The Personhood of the Unborn

 Most gentle readers are aware that the Catholic church has an absolute teaching that abortion is the murder of a person, the image of God himself.  The fact of each of us being the image of God is what makes each of us a precious creation.  And by "image" we obviously do not mean that we look like Him, since no one has seen Him, but in the sense of having a soul and spirit like God.  We are thus different and set apart from all other animals.  We indeed can have a relationship with God.  But, what is the thinking in the Catholic church?  As you might imaging, it is both deeper and broader that one may realize.

At Crisis Magazine John M. Grondelski has an article entitled The Visitation and Personhood of the Unborn. The article discusses the visitation of Mary, Mother of God, to Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist. The visitation is in the book of Luke Chapter 1, verses 39-56.

The Council of Ephesus formally declared the Blessed Virgin Mary to be the “Mother of God” in A.D. 431. That declaration came in response to the heresy of Nestorianism, which claimed that Mary was “Mother of Jesus” but not “Mother of God.” According to the Nestorians, Mary only gave birth to the human nature of Jesus.

The Council properly grasped that Mary gave birth to a person, not just a nature. Mary gave birth to a whole, complete Person who had both the natures of God and of man. Just as no woman gives birth to “1.4” children, so Mary did not give birth to a part of her Child.

...snip...

Both women needed each other. Again, in terms of today’s debates, the Visitation not only acknowledges the reality of unborn human life but also encourages us to lend practical assistance to mothers in need. Those tasks are complementary, not contradictory.

The Gospel account of the Visitation clearly presents the encounter as a foursome. When Mary greets Elizabeth, John the Baptist “leaps” in her womb for joy. Elizabeth clearly differentiates between “my womb” and “the baby,” and it is she who attributes agency to her son: “the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” In response to all those who deny the humanity of the unborn on the claim that they lack “agency,” Elizabeth—who, as the mother involved, should know—clearly declares that her boy’s movement is a happy reaction not just an involuntary movement.

I have argued against abortion both from a secular and a religious perspective. But to me, the more compelling is the religious argument. But either way, the Supreme Court should return the issue of abortion to the individual states, where it always should have been.