Cardinal Calls 1967 Legalization a "Pack of Lies"
EDINBURGH, Scotland, MAY 31, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The claims of the 1967 Abortion Act were a pack of lies which resulted in more lies masquerading as compassion, said the archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien said this today at St. Mary's Cathedral on the 40th anniversary of Scotland's Abortion Act, which coincides with the Church's "Day for Life," celebrated on the feast of the Visitation.
Cardinal O'Brien explained the false claims made to pass the 1967 act legalizing abortion: "We were told that backstreet abortions were killing women and had to be decriminalized.
"We were told abortion would only be used in extreme cases. We were told medical scrutiny would be rigorous."
But the cardinal said that these where all lies: "The scale of the killing is beyond our grasp. In Scotland we kill the equivalent of a classroom full of school children every day.
"For many women abortion has become an alternative form of birth control. The lives of the babies involved are not at risk any more than the lives of their mothers are threatened by pregnancy.
"Abortions to save the life of a woman are almost unheard of. As a society we willfully ignore these realities. We need to build, once again, a society that joyfully accepts new life."
Communion
The 69-year-old cardinal called upon Catholic politicians to avoid "cooperating in the unspeakable crime of abortion" reminding them of "the barrier such cooperation erects to receiving Holy Communion," and adding that "peace cannot be built in the shadow of the abortion rooms."
"I would be failing as a pastor not to highlight the gravity of this situation, not just to lawmakers but to anyone: mother, father, boyfriend, counselors who in any way lead a mother to abortion," he said.
Cardinal O'Brien continued: "Signs of hope are appearing, earlier this month it was reported that many doctors are no longer willing to cooperate in abortion. They know, better than most, the humanity of the unborn.
"We need to support anyone who takes the same line believing always that truth will eventually triumph."
Code: ZE07053115
Date: 2007-05-31