YOUCAT Question n. 384 – Part IV. Can a handicapped child be aborted?
(Youcat
answer - repeated) No. Aborting a handicapped child is always a serious crime,
even if it is done with the intention of sparing that person suffering later
on.
A deepening through CCC
(CCC 2273
a) The inalienable right to life of every innocent human individual is a constitutive element of a civil society and
its legislation: "The inalienable rights of the person must be
recognized and respected by civil society and the political authority. These
human rights depend neither on single individuals nor on parents; nor do they
represent a concession made by society and the state; they belong to human
nature and are inherent in the person by virtue of the creative act from which
the person took his origin. Among such fundamental rights one should mention in
this regard every human being's right to life and physical integrity from the
moment of conception until death" (CDF, Donum vitae III).
Reflecting and meditating
(CCC Comment)
(CCC 2274)
Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be
defended in its integrity, cared for, and healed, as far as possible, like any
other human being. Prenatal diagnosis
is morally licit, "if it respects the life and integrity of the embryo and
the human fetus and is directed toward its safe guarding or healing as an
individual.... It is gravely opposed to the moral law when this is done with
the thought of possibly inducing an abortion, depending upon the results: a
diagnosis must not be the equivalent of a death sentence" (CDF, Donum vitae I, 2).
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