Hector Treub

“ Such was Aristotle's opinion, adhered to by the scholars of the Middle Ages, though they condemned abortion from the time of conception. It was not till 1620 that Fienus, a physician of Louvain, Belgium, published the first book of modern times that came near the truth. He maintained that the human soul was created and infused into the embryo three days after conception. Nearly forty years later, in 1658, Florentinius, a priest of a religious order, wrote a book in which he taught that the soul may be intellectual or human from the first moment of conception ”

“ Liberty indeed, in all that which is reasonable, moral or even doubtful; but, no liberty for Moloch-worship and human sacrifices." There are things which are wrong beyond doubt, which neither can nor should be made doubtful by Church decisions. ”

“ The difficult question, as to whether the intra-uterine fetus may be killed to save the mother's life, when otherwise both mother and child are in danger of perishing, hinges upon the following funda- mental principles of Catholic, and, I hope also, of Christian, morals :
I. Thou shalt not kill.
II. Uterine life must be respected as much as the extra-uterine. ”

“ Well, now, what difference in principle is there between Case A and Case X? That the threat in Case A comes from a debased man, and in Case X from nature, rather favors my position ; for the means which I may not use to free myself from the consequences of an unjust attack, may certainly not be used to prevent the natural con- sequences of a natural condition. ”

“ Gregory of Nyssa taught as early as the fourth century, modern science claims to have proved beyond all doubt. Accordingly, in many States of the Union, the law casts its protection around an unborn infant from its first stage of ascertainable existence. " To make the criminality of abortion depend upon the fact of quickening," says Wharton and Stille's Medical Jurisprudence, " is as repugnant to sound morals as it is to en- lightened physiology." ”

“ Nor can the third reason stand. If the unborn offspring may be sacrificed, because it can not arrive at birth, why might one not also sacrifice the child just born, which is but one step further in its de- velopment and has no chance of surviving (Case A) ? Both must die at all events, die without any consciousness of life, without any conscious enjoyment of life, without having performed any con- scious act.
Some one has contended that 2d and 3d must be taken together ; and that an immature fetus, which can not reach maturity, may be
20 ”

“ N. having been pregnant for ten or twelve weeks has come to her present precarious condition through uncontrollable vomiting. All remedies proving unavailing, the physician who treated her, Dr. Y., pro- posed abortion as a last resort. The woman replied that her confessor had forbidden such a course. The physician talked the matter over with the priest, among other things pointing to the fact that the saving of the fetus, even only for baptism, was in either case out of the question, as it would surely die before the mother, if things were allowed to take their natural course. ”

“ Should the Dutch legislator acknowledge that the law is not equally binding for all Hollanders, but that a large group of Hol- landers are justified in setting the rules of Rome above the law of the land, then the penal laws must needs be altered. ”

“ Y.'s opinion, that by letting nature have her course, the child's life could not have been saved, not even for baptism, remains intact even after this occurrence, because excep- tions can not affect the rule. ”

“ Since your letter came to hand, I have most care- fully examined the case set forth therein, and, as a result, I am con- strained to inform you that Father X. acted agreeably to the teaching of the Catholic Church. She has always taught that abortion, as a destroying act, is never allowed. As late as 1895, Rome has issued a decision on the subject in answer to the following inquiry:*
Titius medicuSj cum ad praegnantem graviter decumbentem vocabatur, passim animadvertebat lethalis morbi causam aliam non subesse praeter ipsam praegnationem, hoc est foetus in utero praesentiam. ”

“ He proposes that: Whoever forbids or in any way hinders another to call in, or to accept, medical aid for his ailments, shall, in case death result to the other from the illness, be punished with imprison- ment, etc. ”

“ The most renowned professional men teaching moral theology is a profession, forsooth have ever found this matter an extremely dif- ficult one. The Church, having attentively followed the disputes of these most learned professional men, after centuries of prudent hesi- tation at length coming to the decision that a certain medical treat- ment is illicit, it must be evident that submission to this particular treatment can not be imposed on anybody as a strict duty. ”

“ That in this case there is question of an immature fetus.
3. That this fetus must in any event die before birth.
No one will care to countenance the first reasons. For, apart from the fact that one can not logically detect a difference in rights between the living child in the womb and the same child just born, such ideas would open a wide door to immoral conclusions. For instance, the means that may be employed to save the mother's life, may be resorted also to for other reasons equally grave, e. ”

“ Jam vero lectis, quac 19 Augusti 1888 Sancta Sedes ad Cameracensem Archiepiscopum rescripsit: titto doceri non posse licitam esse quamcumque operationem directe occisivam foetus, etiamsi hoc necessarium foret ad matrem salvandam, dubius haeret Titius circa liceitatem operationum cliirurgicarum, quibus non raro abortum hucusque procurabat, ut praegnantes graviter aegrotantes salvaret. ”