her death, which sadly proved to be the case. She was thirty-nine when she died, shortly after giving birth to a daughter, leaving the baby, and her other three children motherless. The Pope sees Mrs Molla as a pro-life heroine, sacrificing her all for the sake of the child.
I am against abortion for social reasons and would like to see the laws in the UK tightened up. Abortion is almost on demand here; it is often the option of choice when a woman finds herself ‘inconveniently’ pregnant. I was perturbed when I heard the news report of a school counsellor who procured an abortion for a fourteen year old, without reference to the girl’s mother!
However, there are occasions when I believe the termination of a pregnancy is permissible. If the pregnancy was the result of the mother being raped, for instance, I think it is unreasonable for the woman to be expected to carry the child in those circumstances. I also think that if the life of the mother is in jeopardy she should be able to end the pregnancy. I feel that the life of the mother must take precedence over that of the unborn child.
No doubt many will see Mrs Molla’s actions as laudable, and even Saintly, as does the Pope. But I wonder if her three first-born children might have preferred to have a live mother rather than a dead saint, just a thought!