Page 84 - thesis_biby_tharayil

74

one can not use means and follow methods which could be licit in the
82
transmission of the life of plants and animals’”.
In the defence of human life in the light of modern biotechnology,
Pope Benedict XVI noted: “regarding the embryo in the womb, science
itself attests to its autonomy, capable of interaction with the mother.... One
is not dealing with an accumulation of biological material, but with a new
living being, dynamic and marvellously ordered, a new individual of the
83
human species”.

4.3.2.1.2 Protect Life from the First Moment of Conception

It is the responsibility of parents to protect the life of their children
throughout the various stages of their life until natural death. This teaching
stems from the commandment of the Lord, “Thou shall not kill” (Deut. 5,
17). A positive consideration of this would read: “You shall protect life”. In
the New Testament, Joseph in order to save the life of the child Jesus, flees
to Egypt with Mary (Mt. 2, 13-15). The teaching of the Church on the
protection of life remains always the same and is very clear: “Life must be
protected with the utmost care from the moment of conception: abortion and
84
infanticide are abominable crimes”.
The Indian Government, from the nineteen-seventies, strongly
advocated artificial family planning to control population growth in India.
Family planning today in India means “reducing the birth-rate and achieving
85
a stable population where birth-rates are approximate to death-rates”. In
India abortions were legalized under certain conditions and contraceptives
like condoms are promoted. As per India’s abortion laws, only qualified
doctors, under stipulated conditions, can perform an abortion on a woman,
in an approved clinic or hospital. The Indian abortion laws fall under the
Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (MTP), which was enacted by the
Indian Parliament in the year 1971. The MTP Act of India clearly states the

82 Donum Vitae, no. 4.

83
BENEDICT XVI, “Per la Vita Nascente”, in L’Osservatore Romano, 29-30, November,
2010, p. 6. The original Italian text reads: “Riguardo l’embrione nel grembo, la scienza
stessa ne mette in evidenza l’autonomia capace di interazione con la madre, ... Non si tratta
di un cumulo di materiale biologico, ma di un nuovo essere vivente, dinamico e
meravigliosamente ordinato, un nuovo individuo della specie umana,”
84 Gaudium et Spes, no.51. Cf. Evangelium Vitae, nos. 13, 44.
85
DEVANANDAN, P. D. and M. M., THOMAS (eds.), The Changing Pattern Of The
Family In India, Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, Bangalore, 2007,
p. 122.

www.knanayology.org