The Orthodox Church claims that the values of the Kingdom of God include cherishing life itself as sacred, a gift from God. We are to treat God’s gifts as holy, entrusted to our care and concern. Thus we do hold that the intentional destruction of human life through abortion to be a denial of God’s Kingdom. Orthodox Christians do join and support the annual March for Life in Washington, DC.
Metropolitan Tikhon said in his message for the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday:
“If we are to transform the collective heart and mind of our society, we must begin by transforming our own hearts and minds.
Heeding the Gospel, let us remain faithful to the vision of human life as a sacred gift, recommitting ourselves to defending the lives “of all mankind,” as we pray at every Divine Liturgy.”
You can view a marvelous use of technology which offers us a visualization of the miracle of how a human develops in the mother’s womb from conception to birth. The video created and narrated by Alexander Tsiaras originally done on TED can be viewed at From Conception to Birth.
St. Maximos the Confessor (d. 662AD) writes:
“It is a fearful and heinous thing for us, because of our love for things corruptible, deliberately to kill the life that was given to us by God as the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (St. Maximos the Confessor, THE PHILOKALIA, Kindle Loc. 16081-82)
You can read a moving story of a young mom who chose to give her disabled son a few hours of life and love rather than choosing the logic of aborting his life. The quality of life is not the only way to measure the value of life. Abortion – intentionally terminating the life of an unborn baby – is not the only answer for dealing with the disabilities of an unborn baby.
As one pregnant mom recently wrote in an email, lamenting society’s views of women and babies:
Babies are seen as an impediment to the progress of women, not the mystery and gift of the Divine.
More information about the OCA’s participation in the Right to Life March is available on the OCA Webpage, including a Photo Gallery.
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