Chilean Cardinal says distribution of abortion pill an “abominable crime”

Santiago, Chile, May 13, 2004 / 22:00 pm (CNA).

Speaking with reporters at the Vatican, Chilean Cardinal Jorge Medina said the distribution of the morning after pill, with its known abortifacient nature, is an “abominable crime.”

The Cardinal told Terra.cl that “if the government authorizes the sale of a product which is abortifacient, it is favoring something that is contrary to the teaching of the Church. And not only that, I believe it is against simple moral teaching.”

According to Cardinal Medina, the results of a poll that indicate 86% of Chileans favor the use of the morning after pill in cases of rape, reveal that there is a lack of proper formation in areas of sexuality and reproduction among Chileans.

The sale of the morning after pill, he said, is an “abominable crime” and is a contradiction for a country such as Chile which has outlawed the death penalty through a measure that was debated in Congress, “and yet because of an administrative decision which has not been debated anywhere, a decision has been made regarding children in their mother’s wombs, whether they are responsible for their pregnancies or not.  We should not be foolish and believe that the pills will be used only by young women who have been raped.”

The Cardinal explained that “learned people in the scientific fields have said that the pill is abortifacient, because the life a human being begins at fertilization and not at implantation.”

“When the fertilized ovum reaches the uterus it is already a human person.  If it cannot implant itself in the uterus, a human life is being lost.  And if that is the case, we are talking about an abortion,” he said.

In cases of rape, Cardinal Medina said if they result in a pregnancy, “the woman is not the owner of that life.  The life of that little child belongs to God, not to her.  She should receive it with the love of a mother.  In my priestly life I have seen on many occasions women who have become pregnant against their will and have shown great maternal affection for the child, whom at one point they were tempted to reject, but thanks be to God, accepted in the end.”

In addition, the Cardinal said that the defense of the unborn is valid for “anyone who understands human nature” and not only for Catholics.  “If there are some who are not convinced, we should make every effort possible to explain to them the reason for the Church’s position.  Not because this benefits the Church but because this is something that simply belongs to the patrimony of all humanity,” he added.