ACI Press Writing
The bishops of Colombia recalled that life is sacred and inviolable, after the ruling of the Constitutional Court that decided to inhibit and thus reject a proposal to extend free abortion until 16 weeks of gestation.
“Life is inviolable, life is sacred. Let’s respect it, let’s never end it, that is not up to us,” said Msgr. Juan Vicente Córdoba, president of the Episcopal Commission for the Promotion and Defense of Life of the Colombian Episcopacy, this morning at a press conference.
“Life is sacred. Human life has a fundamental characteristic: it is about identical people, with autonomy, with dignity, with freedom. And this must be respected on any side,” said the Bishop of Fontibón.
The Prelate recalled that “the Constitution of Colombia in its article 11 says that the right to life is inviolable and there will be no death penalty. It is a fundamental right. It does not say in such months or circumstances, but from conception to natural death. It is also the position of the Catholic Church.”
“Let us not dispose of the lives of others as if we were gods, and with humility before the Creator, as creatures, we respect life and make life be for the meaning it has: praise to God and happiness of people,” he encouraged.
This, the Bishop continued, “is the position of the Catholic Church and a good Catholic attends the teaching of the Church that has been going on for twenty centuries, from Peter and his successor Francisco, from the apostles and his successors the bishops, with Christ at the head”
Yesterday, March 2, the Constitutional Court of Colombia decided to inhibit and not approve the presentation of Judge Alejandro Linares who sought to extend free abortion until 16 weeks of gestation.
The presentation of Linares responded to the demands presented in January by Dr. Natalia Bernal to prohibit this practice and defend those not born in Colombia. With this decision, the Court also avoided ruling on these legal measures.
In this way, abortion is maintained as established in the 2006 judgment, which decriminalized it for cases of the mother’s risk of life, rape and fetal malformations.
Judgment 096 of 2018, which not only ratified that of 2006, but also placed abortion as a “human right” with the possibility that it is practiced throughout the pregnancy is also held firm.
Mons. Córdoba told reporters that with this decision “what the Court did we could call a stop along the way. Like when you are jogging or exercising, there is a time to calm down, drink and breathe. This is what happened. This is a stop to the road that has not reached the top or the finish”.
“I take it and we take it in the Church as a stop along the way because the Court wanted to stop. That allows us to get fresh air and we continue. What do we continue? What the Court has not yet solved and it is up to them, to Congress. That is that life is respected from conception to natural death.”
The Prelate regretted that “the previous sentences” remain in effect and said that it is not a matter of “saying whether we are happy or not. Let us breathe and move on because there are some sentences that are still hurting, like the one that allows “to perform an abortion” with an injection into the heart”of an unborn baby of seven or eight months of gestation.
The Bishop referred to the case of Juan Sebastián or Juanse, as his father, Juan Pablo Medina, called his almost 8-month-old baby, who could not prevent his girlfriend from having an abortion, a case that moved all of Colombia between January and February 2020.
The Bishop recalled that with the sentences on abortion given by the Constitutional Court, “if the child is born alive, they let him die; and if he is born without life, they make sure he has been annihilated by a lethal injection.”
“This continues and we cannot agree, and we raise our prophetic and pastors voice, in the name of those who have no voice!” He exclaimed.
The Prelate also praised the work of lay people, priests and religious who help women with unexpected pregnancies and thus show the face of Christ in the midst of a complicated situation.
