An urgent call for concerted action

By Rev. Fr. Dr. Herman Joseph Mary Kalungi

As life returns to normal after the exciting electoral period that we have gone through, there are some really pressing issues to which we Ugandans need to urgently pay serious attention before it gets too late. Among these is the acute problem of abortion, a hot-button subject all over the world, as is evidenced by the attention it raised in Pope Francis' February 18 in-flight press conference on the return to Rome at the end of his week-long trip to Mexico.

Uganda's rate of abortion, of about 54 out of every 1000 (1 of every 19) women of reproductive age, according to the National abortion incidence study of 2003 (this is the latest study available for our country), is probably the highest in the world. Higher even than Greenland's 53, it is much higher than East Africa's average of 36, way higher than Africa's in general of 29, more than doubling the average of 26 for the developed countries.

In ordinary language (the medical concept is a little broader, not taking into consideration the aspect of willfulness) the term "abortion" refers to the voluntary termination of pregnancy through the killing of the unborn, or in order to kill the unborn.
This procured abortion always bears dreadfully tragic consequences for all the parties involved.

It is really horrifying to think of the irremediable harm suffered by every single child that is aborted. A unique and incommunicable mystery, a real universe that stretches out to the infinite, as the interior experience of each and every one of us testifies, every child carries within themselves a limitless potentiality for unity, for truth, for goodness, for beauty, for love, for perfection, for enjoyment. The complete and irreversible destruction of all these hopes, through abortion, is the worst conceivable disaster that could ever befall the little one.

We all received the first months of our existence in our mothers' wombs, where we were nourished and protected against every threat to our life and our health. If we now enjoy life - notwithstanding some level of suffering that always accompanies it and is, in reality, a necessary help for growth in maturity and, therefore, in true happiness and joy - it is because our parents have had the will and, with the help of many other good people, were able to bring us into the world.

For the 297,000 Ugandan children (this is roughly equivalent to the combined populations of the towns of Jinja, Mbarara and Masaka) that are aborted annually (on average more than 800 every day), instead, any hope of enjoying the goodness and beauty of the world, and of participating in human life and making their personal contribution to the well-being of their fellow men, is completely and irrevocably reduced to naught!

Often those who examine the effects of abortion on women pay attention exclusively, or almost exclusively, to the physical ones. These, indeed, are often very grave, not infrequently culminating in death. In fact, about 1,500 Ugandan women die from abortion-related complications every year.

Without downplaying, however, the importance of these physical consequences, it is necessary to pay due attention, as well, to the fact that every abortion always leaves with in its wake terrifying effects upon all the other strata of the woman's being, including the psychological, moral, spiritual and religious dimensions. The effects on these dimensions are always very severe and their profundity is matched only by their permanency. In effect, their complete cure is beyond the reach of purely human means.

It is important to consider the fact the women who abort are also, in one way or another, victims of the situation. Just as it is with paternity regarding to masculinity, maternity is an essential property of womanhood. Every woman, including those who - for honest reasons - choose not marry and not to have children, naturally aspires to be a mother in some way, by making her specifically feminine contribution to the life and wellbeing of other people.

That is why, in Luganda, when a woman seems to be cruel, people often comment: "alinga atali muzadde?!" (she behaves as though she were not a mother), meaning "she is denaturalised".

Abortion, therefore, being the most radical renunciation of maternity that is thinkable, cannot find any place among the decisions of a woman unless there is some really very intense coercion of one kind or another suffered by that woman. For this reason, effective and truly fruitful struggle against the problem of abortion is impossible without identifying and decidedly battling those sinister forces that compel women to surrender the lives of their own children.

Abortion "demotherlises" the woman, de-womanises her, it dehumanises her. The poor woman that finds herself in this situation needs, therefore, to be approached with compassion and empathy and to be rehabilitated psychologically, spiritually, morally, religiously - and very often physically as well - if she is to have any hope whatsoever of ever again leading a normal life.
It is true that every abortion leaves a certain humanly indelible mark on the woman. Believers call this mark "sin".

Only God - because He alone is omnipotent - can remove sin, and He always removes it, as long as recourse is made to Him with true contrition. Indeed, by God's power, the woman can even hers into a life of unprecedented generosity, of truly heroic motherliness, that she would perhaps never have dreamed if the compunction occasioned by the horrendous act of abortion had not shaken her out of the mediocrity in which the majority of her fellow women live.

With respect to men, those who are close to any that has ever lost a child to abortion, whatever the degree of responsibility that such a one might have had in this outcome, will testify to the fact that such men (many times they are youths that have recklessly impregnated girls and then denied their own responsibility) suffer profound psychological and spiritual wounds from which they never manage to entirely recover as long as they live.

The fact is that the need to protect and to fend for one's own child is an essential constituent of paternity, which, in its turn, is an essential property of all manhood. The attempt on the child's life is, for this reason, simultaneously a profound injury inflicted on the very core of the man's being. It persists throughout the man's life as a clamorous accusation of his inability to protect his own offspring. As with the women, however, God's forgiveness is all-powerful.

All those who wilfully get involved in the procurement of the abortion - the woman herself, the pseudo-medical personnel, the negligent father of the child, the parents or other people who pressurise or advise the woman to abort, end up being severely dehumanised (they stop being humane) by the act.

It becomes absolutely impossible for such persons, unless they are perfectly contrite of their heinous act, to ever again love anyone truly: the wellsprings of sincere and honest love, of true friendliness, of authentic generosity, in those hearts, get completely dried up.

Every abortion, moreover, is a truly global catastrophe that affects even those who might not know anything about it. In the family, the abortive woman loses all interest in her husband, even if this one were wholly innocent with regard to the crime.

Everywhere in society, the inhumanity introduced by the abortion spreads as a subtle and yet virulent contagion that disrupts all kinds of noble and healthful relationships between people, and provoking the proliferation of inhumane acts, always justified by very clever, diabolic, arguments.

This, together with other similar phenomena, explains the culture of death that at present is spreading everywhere like a wild fire and deeply entrenching itself in society. Its bitter fruits pose acute threats to human life in all its phases and conditions, especially that of the weaker members of society (the unborn, the elderly, the deformed persons, the poor, the minorities, and the weaker races or tribes). No one is safe; we all need to act, and the time is "now"!

Some propose the diffusion of contraception as an effective means of preventing abortions. How, then, can we explain the near-equality, on the one hand, of the abortion rate of developed countries (26/1000) where contraceptives are readily available to all and there are, as well, abundant resources for accepting and taking care of a child, and, on the other, that of developing countries (29/1000)?

A truly effective approach to the grave problem of abortion must, therefore, be one that equips everyone with the necessary self-mastery to make responsible use of our sexuality and, in case there is a failure, enables one to welcome the child that is always a gift, a blessing. It is really a grave insult to ever describe a child as "unwanted", since children are persons to be loved, not objects to be wanted or rejected at liberty.

The solution, in the first place, will always consist chiefly and fundamentally in a solid formation of the young - and not so young - in authentic human qualities (virtues) and true knowledge about themselves, about God, about other persons, about the world around them. In addition to this, civil society should look for means of helping and accompanying pregnant girls that.

In many cases, these girls seek abortion just because of fear of the future. If we dismantle the obstacles, probably we can save one life. In this we must all play our part - without excuses - especially the parents, teachers, and religious and government leaders. We have already had a similar experience with regard to the AIDS outbreak in the 1980's and 90's, placing, before anything else, abstinence and fidelity.