In recent weeks, we have followed the news of a court case which has been shocking in many ways: The mother of a small baby was accused of murdering her child using abortion medication.
Perhaps ultimately the most shocking aspect of the case was that the court did not consider the mother guilty of any kind of homicide, even though based on the information that reached the media, it seems indisputable that the mother caused her child’s death using abortion medication and that the mother acted deliberately and consciously.
The case strongly highlights a serious flaw in our legislation and in the general moral perception prevailing in our society: a baby in the mother’s womb is not considered a human being. This is incredible, considering, for example, that the baby’s heart often starts beating as early as six weeks of age.
It should be clear to everyone who has participated in a 12-week early ultrasound that there is a human in the mother’s womb: the baby moves actively, and has already acquired all the forms of the human body. The child already has very tiny hands, feet, fingers, and toes.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Finland, states that a child is entitled to legal protection before and after birth. It is furthermore appropriate to remind and bring up in discussion that abortion is not merely about the woman’s body. Instead, in an abortion, an individual human life is terminated.
In Finland, an abortion can be performed with the permission of Valvira (the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health) up to the 24th week of pregnancy, even though on the other side of the hospital, preterm infants of the same age are receiving intensive care. There have been cases around the world in which even preterm infants born during the 21st week of pregnancy have survived with good intensive care.
In practice, the dignity of a child is thus determined by whether the child is wanted or not. The enduring measure of human dignity cannot be how wanted and anticipated an individual is. Human dignity must belong to all individuals regardless of what others think of them.
Fertilization is the only biologically unambiguous moment when a new, individual human life begins. All other attempts to define the start of a new human life are ultimately artificial, inaccurate, and arbitrary ‘lines drawn in water.’ The measure of our society’s morality and civilization should be how well we are able to protect those in the weakest and most vulnerable positions.
An unborn child is, by many measures, exactly the ‘weakest’ in our society, unable to defend themselves.
Valtteri Korteniemi, Laukaa
(Member of Saint Olaf’s Parish)
The article was also published in the newspaper Keskisuomalainen on April 7.
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Caption: The pro-life organization Oikeus elämään ry organized an event on Saturday, March 21, where 8,645 candles were lit on the steps of the Parliament House. There were as many candles as abortions performed in Finland in 2024. The event began with prayer and speeches at “Luther Church Helsinki.” There, the Catholic Church’s greeting was given and a prayer was said by Vicar General Jean Claude Kabeza, as the Bishop was unable to attend.