‘D’ case and the right to a brief life

ONE may be forgiven for thinking that the decision of ‘Miss D’ not to undergo a surgical abortion in favour of an early inducement is a victory for good over evil.

I would prefer to say it may simply be the lesser of two evils by the smallest of margins. To favour an early inducement over a surgical abortion at the very least gives the child the dignity of living a brief life, of being shown love, christened, dying a natural death and receiving a burial. These are all denied by surgical abortions.

While the decision not to have a surgical abortion is commendable, there are still many moral principles to be considered in light of her decision to bring the child into the world prematurely.

Acceptance of the practice of previability inducement of the anencephalic child shows that many still have doubts about this infant’s human dignity.

This practice arises through the argument that anencephalic children, because of their apparent lack of cognitive function and in view of the probable brevity of their lives, lack human rights, or at least have lives of less meaning or purpose than others, and thus may be prematurely delivered.

It can never be morally justified directly to cause the death of an innocent person regardless of age or condition. The anencephalic child must be given the dignity of a full-term pregnancy and a natural birth.

Then, during his or her probably brief life after birth, the child should be given the comfort and palliative care appropriate to all the dying. This failing life, however, need not be further troubled by using extraordinary means to prolong it and, after death, the organs could be used to save other infants awaiting a transplant.

Therefore inducing a previability infant is still an act of abortion since abortion by its very nature is the directly intended termination of pregnancy before viability or the directly intended destruction of a viable foetus.

The parents need compassionate pastoral and medical care as they prepare for the pain and emptiness that the certain death will bring. Baptism assures them of the child’s eternal happiness, and the provision of Christian burial gives witness to the church’s unconditional respect for human life and the recognition that in the face of every human being there is an encounter with God.

Fergal O’Neill

1 Gleann Na Riogh Close

Naas

Co Kildare