“This ‘Day of Mourning’ celebration should “express our grief over the killing of unwanted babies.”

Newsroom (August 6, 2021, 10:40 PM, Gaudium Press) On August 10, the enactment of India’s abortion law will turn 50 years old. For this reason, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, has asked his brothers in the episcopate to celebrate a “Day of Mourning.”

To this end, he forwarded a letter to the other Indian bishops, in which he states that “in our country, after this legislation […] there are no signs of slowing down this anti-life trend.

And to raise awareness of the seriousness of these attacks on human life, this “Day of Mourning” celebration should “express our sorrow for the killing of unwanted babies” so that “we can promote a pro-life mentality in our society.”

Cardinal Gracias’ Letter has several practical suggestions of what can be accomplished on this day.

Support for the initiative

“God is the Creator of life. Life is sacred and precious in the eyes of God, so life must be protected and promoted from the first moment of its existence, as we said, from the womb to the tomb,” stated Bishop Thomas Elavanal of Kalyan, explaining the reasons behind this celebration of the Day of Mourning.

“Any medical intervention should have the sole purpose of saving lives,” pointed out Dr. Pascoal Carvalho, a Mumbai physician and member of the Pontifical Academy for Life. “Calling abortion a medical intervention is a subtle way of disguising a horrendous act towards a helpless person.”

“Initially, the MTP [abortion law] allowed the termination of pregnancy up to 20 weeks,” Dr. Carvalho explained. However, “in March 2021, almost 50 years later, the Amendment to the Act allows the termination of pregnancy up to 24 weeks.”

“From the moment of conception – Dr. Carvalho stresses, that is, on the first day of its life in the womb, the fetus is a person and has the same rights as any adult.”

With AsiaNews information.

Compiled by Sarah Gangl