09/04/2012, 00.00
INDIA
Send to a friend

The example of Mother Teresa, against female sex-selective abortions in India

by Nirmala Carvalho
Tomorrow is the feast of the blessed and the anniversary of her death. The words and the example of the Missionary of Charity must help India fight a phenomenon that is altering the composition of the population. Member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, "Mother Teresa defended the dignity and sanctity of life from conception to natural death. Abortion, of boys and girls, destroys this sacredness. "

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - On the eve of the feast of Mother Teresa, her spirit "compels us to fight against sex-selective abortion, female infanticide and feticide", says Dr. Pascoal Carvalho, a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, who invites people to reflect on what he calls "the malaise of Indian society," a growing phenomenon that is likely to alter the composition of the population of the country. In India and in the world, the doctor says, "Mother Teresa is respected for her love for every human being, and for her defense of the dignity and sanctity of life from conception to natural death." For this reason, the day tomorrow - the anniversary of the death of Blessed and Her feast - is the best time to rethink the fight against everything that promotes "a culture of death."

According to the latest government census (2011), an average of 914 girls are born for every 1000 males. Alarming, given that despite the government's recent promotion of several measures and awareness campaigns on the issue, the imbalance between males and females has increased: in 2001, in fact, the sex ratio was 927 females per 1000 males. Since 1994, with the approval of the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technologies (PNDT) Act in India it is illegal to use special tests to determine the sex of the fetus. Under the law, doctors must submit a list of patients on which, for reasons of pure health, they have conducted such tests. However, the PNDT did not help to curb the spread of sex-selective abortions and female infanticide, and has even encouraged the spread of clandestine clinics.

"This disturbing phenomenon - says Dr. Carvalho - is partly related to cultural reasons: a patriarchal society that has always preferred a son." In this context, "the female is considered to be a burden, especially economic: to negotiate a good marriage, the family of the future wife must ensure a substantial dowry." But once married, the woman is not respected until they give birth to a child: for this, said the doctor, "female feticide also has social implications: it empties women of their value and them submissive to men. This is a serious violation of human rights, and the darker side of our society. "

The Missionary did not limit her work to ending violence against infants and children. In her acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize (1979), she said: "millions are dying deliberately by the will of the mother. And this is what is the greatest destroyer of peace today. Because if a mother can kill her own child - what is left for me to kill you and you kill me - there is nothing between.? ". The fight against female feticide, affirms Dr. Carvalho "must then address all forms of abortion, because [abortion] destroys the respect and sanctity of life. Mother Teresa promoted the value of human life in words and deeds. Any human life, even that of those not yet born. Let us repeat her words: "If a child is not safe in her mother's womb, where else in the world will she be safe?".

 

TAGs
Send to a friend
Printable version
CLOSE X
See also
For Fr Tom, abducted in Yemen, Holy Thursday prayer and adoration for the martyrs
21/03/2016 14:57
Mumbai: Indian Church always in favour of life
09/04/2019 13:19
Sr Nirmala Joshi says yes to the moratorium on abortion
17/01/2008
"We are optimistic," says Paul Bhatti as Rimsha Masih's bail hearing postponed to Friday
03/09/2012
Abortion in Russia, moral opposition on the rise
02/04/2008


Newsletter

Subscribe to Asia News updates or change your preferences

Subscribe now
“L’Asia: ecco il nostro comune compito per il terzo millennio!” - Giovanni Paolo II, da “Alzatevi, andiamo”