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anonymous

The \"He\" is definitely referring to the baby, but it does not imply the baby is male -- in Spanish every noun has to have a gender (and the default for humans is male unless you know otherwise)

Sierra

I think you give the cardinal too much credit, anonymous.

bria

heres something really effed up: catholics believe in original sin yet they say stupid crap like that.

Maronan

An 11-year-old girl is raped (by her father, if I remember the original story properly) and becomes pregnant. What should a moral \"pro-life\" person do?

Option 1: Allow the girl to have an abortion. Possibly even pay for it.

Pros: It's over, and simple.
Cons: The girl still has to recover from the psychological effects of the rape.

Option 2: Prevent the girl from getting an abortion.

Pros: He gets to put a woman \"in her place\" and celebrate the triumph of his misogynistic asshat ways over justice.
Paper clip: Shouldn't you mention some pros for the girl?
Maronan: AAARG! Stupid Microsoft paper clip. Anyway, he's right, though.
Pros: Maybe you can think of some. I sure can't.
Cons: The girl, who is already suffering from the psychological effects of being raped now has to endure a pregnancy she is not physiologically ready for. This pregnancy will cause serious health risks, and may kill her. If she survives, she will have to go through a c-section, since natural birth is likely impossible, given her age. Aside from the serious health problems and complications, this will magnify the psychological effects of the rape by preventing her from forgetting the event. After her c-section, you get a new baby— an inbred baby, who was likely born prematurely, and was carried by an underage mother. Such a baby will likely have deformities, be mentally retarded, or suffer from some form of mental illness. Assuming that the baby can survive, (s)he will grow up without family in an orphanage (and I doubt that Colombian orphanages are nice places), or will put a drain on his/her grandparents' resources, or will consume the life of the unwilling mother; if she has to care for the baby, she won't be able to go to school, and will spend her life uneducated, caring for a baby but barely able to feed herself.

Naturally, the Church wanted to go with Option 2.

If the Church gets its way next time, maybe the girl will be lucky; maybe she'll miscarry. I'd guess that miscarriage is far more common in such young women.

If she did miscarry, would the Church praise God for providing an abortion?

Rahab

I also like how the criminal should be punished only by being put in jail for a long time. In my version of a perfect world, the rapist would have his genitalia ripped off by an angry badger. But I have a feeling this cardinal, like most misogynists, would declare that contrary to God's will.

cerebulon

This is a made up story. It did not happen.

Link

\"A Roman Catholic cardinal has denied reports that he said the Vatican would excommunicate doctors who performed Colombia's first legal abortion on an 11-year-old girl allegedly raped by her stepfather.

\"I have not said that, nor has the Holy See, nor have I thought it,\" said Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Vatican's pontifical council for the family, on Caracol Radio on Wednesday.

RCN television, which broadcast the original report, did not immediately say if it stood by its story. In May Colombia legalised abortion in specific circumstances, including rape.\"

so she's having a male baby. frankly, I figured from the begining they meant the fetus, why should they care about the girl who has been raped terrorized and now (they think)should be forced to have a baby?

Oh, I get it now. It's not as funny if someone has to explain it.

Crimson Lizard

cerebulon: So he denies it... and you believe him? I certainly don't.

Mark Poe

Right... we must demand that the child to live in a horrible life, all to further the glory of your "God"

xyz

Think of it this way: A bunch of people just got freed from the shackles of a cult.

I have to say, the emphasis is kind of uncalled for. There's nothing in the quote to indicate that the situation would have been different had the child been female, and using male pronouns when gender is unknown is a common practice and not especially fundie. Antiquated, but not fundie.