Scottish Catholic Observer

No one can deny the influence of the media in all sorts of ways in our present day society. Film and television are particularly powerful and Pope Benedict XVI has even spoken of them rivalling the influence of family and schools in the education they impart to young people.

Obviously we are all only too familiar when some of the damaging effects arising from the types of films and the role models that often fill the screens of cinemas and our televisions at home. It is therefore most heartening to be here with you today for the first screening of Doonby in Scotland, a film which unashamedly upholds the most precious of all values, the right to life.

Doonby was recently launched in the United States of America and I have been greatly encouraged to read and hear of some of the positive responses that the film has received. Gianfranco Grieco of the Pontifical Council for the Family remarked that this film weaves “an intriguing tapestry of complex choices and their consequences”.

I say that if this film assists in helping people in our society to take more seriously their responsibility in weighing up their moral choices, then it will have served an important purpose. The evidence from the USA is that it has already done this. Newspapers, television and radio have responded by bringing to light the profoundly important questions that “Doonby” aims to bring to our attention.

EXAMPLES OF WORRYING SITUATIONS AT THIS PRESENT TIME:

Surely there has never been a time in the 2000 year history of Christianity when we need help in discerning the decisions before us – particularly with regard to every aspect of human morality and especially with regard to “life” issues.

Concentrating on human life, as does this film “Doonby”, we must again ask ourselves just what has been happening since the 1967 Abortion Act. We are aware of the tens of thousands of unborn babies killed in the womb in the United Kingdom since then. It is estimated that the total of babies killed in the womb at this present time is over 200,000 per year – which means 600 babies are killed daily which is the equivalent to 30 classrooms of children. What a horrible thought!

But under that 1967 Abortion Act, as Amended, abortion was, by exception, permitted for medical reasons. However the actual reason used in 98% of cases, we are told, was that the continuance of pregnancy would involve a greater risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman than if the pregnancy were terminated.

However we now know that various other loopholes or extensions to the Act are looked for – I am sure often by people not really thinking about the seriousness of their actions. Just over the past few days various instances have hit the headlines of our national media.

- Media reports at this time revealed that clinics across England are illegally offering to abort babies on the basis of gender – and local Police have indicated that they will investigate alleged abuses in this regard. We shake our heads in horror at the thought of China’s “one baby policy “, or only allowing male babies to live – but we must seriously ask what indeed is happening in our own country. A spokesman for the pro-life charity (Life) said: “This represents the culmination of years of abuse of the abortion laws in the country to the extent that the rate of abortion is one every three minutes”.

- The headline of the front page of one of our Catholic papers this weekend read: “Ethicists call for killing of new borns to be made legal”. We are told that a leading British medical journal, the “Journal of Medical Ethics”, has published an article calling for the introduction of infanticide for social and medical reasons. The article is entitled “After Birth Abortion: Why should the baby live?” And states that: “After – birth abortion (killing a new born) should be permissible in all cases where abortion is, including cases where the new born is not disabled”. The authors of the article argue that “foetuses and new borns do not have the same moral status as actual persons” and consequently a law which permits abortion for certain reasons should permit infanticide on the same grounds”.

- And of course we can see where the developments of that would lead: If one can kill a new born baby why not kill a baby some days or even weeks after birth? And if one can kill an unborn baby in the womb during nine months of pregnancy why not allow it to be killed during its first nine months of life if it does not live up to expectations?

- Lord Alton, co-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group, said that infanticide was the “chilling and unassailable” logical step for a society that permits killing a baby one day before birth”. And he added that the fact that such an article could appear in a journal of medical ethics at all illustrates “not a slippery slope, but the quagmire in to which medical ethics and our wider society have been sucked”.

- And of course now midwives throughout our country are having to examine their consciences as to their positions in Law. This follows last week’s decision of the Court of Session in Edinburgh regarding the cases of the two Glasgow midwives. These dedicated women claimed that they were being made to oversee staff involved in abortions to the effect that it was a breach of their human right. However decision was made against them and one went on to state: “Unfortunately, following the changes in working practices which were introduced in 2008 along with new management and a new restrictive interpretation of the conscience clause, historical and legal rights (regarding freedom of conscience) were in effect negated”.

WAKE UP CALL THROUGH THIS FILM:

I have mentioned above various examples of deep concerns for worry in our society at this present time with regard to what we might describe as “Life issues”. We might wonder just what aberrations are around the corner when we tamper with God given life in the ways in which we do.

Perhaps viewing this film “Doonby” will be a wakeup call to all those who see it. Hopefully as we are watching this film and during the discussion afterwards we will realise more and more the value of human life and how we should have a greater concern for it at its beginnings as at its end.

Pic: Paul McSherry