Lynch, John J.

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The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 35 | Number 1 Article 31February 1968A Report: Legalized Abortion: Commission HearsEcumenical DiscussionJohn J. LynchFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationLynch, John J. (1968) "A Report: Legalized Abortion: Commission Hears Ecumenical Discussion," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 35 : No.1 , Article 31.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol35/iss1/31~~-----._.,_._ -----A Report Legalized Abortion Commission Hears Ecumenical Discussion JOHN J. LYNCH, S.J Both nationally and internation-ally, current interest in attempts to bring about liberalization of civi~ legislation governing therapeutic abortion is at a high peak. Already Great Britain and, in this country, the states of California, Colorado, and North Carolina have relaxed their abortion laws, and · similar amendment is presently under de-liberation in other jurisdictions. Principally because of the impact which changes of this kind may have on the American Catholic hospital scene, we present this brief resume of a recent symposium which devoted itself in part to the abortion issue. The complete Pro-ceedings of this meeting will even-tually be made generally available, and information concerning its pub-·cation and sale will be obtainable from Herbert Ratner, M.D., P.O. Box 31, Oak Park, Ill., 60303. Devoted to a probing considera-tion of both abortion and periodic continence, the Third International Symposium of the National Com-mission on Human Life, Reproduc-tion, and Rhythm was held at the Americana Hotel, New York, Nov. 1-4, 1967. One hundred and seventy-five registrants heard some 50 speak~rs and panelists exchange medical, . psychiatric, legal, and moral views in both areas of discussion. 38 Two lengthy sessions, ech last-ing well over three hours , \' _ de-voted to the question of ' :. :>eral-ized" abortion. In the first n . ,: ting, r~presentatives of four dist: ... 't re-ligious denominations pre · n ted their respective views as the morality of legalized permis:-. ·n for _ therapeutic abortion in acu .lance with the recommendations L -de in 19 59 by the American La' Insti-tute as part of its Mode, Penal Code. (The Code would allow ~ ~ ·ortion whenever a licensed physicL 1 "be-lieves there is a substantial n· k that continuance of the pregnanq 'vould gravely impair the physical o. men-tal health of the mother or t ~,a t the child would be born with ,: grave physical or mental defect or t;1 at the pregnancy resulted from rape incest or other felonious intercour~•: . " At the time, as the Institute not·'d , the prevalent pattern of American abortion was, at least in theory, absolute prohibition unless the pro-cedure was judged necessary i. ) save the ·mother's life.) Despite the diversity of thdr re-ligious commitments, the fou r theo-logians were in strikingly sub~tan tial agreement ·on the moral issue at stake. As was pointed out by Richard John Neuhaus, Lutheran minister from Brooklyn, N. Y ., and LINACRE QuA R T E RLY editor of Una Sancta, "The lines are falsely drawn when the abortion debate is posed as a Roman Catholic versus 'others' contest. . . abortion and related issues about the nature and protection of human life are ecumenical questions, tran-scending the lines of denomina-tional connection." Pastor Neuhaus then proceeded to eniarge, in a fashion familiar to adherents of Roman Catholic theology, on the inviolable sacredness of all innocent human life, even in its prenatal stages, and on the consequent moral duty of civil authority to protect the innocent from all unprovoked attack, especially when the threat-ened victim-as is true of the human fetus- is unable alone to defend himself. A representative of Anglican Catholicism, Rev. Charles Carroll of the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco, was able to cite among his several rather awesome credentials his presence some years ago at the trial of the Nazi doctors in Nuremberg. No mere summary could do justice to Fr. Carroll's scholarly presenta-tion of the reasons why he, too, abhors the prospect of "liberalized" abortion. Suffice it, perhaps, to say that in the course of some 3 0 minutes his masterful expression of theology on the subject earned him the standing ovation he received from an audience obviously im-pressed by his display of erudition •n several disciplines. Dominican Father Charles J. D. Corcoran proved himself a most FEBRUARY able pedagogue in his succinct and pointed precis of distinctively Roman Catholic teaching on the abortion question. Much of his stress had as its target the factual question relating to the temporal incipience of · embryonic rational life. "We know of no interruptions · or discontinuities," said Fr. Cor-coran in his concluding paragraphs, "in the advance through all embry-onic and fetal stages, through birth, puberty, adulthood and senescence. We can onlv conclude that human life is prese~t from the moment of conception to the moment of death. fo destroy an innocent human life at any time from conception on-wards is, therefore, murder. 1\tl urder is not a medical therapy nor a cure for the social and economic prob- · lems of childbearing, and it cannot be made so by law." Unfortunately, Dr. Immanuel Jakobovits, . chief rabbi of England, was prevented from honoring his . commitment to address the meeting as spokesman for Orthodox Juda-ism. His carefully prepared ·paper was read, however, by the chair-man of the Commission, John F. Hillabrand, MD, and it concurred in every substantial detail with the expressed convictions of his Gentile colleagues on the program. (Read-ers will most probably be interested to know that Jewish Medical Ethics by Dr. Jakobovits (Philosophical Library, N.Y. 1959) is recognized as definitive in its field. In the interests of totally honest reporting it should be stated that on this question of the morality of therapeutic abortion Lutheran, An-39 '· ' ' ' ;. • i' ~ · ..... ~. ' I ·.'· ' ..... : j '('· '' •. ·· '. :·· • ., . .. ., ' . . •· : ·.~ glican, and Jew differ agreeably in at least one notable respect from Roman Catholic. 'i\7here Fr. Cor-coran said, "Never," to the pro-cedure, Pastor Neuhaus, Fr. Car-roll, and Rabbi Jakobovits appar-ently restricted themselves-either expressly or by inescapable infer-ence-to a "hardly-ever" position. (The exception which the latter had in mind was the instance-. more theoretical than practical in medical opinion that is virtually unanimous-in which therapeutic abortion would be necessary to save the life of the mother.) This dif-ference of opinion should come as no surprise to the theologically know led gea ble. In the second session dealing with the abortion question, the medical and legal aspects of the problem were aired at considerable length. John L. l\kKelvey, MD, head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of l\tlinnesota :Medical School, re-viewed in thorough detail the al-leged medical indications for thera-peutic abortion and concluded that "There are some medical or surgical indications for therapeutic abortion which are still accepted, but the vast majority of these have van-ished in the light of experience and factual data. In general, the removal of a pregnancy is (med-ically) justified only when it can be demonstrated to be a really dangerous aggressor." Psychiatrist Irving C. Bernstein, l\tlD, clinical associate professor of OB-Gyn and Psychiatry at the Uni-40 versity of l\tlinnesota, also ( neapolis, was even more icon as he discussed the psych reasons commonly cited in f terminating pregnancy. "Th no psychiatric indications fc tion," he said, "because 1 . peutic abortion is not effecti \ ment for the patient or situation; 2. suicide is less in pregnant women than i pregnant women; 3. it is hn J to predict who will develop partum psychosis; 4. adequat ment methods are available t age psychiatric difficulties -ring during pregnancy, 5. peutic abortion has its own atric morbidity." .\1in-:astic gical )r of are 1bor-tera-reat-the risk non-sible post-~ reat-man-:cur-era-ychi-As advocate for the fetus £1 l the victim in any abortion, I .gene Diamond, · MD, associate pr 'essor of clinical pediatrics at Loyo1 Uni-versity School of Medicine, C1 ·cago, summed up his professional :.;enti-ments in this forceful perOt -tion: "If you ask me, therefore, to ~peak for the fetus, then speak for tim I wi11. I speak for him intact ~! r de-formed. I speak for him wan .. ~d or unwanted. Yes, and I speak f( ,· him be he illegitimate or high-bt'rn. I am for life and the preservat ;;:m of life. I believe that ariv life is of infinite value and that this value is not significantly diminished by physical or mental defect or the circumstances of- that life's b gin-ning. I believe that this ~egard for the quantity and not the quality of life is a· cornerstone of ' ' 'estern culture. I believe our patients are served best by a medical ethic which also holds this principle sacred." LIN ACRE · QuARTE RLY It was the contention of Robert M. Byrn, associate professor of law, Fordham University School of Law, that the prospect of legalized abor-tion is especially distressing to a lawyer because on the one hand he realizes that the abortion movemen~ received its initial impetus from the American Law Institute and on the other hand he knows that the move-ment is a legal anachronism, the product of discarded law and dis-credited jurisprudence. From the viewpoint of civil law, he · main-tained a child in utero is regarded not only as a human being, but as such from the moment of concep-tion - an inescapable conviction unless one chooses to discredit en-tirely the objective testimony of competent physicians. To deny the fetus protection against the aggres-sion that is abortion is to repudiate principles which are legally sacro-sanct, he said. The ultimate "queen" of the en-tire meeting proved to be l\1rs. Jill Knight, MBE, MP, of the British House of Commons. \Vith charming wit but in deadly earnestness, the vivacious Mrs. Knight recounted in graphic language her own unsuc:.. cessful parliamentary battle against proponents of the liberalization of English abortion legislation. The . substance of her principal plea to the assemblage was to forego all ivory-tower speculation as to the precise moment of the human soul's infusion into the fetal body and to conduct our campaign along more practical lines-by demonstrating, as can be done in a posteriori fashion - the illusory nature of alleged benefits to be derived through legalized abortion. The standing ovation accorded Mrs. Knight left no doubt as to the af-fectionate admiration which her comments won from her audience. [Father Lynch is professor of moral theology at Weston College, Weston, Mass. and a medico-moral consultant to LQ.] The foregoing Report is published in LQ with the permission of the editors of Hospital Progress (January 1968) the official journal of The Catholic Hospital Association. 41 ·1'1 · · ·~·· ••• " 1·' •0 t , I , ' I H "'0 ,'f ' ': ' '• • • t ~, ~ 1 r . "' . ' '• ', I .. 

A Report: Legalized Abortion: Commission Hears Ecumenical Discussion

The Linacre QuarterlyVolume 35 | Number 1 Article 12February 1968A Report: Legalized Abortion: Commission HearsEcumenical DiscussionJohn J. LynchFollow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnqRecommended CitationLynch, John J. (1968) "A Report: Legalized Abortion: Commission Hears Ecumenical Discussion," The Linacre Quarterly: Vol. 35 : No.1 , Article 12.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol35/iss1/12~~-----._.,_._ -----A Report Legalized Abortion Commission Hears Ecumenical Discussion JOHN J. LYNCH, S.J Both nationally and internation-ally, current interest in attempts to bring about liberalization of civi~ legislation governing therapeutic abortion is at a high peak. Already Great Britain and, in this country, the states of California, Colorado, and North Carolina have relaxed their abortion laws, and · similar amendment is presently under de-liberation in other jurisdictions. Principally because of the impact which changes of this kind may have on the American Catholic hospital scene, we present this brief resume of a recent symposium which devoted itself in part to the abortion issue. The complete Pro-ceedings of this meeting will even-tually be made generally available, and information concerning its pub-·cation and sale will be obtainable from Herbert Ratner, M.D., P.O. Box 31, Oak Park, Ill., 60303. Devoted to a probing considera-tion of both abortion and periodic continence, the Third International Symposium of the National Com-mission on Human Life, Reproduc-tion, and Rhythm was held at the Americana Hotel, New York, Nov. 1-4, 1967. One hundred and seventy-five registrants heard some 50 speak~rs and panelists exchange medical, . psychiatric, legal, and moral views in both areas of discussion. 38 Two lengthy sessions, ech last-ing well over three hours , \' _ de-voted to the question of ' :. :>eral-ized" abortion. In the first n . ,: ting, r~presentatives of four dist: ... 't re-ligious denominations pre · n ted their respective views as the morality of legalized permis:-. ·n for _ therapeutic abortion in acu .lance with the recommendations L -de in 19 59 by the American La' Insti-tute as part of its Mode, Penal Code. (The Code would allow ~ ~ ·ortion whenever a licensed physicL 1 "be-lieves there is a substantial n· k that continuance of the pregnanq 'vould gravely impair the physical o. men-tal health of the mother or t ~,a t the child would be born with ,: grave physical or mental defect or t;1 at the pregnancy resulted from rape incest or other felonious intercour~•: . " At the time, as the Institute not·'d , the prevalent pattern of American abortion was, at least in theory, absolute prohibition unless the pro-cedure was judged necessary i. ) save the ·mother's life.) Despite the diversity of thdr re-ligious commitments, the fou r theo-logians were in strikingly sub~tan tial agreement ·on the moral issue at stake. As was pointed out by Richard John Neuhaus, Lutheran minister from Brooklyn, N. Y ., and LINACRE QuA R T E RLY editor of Una Sancta, "The lines are falsely drawn when the abortion debate is posed as a Roman Catholic versus 'others' contest. . . abortion and related issues about the nature and protection of human life are ecumenical questions, tran-scending the lines of denomina-tional connection." Pastor Neuhaus then proceeded to eniarge, in a fashion familiar to adherents of Roman Catholic theology, on the inviolable sacredness of all innocent human life, even in its prenatal stages, and on the consequent moral duty of civil authority to protect the innocent from all unprovoked attack, especially when the threat-ened victim-as is true of the human fetus- is unable alone to defend himself. A representative of Anglican Catholicism, Rev. Charles Carroll of the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco, was able to cite among his several rather awesome credentials his presence some years ago at the trial of the Nazi doctors in Nuremberg. No mere summary could do justice to Fr. Carroll's scholarly presenta-tion of the reasons why he, too, abhors the prospect of "liberalized" abortion. Suffice it, perhaps, to say that in the course of some 3 0 minutes his masterful expression of theology on the subject earned him the standing ovation he received from an audience obviously im-pressed by his display of erudition •n several disciplines. Dominican Father Charles J. D. Corcoran proved himself a most FEBRUARY able pedagogue in his succinct and pointed precis of distinctively Roman Catholic teaching on the abortion question. Much of his stress had as its target the factual question relating to the temporal incipience of · embryonic rational life. "We know of no interruptions · or discontinuities," said Fr. Cor-coran in his concluding paragraphs, "in the advance through all embry-onic and fetal stages, through birth, puberty, adulthood and senescence. We can onlv conclude that human life is prese~t from the moment of conception to the moment of death. fo destroy an innocent human life at any time from conception on-wards is, therefore, murder. 1\tl urder is not a medical therapy nor a cure for the social and economic prob- · lems of childbearing, and it cannot be made so by law." Unfortunately, Dr. Immanuel Jakobovits, . chief rabbi of England, was prevented from honoring his . commitment to address the meeting as spokesman for Orthodox Juda-ism. His carefully prepared ·paper was read, however, by the chair-man of the Commission, John F. Hillabrand, MD, and it concurred in every substantial detail with the expressed convictions of his Gentile colleagues on the program. (Read-ers will most probably be interested to know that Jewish Medical Ethics by Dr. Jakobovits (Philosophical Library, N.Y. 1959) is recognized as definitive in its field. In the interests of totally honest reporting it should be stated that on this question of the morality of therapeutic abortion Lutheran, An-39 '· ' ' ' ;. • i' ~ · ..... ~. ' I ·.'· ' ..... : j '('· '' •. ·· '. :·· • ., . .. ., ' . . •· : ·.~ glican, and Jew differ agreeably in at least one notable respect from Roman Catholic. 'i\7here Fr. Cor-coran said, "Never," to the pro-cedure, Pastor Neuhaus, Fr. Car-roll, and Rabbi Jakobovits appar-ently restricted themselves-either expressly or by inescapable infer-ence-to a "hardly-ever" position. (The exception which the latter had in mind was the instance-. more theoretical than practical in medical opinion that is virtually unanimous-in which therapeutic abortion would be necessary to save the life of the mother.) This dif-ference of opinion should come as no surprise to the theologically know led gea ble. In the second session dealing with the abortion question, the medical and legal aspects of the problem were aired at considerable length. John L. l\kKelvey, MD, head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of l\tlinnesota :Medical School, re-viewed in thorough detail the al-leged medical indications for thera-peutic abortion and concluded that "There are some medical or surgical indications for therapeutic abortion which are still accepted, but the vast majority of these have van-ished in the light of experience and factual data. In general, the removal of a pregnancy is (med-ically) justified only when it can be demonstrated to be a really dangerous aggressor." Psychiatrist Irving C. Bernstein, l\tlD, clinical associate professor of OB-Gyn and Psychiatry at the Uni-40 versity of l\tlinnesota, also ( neapolis, was even more icon as he discussed the psych reasons commonly cited in f terminating pregnancy. "Th no psychiatric indications fc tion," he said, "because 1 . peutic abortion is not effecti \ ment for the patient or situation; 2. suicide is less in pregnant women than i pregnant women; 3. it is hn J to predict who will develop partum psychosis; 4. adequat ment methods are available t age psychiatric difficulties -ring during pregnancy, 5. peutic abortion has its own atric morbidity." .\1in-:astic gical )r of are 1bor-tera-reat-the risk non-sible post-~ reat-man-:cur-era-ychi-As advocate for the fetus £1 l the victim in any abortion, I .gene Diamond, · MD, associate pr 'essor of clinical pediatrics at Loyo1 Uni-versity School of Medicine, C1 ·cago, summed up his professional :.;enti-ments in this forceful perOt -tion: "If you ask me, therefore, to ~peak for the fetus, then speak for tim I wi11. I speak for him intact ~! r de-formed. I speak for him wan .. ~d or unwanted. Yes, and I speak f( ,· him be he illegitimate or high-bt'rn. I am for life and the preservat ;;:m of life. I believe that ariv life is of infinite value and that this value is not significantly diminished by physical or mental defect or the circumstances of- that life's b gin-ning. I believe that this ~egard for the quantity and not the quality of life is a· cornerstone of ' ' 'estern culture. I believe our patients are served best by a medical ethic which also holds this principle sacred." LIN ACRE · QuARTE RLY It was the contention of Robert M. Byrn, associate professor of law, Fordham University School of Law, that the prospect of legalized abor-tion is especially distressing to a lawyer because on the one hand he realizes that the abortion movemen~ received its initial impetus from the American Law Institute and on the other hand he knows that the move-ment is a legal anachronism, the product of discarded law and dis-credited jurisprudence. From the viewpoint of civil law, he · main-tained a child in utero is regarded not only as a human being, but as such from the moment of concep-tion - an inescapable conviction unless one chooses to discredit en-tirely the objective testimony of competent physicians. To deny the fetus protection against the aggres-sion that is abortion is to repudiate principles which are legally sacro-sanct, he said. The ultimate "queen" of the en-tire meeting proved to be l\1rs. Jill Knight, MBE, MP, of the British House of Commons. \Vith charming wit but in deadly earnestness, the vivacious Mrs. Knight recounted in graphic language her own unsuc:.. cessful parliamentary battle against proponents of the liberalization of English abortion legislation. The . substance of her principal plea to the assemblage was to forego all ivory-tower speculation as to the precise moment of the human soul's infusion into the fetal body and to conduct our campaign along more practical lines-by demonstrating, as can be done in a posteriori fashion - the illusory nature of alleged benefits to be derived through legalized abortion. The standing ovation accorded Mrs. Knight left no doubt as to the af-fectionate admiration which her comments won from her audience. [Father Lynch is professor of moral theology at Weston College, Weston, Mass. and a medico-moral consultant to LQ.] The foregoing Report is published in LQ with the permission of the editors of Hospital Progress (January 1968) the official journal of The Catholic Hospital Association. 41 ·1'1 · · ·~·· ••• " 1·' •0 t , I , ' I H "'0 ,'f ' ': ' '• • • t ~, ~ 1 r . "' . ' '• ', I .. 

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A Report: Legalized Abortion: Commission Hears Ecumenical Discussion

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