On abortion (1)

It was very surprising to read the letter of Rita Soemarno in The Jakarta Post of Oct. 11, 1995 about abortion. Assuming that Rita is an Indonesian national, it's more surprising that as an Indonesian woman, she is wondering why abortion should not be legalized in Indonesia. She further elaborates, that abortion is also an important part of human rights, as is having sex. More than that, she says, sex is natural.

Seen from the way Rita is expressing her opinion, I am quite certain, that she might be a young woman, with or without sexual experiences. She could come from a wealthy or well-to-do family with a super modern life principle, but seems however not to have the opportunities to learn to differentiate between good and evil, although she may have had a good school education.

It must be admitted that sex is natural and must be considered as part of the human rights. A consequence of having sex is pregnancy. According to the teachings of several religions, preventing pregnancy is justified, but preventing births is forbidden. Preventing births or abortion is killing an unborn baby, a human being, and thus, destroying one's life.

It's unthinkable that an Indonesian woman thinks that, for good reasons, sometimes babies should best stay unborn and that women have the right to decide if and when to give birth.

The right or choice to decide if and when a woman gives birth, is morally allowed, as far as the practice is done by preventing pregnancy -- absolutely not by preventing births or abortion.

It is to a certain extent right to say that sex is an important part of human rights and that women have the right to decide if and when to give birth: It's their body, their emotions, their commitments and most of all their lives. In this sense Rita seems to be an extremely keen follower of women's lib, who tries to fight for equal rights for women. I'm afraid that she is too materialistic. But if she confesses that she does not know anything about law, then one may conclude that she is also ignorant of life's norms and ethics that prevail in a well organized and civilized society.

There are, according to Rita, no guarantees to the children's future and that is why she argues that sometimes babies should stay unborn. When I was still a child, my grandfather gave this message: Children will bring their own luck, by the greatness of God. I agree with my grandpa's teaching with an additional explanation, that indeed guarantees come in a greater part from God, while the other part should be from the responsibility of the people who brought the children into the world.

To complete and conclude this message, may I add a religious teaching which says: "Look at the birds flying around, they do not sow seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns, but your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth more than birds? Can any of you live a bit longer worrying about it? And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild grass grows: they do not work and make clothes for themselves. But not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers."

The greatness of God must however be accepted and combined with human efforts and full responsibilities.

ALOYSIUS HARYONO

Jakarta