Euthanasia is not mercy killing. Abortion is not compassionate.Serious Topics.

Legalized abortion was the issue that drove me out of the Democrat party and this was during a time i was still a flaming liberal.

As a youngster i couldn't have imagined a mother wanting to dispose of her own baby like that. It wasn't legal but thankfully it was rare. You couldn't have told me that one day we would not only legalize abortion but there would be millions of unborn babies killed.It was so out of the realm of what our country would ever permit we didn't consider it would ever happen.

I knew there were women who had babies out of wedlock-the men typically married them more often than not. The thinking then was that if you got a woman pregnant you married her. It was known as a shotgun wedding; but they married nonetheless.

I didn't know of a single pregnancy in our high school though. It just didn't happen. You would have to face your parents. It wasn't a good thought.

We finished school.

However, there came a time when birth control was introduced to our culture. Eventually all the churches caved and permitted artificial birth control (the Lambeth Conference)except one; the Catholic Church.

i do know there were Catholics who disagreed and used it in spite of church teaching. I also knew at that point abortion wouldn't be too far behind. It was legalized in 1973;eventually it would be considered a right.

Abortion went from rare to rampant.

Unwed pregnancies went from rare to rampant.

Marriage and childbearing declined; divorces increased.

Men didn't marry these women; more often than not they abandon them and let the government take the responsibility they should have taken.

What a change in our culture from the time i was growing up.

It flew in the face of the pro abortion argument that legalizing abortion would make it rare. The stats proved otherwise.

I realized that if abortion were legalized the door to euthanasia would be open.

People misunderstand Catholic teaching so let's clarify it.

The Catholic Church does not expect women to turn into baby producing machines. They teach having children responsibly. They encourage NFP which depends on self control in marriage.

No one is expected to have children they cannot raise responsibly. We know that there are times families can be faced with an unplanned pregnancy; it does happen.

If you're pro life you offer support whether the mother decides to keep the baby or arrange for adoption. If you're pro abortion you want to convince people abortion is the best-the only- choice. I'm going to be blunt. We do not have the right to take the life of an innocent human being.

A child or a sick parent{s)can be an unpleasant burden. Life is messy. For every moment of intense joy there will be a moment of unfathomable pain and sorrow.I don't think anyone escapes life without facing some pain and suffering. For some it's sooner, for some it's very late in lifeFor some it's a little,for others a lot.

Nothing ever goes perfectly or as perfectly planned as we would like.None of us want to face pain,suffering and illness but we know it's inescapable whether it 's ourselves or a a loved one.

Do you recall lthe case of Terry Schavio that made headlines and became a national debate. It was heartbreaking. If you remember Terry Schavio it was the case of a young lady whose parents were figthing for the right to care for her in her severe condition and a husband that wanted to permit her to die; by withholding basic necessities to sustain life.

She had left no documents spelling out her wishes. There was no written will. It was legally up in tha air fought in the courts and in the court of public opinion. The case was a good illustration of Catholic teaching on the life issues and applies to both euthanasia(assisted suicide)and abortion.

Ecoptic [or Tubal] Pregnancy

In an Ecoptic prenancy the first stage of the reproductive process goes horribly wrong. Conception takes place-the egg is fertilized- but implantation takes place outside the main cativity of the uterus. The life is conceived but it cannot survive.

From the Mayo Clinic https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ectopic-pregnancy/symptoms-causes/syc-20372088

Pregnancy begins with a fertilized egg. Normally, the fertilized egg attaches to the lining of the uterus. An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilized egg implants and grows outside the main cavity of the uterus.

An ectopic pregnancy most often occurs in a fallopian tube, which carries eggs from the ovaries to the uterus. This type of ectopic pregnancy is called a tubal pregnancy.

Sometimes, an ectopic pregnancy occurs in other areas of the body, such as the ovary, abdominal cavity or the lower part of the uterus (cervix), which connects to the vagina.

An ectopic pregnancy can't proceed normally. The fertilized egg can't survive, and the growing tissue may cause life-threatening bleeding, if left untreated.

It can be treated usually with surgery where the pregnancy is removed. This is NOT intentional killing.The tissue must be removed because the egg is NOT going to develop and will die and the mother's life is threatened as well if the tissue is not removed..

This is NOT an abortion.One life is not going to go through the reproductive process necessary to survive and the other life will die as a result of the abnormal pregnancy.

There is simply no choice and the life of the mother must be saved.Again, the bottom line is that this is NOT an intentional killing. In fact if intentionally left untreated then it would be.

Were not choosing the life of one over another.

We're saving the only life that is possible to save.

Now we can take a look at the Terry Schavio case and understand the church teaching surrounding it.

The Terry Schavio Case

There was no legal documentation spelling out Terry's wishes. On the one hand there was

her husband, who wanted to remove her feeding tube, and her parents, who sought to keep her alive. They offered to take full responsibility for her.

The objection of the church and her parents is that she was being given basic nutrition to sustain her life and the husband wanted it removed.They offered to take full responsibility for her care out of love. If the tube was removed it would be like someone taking food and water away from you.

People-human beings-do NOT become vegetables. They can become sick and infirm on death's door even unaware of the circumstances they are in. If they took away the feeding tube it would be an intentional killing.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states "the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted.

The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged".

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/resource/55011/euthanasia-catechism-of-the-catholic-church

The tube was removed. Terry's husband divorced her and remarried. He could have agreed to her basic care and let nature run its course.

There are 4 acts that are clearly evil.

Homicide, genocide, infanticide and suicide.

Terry was fairly young and probably generally healthy; she may not have seen the need for a legal will.When people are sick, disabled or in pain they are vulnerable mentally;my guess is that it wouldn't take much to persuade someone to seek euthanasia.We have suicide prevention centers for a reason.

You want to have a culture where people respect other people you don't permit or promote abortion and/or euthanasia. If you do you'll see a collapse of civilized society.