It’s Now OK to Kill a Baby

Romans 1:28 speaks of those who do “not like to retain God in their knowledge” as those given “over to a debased mind.” Ephesians 4:17 reveals that people who live life contrary to the will of God live lifestyles that flow from “the futility of their mind. “Their understanding” about life is “darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness [hardness] of their heart.”

I almost hate to say this, but two such people are Alberto Giubilini at Monash University in Melbourne and Francesca Minerva at The Center for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne. These two people who teach ethics have published an article in the recent edition of The Journal of Medical Ethics. What’s the bottom line of the article? Here it is: if the abortion of a fetus is allowable, then it should be allowable to kill a baby after it’s born.

The two are opposed to the term “infanticide” preferring to call killing a new born baby an “after-birth abortion.” Infanticide they say is too strong a wrong and makes people uncomfortable. Does that euphemism make everyone more comfortable? I know I feel like I’m sitting by a warm fire sipping hot chocolate. Wait, is that a baby I hear crying…Oh, never mind.

The two academics favor the term “after-birth abortion” because the moral status of the baby that is killed is comparable with that of a fetus. Oh, I see…a fetus is not a human being and so by calling the killing of a child “after-birth abortion” this leads us to think the new born child is not a human either. Gee, I wish I was able to think profoundly like a college professor! 

 But why would you want to abort a new born baby? The authors state that it would be acceptable when the new born would be putting the well-being of the whole family at risk, or if it didn’t have the potential for an “acceptable life.” The article mentions children with Down’s syndrome as an example saying, “such children might be an unbearable burden on the family and on society as a whole, when the state economically provides for their care.”

But the authors declare that killing a new born “should be permissible in all the cases that abortion is, including cases where the new born is not disabled.” For example an after birth abortion should be allowed if the baby is a girl and not wanted or the parents find the baby “inconvenient.” I have a question: how long after the birth is it OK to kill the baby? Will the child eventually be an unbearable burden when Dad or Mom is tired of spending money on the child’s needs like food and clothing? Or will the child become inconvenient if he or she interrupts a career or a vacation? I’m just saying…watch out toddlers!

Continuing they write, “Both a fetus and a newborn certainly are human beings and potential persons, but neither is a ‘person’ in the sense of ‘subject of a moral right to life.’ We take person to mean an individual who is capable of attributing to her own existence some (at least) basic value such that being deprived of this existence represents a loss to her.” Oh, I see, because a fetus and a new born baby cannot articulate a reason why he/she should be kept alive it is ok to kill it. Are you following the logic here or are you not as smart as these ethicists?

“Merely being human is not in itself a reason for ascribing someone a right to life.” The right to life for many newborns is “over-ridden by the interests of actual people (parents, family, society) to pursue their own well-being.” Parent to child: “Sorry son, you’re standing in the way of my self-fulfillment and well-being (squash!).” Ok, I think I’ve heard it all…we live in world where it is fine to kill a baby, but wrong to put a murderer on death row.

 The Word of God says that every human being has value because we are all made “in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).” Jesus Christ taught that we are to care for the “least of these (Matthew 25:40)” among us. But what can be gained from serving those who might be a burden to us? How about compassion, kindness, loving patience, learning that everyone has dignity, the absolute sacredness of life and the greater rewards of self-sacrifice?

We live in a world where the minds and consciences of so many people are “defiled (Titus 1:15).” A college scholarship program of the past asserted “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” I agree, don’t you? Fill your mind with the powerful Word of God so that you are not “conformed to this world, but… transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2).” Our world desperately needs people who can think biblically and live righteously. Do it for the babies—please.