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This
fascinating collection, supervised by Elisabeth Sledziewski with the
collaboration of Agnès Guy, brings together philosophers, historians,
physicians, psychologists, witnesses and social workers, around an appalling
phenomenon: the persistence of a high rate of elective abortion in our
country (around 1 out of 4 conception and 1 out of 3 born children). How to
explain such a failure, in a society with high sanitary development? What
can be done to remedy?
The
contributors express from different experiences and convictions, the ones
admitting, the others refusing to see in abortion any right. But all of them
say to be alarmed by the frequency to resort to elective abortion and
underline the emergency of better abortion prevention.
Their
meeting proves that contrary to what "abortionists" affirm, the debate of
principle on this important issue is far from being finished. In France it
has even experienced, since the extension of legal time limits for elective
abortion in 2001, a development of which this collection is a witness and
which gave it the opportunity to be enriched with the confrontation of
diverse sensitiveness.
"Abortionism"
For the
philosopher Elisabeth Sledziewski, the conditions of awareness of the
dangers of "abortionism" are brought together today.
The author calls "abortionism" "the ideology which exalts the elective
abortion as a fundamental right for women and makes of its legislative
conquest a decisive stake for their emancipation. (...) She sees in the
freedom to abort, the emblem of all the battles against the sexist society."
The affirmation and the strengthening of this right are for "abortionists"
the fundamental criterion of legitimacy of a State and the evidence of its
ability to open up to progress and to modernity.
According to "abortionist" version, exercising the right for elective
abortion is normally registered in the destiny of any woman." Obviously
it does not pose any ethic problem. The elective abortion is
"a lesson about freedom, life and humanity."
"The abortionist ideology" acquired, in thirty years, offensive
arguments really virulent (...). Its speech denounces ethic objections
"by reducing them to a fanatic, obscurantist and misogynous reaction".
But for the author all people of good will must be involved to fight
against "a trivialization we cannot be satisfied" and to deny the
fatalism of the success of the "culture Perruche", which undermines the
foundations of contemporary humanism. It is urgent to be aware of the
necessity to "raise the heavy weight of "abortionist" conformism and to
face the things as they are, taking into account their complexity".
The author also regrets the "old-fashioned" models of femininity attached to
"abortionism". The value set on elective abortion by feminism excludes the
pregnancy from femininity and falls into the line with a model incredibly
virile. The freedom of woman to "jilt her foetus" as on the past the
seducer jilted the woman he knocked up. Great victory for women... The
author proposes to work on richer and less old-fashioned feminist models.
The figures
are pure invention
Gérard-François Dumont in "Nombre véritable des avortements" and Sylvie
Caphon in "Faute de gant d'amour" mention the biting polemics around the
number of elective abortion before its legalization: estimations of pure
invention given by strategists. We could read that after WW II from 800,000
to 1 million elective abortions were performed each year in France... But
for elective abortion as for any social phenomenon, we cannot depart from
the truth of figures scientifically established. G. F. Dumont, shows that
official estimations made by the INED (French National Institute for
Demographic Studies) in the 60-70’s were below the incredible figures given
by Medias and politicians and that they were still excessive. Today despite
the affirmations which overestimate the number of elective abortion in
France before the law and underestimate their number after the law, the
facts are obstinate: the number of abortions is higher since the law passed.
Is
Elective abortion a lesser evil?
Is it tragic? Undoubtedly, answers Jacques Milliez. "Abortion offends
painfully the instinct of pregnancy, the deepest of femininity. Each time,
it leaves a scar, a void, a personal wound which hurts just by mentioning it."
But to affirm also that, if abortion is a transgression, for the physician,
the transgression is maybe a duty.
Freedom of
woman, foetus’ right
Israël Nisand considering that
foetus’ rights increase according to the age, thinks that the extension of
legal time limits for elective abortion rekindles the debate on embryo and
foetus status. (see. sur les droits de l'embryon, the contribution from V.
Bourguet). He shows that the extension is not a solution because it just
defers the problematics on time limits and interferes with time limits for
termination of pregnancy for medical reason (possible until the last day of
pregnancy). He suggests, in order to resolve this difficulty, the treatment
of elective abortion by physician team after legal time limits. In order to
protect foetus’ rights which increased during the weeks of gestation, the
parents should not decide alone and should be helped and advised by
physicians and woman’s rights representatives.
220,000
abortions per year: What can be done?
Panoramiques, n° 60, 3e trim 2002 ; 207
pp Éd. Corlet: BP 86 - 14110 Condé-sur-Noireau
(Contributions from B. Avon, M. Beccaria, V. Bourguet,
S. Chaperon, C. Chevallier, F. Couret, J-M. Delassus, M. Delcroix and M.
Vincent, F-G. Dumont, F. Goumaz, J. Guibert, F. Guirriec, H. Kafé et N.
Brouard, J. Kotoujansky, C. Le Batard, P. Lecorps, D. Marcilhacy, J.
Milliez, I. Nisand, R. Prédal, D. Rampon, E. G. Sledziewski, S. Treiner, M.
Winckler). |
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Doctoring of words
This Lexicon is trying to remedy a “manipulation of the language”
present in the great debates of society. Too often the imagination of the
citizens is turned upside down without them noticing…Isn't it easier to
carry out an “embryonic reduction” rather than an abortion? To have
an “extra-marital adventure” rather than to be an adulterer? To
eliminate a “zygote” or a “cellular mass” rather than an
embryo? This “doctoring of words” is used to distort the truth. To
remove this cosmetic doctoring of words is to favour the emergence of a just
and objective reflection.
With a preface by Cardinal A. Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical
Council for the Family, the Lexicon gathers the contributions of 72 experts
from all over the world, among whom: Mgr Vingt-Trois and Mgr Ricard, T.
Anatrella, G.-F. Dumont, M.-T. Hermange, X. Lacroix, J.-D. Le Caillon, J.-M.
Le Méné, J.-M. Meyer, J. Suaudeau, and among numerous foreign authors: C.
Casini, R. Colombo, M. Schooyans, J. Wilks.
The project which gave birth to the Lexicon dates back to the International
Conference in Cairo on population and development (1994) organized by the
United Nations. Mgr Jean-Pierre Ricard explained that “some of the
participants at this Conference noticed (...) a curious language, almost
coded, was being used, in which certain expressions, apparently anodyne, but
in fact ambiguous or with a double meaning, were turning up regularly and
could change the true intentions of the organizers of the Conference. These
same participants also noticed that this manipulation of language was not
confined to the Cairo Conference, but seemed to have become a habit in this
particular sector of the UN. Conscious of the fact that uninformed persons
could let themselves be caught up in this semantic game in other
international meetings, and vote, without realizing it, in favour of motions
opposed to their convictions, these delegates asked the Pontifical Council
for the Family to publish a kind of lexicon of those words with an ambiguous
or double meaning which were being used.”
Enlightening intelligence
Man, woman, is there any difference? How does woman reproductive health be
planned? Until where can the physician help his patients in their choice?
Given the profusion of bioethics trends and the utilitarian and
non-prescriptive leaning of Anglo-American bioethics, the Catholic Church
has stressed the necessity for a serious philosophical and anthropological
basis for such debates. Part of the current bioethics deadlocks are caused
by universal standards of ethical judgement often being replaced by
pragmatic decisions taken in the name of a partial good, largely tinged with
subjectivity.
For the Church, this is not about defending particular religious morals but
enlightening intelligence and reason to encourage dialogue based on the
truth. A large portion of the lexicon concerns the family (relationships,
homosexuality and gender theory) as well as human life and the threats
affecting today, in particular at its beginning and end (abortion, medical
pregnancy terminations, assisted reproduction, euthanasia, demography)...
The example of PMA
Assisted reproduction and Fertilization in vitro (FIV) by Mgr Bruguès:
“in fact the term of assisted reproduction is perfectly deceptive because
more often it does not deal with an “assistance" (...) but a substitution.
Substitution of physician manipulator of gametes for the husband,
substitution of technical act for body union. (...) Even if one day the
advance of techniques enabled to avoid massive destruction of human embryos
linked today to the practice of FIV (96 % of embryos are thus "created" to
death) which makes it unacceptable, we should carry on denouncing a process
which, at the end, is a dehumanization." Then the FIV techniques are
detailed, (with or without gamete donation, surrogate mother, freezing of
embryos at -196°C, "embryonic reduction"...) and then moral objections. "At
its beginning the Fivete was presented as a technique to fight infertility.
In fact it does not treat infertility (...). We detected that this
technique opened abyssal prospects for human future, as ectogenesis,
gestation of human embryos by animal species, cloning, substitution of
embryo nucleus for nucleus taken from adult human being, without talking
about predictive medicine." Retrospectively, "we can better see why
the Church firmly condemned these practices".
Good-Bye to the ready-baked thinking...
On the border between law and medicine, and hinged on philosophical thinking,
the Lexicon is a journey back to the roots. Great philosophical
issues are treated without complexes: freedom (common-law marriage, free
choice, etc.), law (woman’s right, children’s right, etc.), pain...
It is not intended only for Catholics but for all people of good will who
reject "ready-baked thinking" and are looking for answers to the questions
they still dare to ask, particularly to politicians, MPs, educators, NGO and
training centres.
Lexicon on ambiguous and controversial
terms about family, life and ethical questions, 1008 pp, Editions Téqui,
June 2005.
Some terms decoded by
"Pro-choice": pro abortion
Free choice: right to abortion
Reproductive Health: right to abortion, to contraception
"To die with dignity": euthanasia
IVG: abortion
IMG: abortion (until birth)
Pre-embryo: embryo
Embryonic reduction: abortion of one or several embryos
Pre-implantation Diagnosis (PDI): in vitro sorting out and
destroying of ill embryos
Prevention of Down syndrome: eradication of trisomics by abortion
Run away rate: non detected trisomic foetus
Somatic cell nuclear Transfer: cloning |
