{"id":312011,"date":"2024-05-11T15:42:19","date_gmt":"2024-05-11T20:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=312011"},"modified":"2024-05-13T01:48:31","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T06:48:31","slug":"npr-nun-smear-church-promote-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/npr-nun-smear-church-promote-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"NPR uses pro-abortion nun to smear the Catholic Church and promote abortion to birth"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

NPR recently promoted the beliefs of a pro-abortion Catholic nun and other pro-abortion Catholics, possibly in an effort to sway<\/a> on-the-fence ‘Catholics’ to vote in favor of killing preborn children.<\/p>\n

In the article, “6 out of 10 Catholics support abortion rights despite church’s stance, study shows<\/a>,’ journalist Katia Riddle spoke with Sister Barbara, who did not share her last name, said Riddle, because “[s]he fears retribution from her local archdiocese for publicly expressing her beliefs on reproductive rights. She doesn’t agree with the church’s position that abortion is a sin and should be illegal.”<\/p>\n

What Sister Barbara and the Bible say about abortion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sister Barbara said she doesn’t see abortion \u2014 which is the intentional and direct killing of a human being in the womb \u2014 “in just absolute real terms,” and though “she wouldn’t personally choose to end a pregnancy,” she has never been in the situation of someone who has been raped. And though she did not state that she supports abortion in cases of rape (which discriminates against certain humans based on the manner of their conception), she does support a pro-abortion Missouri ballot measure to enshrine abortion as a “right” under the state constitution.<\/p>\n

This means Sister Barbara supports abortion at any time for any reason, and she claimed that the Bible doesn’t say anything explicitly about abortion.<\/p>\n

The Bible, however, has a lot to say<\/a> about the sanctity of life in the womb, including when God tells Noah, “Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by a human shall that person’s blood be shed, for in his own image God made humankind.” Humans in the womb are just as much members of the human species as those who have been born.<\/p>\n

In addition, unjust homicide is condemned in Exodus 23:7 (“Do not kill the innocent”) and in Matthew 5:21 (“You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.”) The Bible also states that God knows<\/em> preborn humans and gives them a purpose prior to their birth<\/em> in Judges 13:7 and Galatians 1:15. The references to life inside the womb and how God is against killing innocent humans are numerous<\/a>, including in the story of the visitation.<\/p>\n

In addition, the Catholic News Agency explained<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0Several examples of teaching which span the first three hundred years of our Church include the following: The “Didache” (“The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles,” c. 80 A.D.) asserted, “You shall not procure abortion. You shall not destroy the newborn child.” The “Epistle of Barnabas” (138) also condemned abortion.<\/em><\/p>\n

Athenagoras (177) in his “A Plea on Behalf of Christians” (a defense against paganism) emphasized that Christians consider as murderers those women who take medicines to procure an abortion; he condemns the killer of children, including those still living in their mother\u2019s womb, “where they are already the object of the care of divine providence.” <\/em><\/p>\n

Tertullian, (197) in his “Apologeticum” likewise asserted, “To prevent birth is anticipated murder; it makes little difference whether one destroys a life already born or does away with it in its nascent stage. The one who will be man is already one.” In the year 300, the Council of Elvira, a local church council in Spain, passed specific legislation condemning abortion (Canon 63).<\/em><\/p>\n

Abortion is not compassionate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Riddle wrote that Sister Barbara “fell in love with Catholicism for its practice around compassion and service, not politics.”<\/p>\n

It is not an act of service nor is it compassionate to tell a woman facing challenges during pregnancy that her child is better off dead than allowed his or her own right to life, given by God. On the contrary, it is pro-lifers who show compassion when their acts of service towards women and children lift women up, provide families with the support they need, treat preborn babies as the valuable human beings that they are.<\/p>\n

In addition, abortion is not a political issue<\/em> \u2014 or at least it shouldn’t be. It is the homicide of an undelivered human being. Whether or not a person or a group of people is worthy of human rights (such as the right to not be unjustly killed) should not be up to a vote or up for debate. All<\/em> humans deserve human rights, and the first and most important is the right to life. Legalized abortion denies that right to an entire group of human beings. The Catholic Church recognizes what science proves \u2014 that human life begins at the moment of fertilization.<\/p>\n

Since the Catholic Church knows and teaches that killing innocent people<\/em> is wrong, as U.S. law also states, it knows and teaches that killing innocent people in the womb<\/em> is equally wrong.<\/p>\n