Strident pro abortion women often use the catch cry: “It’s my body. I can do what I want with it”.
This may be a legal fact in many jurisdictions.
But it’s not always a MORAL FACT.
CAN I ALWAYS DO WHAT I WANT WITH MY OWN BODY?
The short answer is NO.
It is illegal for me to use my body to murder or assault another person.
It is illegal for me to urinate or defecate in public.
It is illegal for me to masturbate in public as Fr Jerry Carey of Killaloe discovered.
It is illegal for me to be naked in public.
It is illegal for me to put certain drugs in my body.
It is illegal for me to smoke tobacco in certain places.
It is illegal for me to drink alcohol in certain public places.
So, the “principle” that I can do what I want with my body does not stand up to scrutiny.
ABORTION
No one can say that a pregnant should not have a great deal of control over her own body and bodily integrity. Thats a right that all men and women should have.
But nearly always our rights come with obligations.
And in abortion there is:
The rights of the unborn baby.
The rights of the baby’s father.
And for those of us believe there is the moral question and the question of doing or not doing the Will of God.
The “ITS MY BODY” catch cry does not at all do justice to the very serious and complex abortion debate.
BISHOP PAT BUCKLEY 