Opinion
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May 19, 2015 (HLI.org) — All of humanity would agree that rape is a horrific crime. Such is the case for the 10-year-old Paraguayan who was raped and impregnated by her stepfather. Regrettably, the international community, including the United Nations, is exploiting the situation, pressuring the fiercely pro-life country to allow for an abortion. Instead of focusing on the rapist who should be severely punished, the focus is to subject cruel and unusual punishment on two innocents: the child and her unborn child.

“The instinctive reaction that many people have to this terrible situation is to offer the young girl the false solution of abortion,” said Father Peter West, vice president of missions for Human Life International. “Truly, this begets another violation of her person and another trauma that she will have to live with for the rest of her life.”

While United Nations human rights experts demand an abortion as a life-saving treatment, the Health Minister Antonio Barrios insists she is receiving quality pre-natal medical and psychological support, and five months into her pregnancy, she is in good health and able to deliver her child to full term.

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“Violence to the secondary victim does not undo an act of violence to the girl,” said Father West.

While pro-aborts distort the truth about abortion, the people of Paraguay know and understand that abortion is an act of violence; their culture believes life is a gift of love. Abortion promotes a culture of death and denies the scientific fact that the Church upholds in its own teaching: life begins at the moment of conception.

Pope Francis defends the Church’s belief that life begins at conception:

The moral problem of abortion is of a pre-religious nature because the genetic code is written in a person at the moment of conception. A human being is there. I separate the topic of abortion from any specifically religious notions. It is a scientific problem. Not to allow the further development of a being which already has all the genetic code of a human being is not ethical. The right to life is the first among human rights. To abort a child is to kill someone who cannot defend himself.

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This tragic situation presents a very clear teaching moment for Paraguay’s Archbishop Monsignor Edmundo Valenzuela and other pro-life faithful to present the truth about abortion’s violent end of a person’s life. Their efforts to save two lives deserve the international community’s full support and prayers, especially in a country known for its right-to-life laws protecting all citizens — including the unborn.

As Fr. West explains, using a violent solution is not a solution at all for either the young mother or her unborn child.

“Violence to the secondary victim does not undo an act of violence to the girl. Injustice is not resolved by committing another injustice, especially in a traumatic way like abortion which is a death penalty for the secondary victim of this rape – the innocent child growing and developing in the womb.”

Pro-abortion organizations often engage in intense lobbying efforts to pressure pro-life countries to legalize abortion by saying it is a human right. The rhetoric, however, rarely helps women, especially those who have been victimized, when and where they really need it. The violence of abortion isn’t limited to a 15-minute procedure. In reality, the post-abortive mother must deal with the immediate and long-term physical and severe psychological trauma that follows, a phenomenon known as post-abortion syndrome.

“The best solution – and most loving solution – is to support her throughout the pregnancy, birth, and beyond,” said Fr. West.

The mother and child will need a stable, safe environment where they can both be raised by a father and a mother who will love and care for them, he added.

Reprinted with permission from HLI.org.