Michael Vacca with Christ Medicus submitted the following response to Jennifer Rubin’s article in the Washington Post.
A Response to Jennifer Rubin: The Falsification of Conscience and the Relative Worldview
In a July 24th article in The Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin argues that there should be a conscience exception to abortion bans. This argument is tragic, deeply flawed, and demonstrates a profound ignorance about the very meaning of conscience. Conscience is not the right to do whatever you want. Conscience rather presupposes that there is an objective truth, and that we are responsible for living in accordance with that truth.
The unborn child in the womb is objectively a human being. The embryo has a DNA different from the mother and the father. So the humanity of the embryo is scientifically beyond dispute. Rubin may respond that the embryo is a human being but not a person, but the idea of separating humanity from personhood was made up to deprive certain people of their human rights. In the absence of compelling evidence that it is possible to be a human being but not a person, the law must assume that all human beings are worthy of the fundamental right to life. There is no right in conscience to murder (abort) another human being, regardless whether you believe that a human being is “person” or not. The law must follow the truth, and the truth is that the unborn child has as much right to live as you or I.
Respectfully,
Michael Arthur Vacca
Director of Ministry, Bioethics, and Member Experience
Certified Spiritual Director and Catholic Bioethicist
Christ Medicus Foundation
CMF CURO-Health Care Fully Alive