Books, Volume 13 #5

Mark MacGuigan Offers
a Breath of Fresh Air

Mark R. MacGuigan, Abortion, Conscience and Democracy. Toronto: Hounslow, 1994. 165 pp., $16.99.

To the abortion debate, marked as it is by hostility and dogmatic polarization between pro-life and pro-choice forces, Mark MacGuigan has brought an unusual breath of fresh air. His perspective arises out of an analysis of the role that criminal law and freedom of conscience play in a democratic society. In his Abortion, Conscience and Democracy (publication information on p. 23), MacGuigan says in essence that in a democracy, Catholics must respect the right of a mother to make a decision about an abortion according to her own conscience. Further, the criminal law should not be engaged to impose Catholic morality as public morality. A Catholic politician who believes that Catholics have a moral obligation to promote legislation that recriminalizes abortion may reconsider following a reading of this book by a committed and thoughtful Catholic layperson.

Fundamentally, MacGuigan challenges us to distinguish between what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God in a fundamental reorientation, as he sees it, to a Christian understanding of democracy. MacGuigan begins by establishing that democracy is the form of governance that is most compatible with the Catholic faith. Noting a critical distinction between law and morality, MacGuigan contrasts the role of criminal law, which sets a minimum standard of social behaviour defining our obligations as citizens, and the role of the church, which calls Catholics to the higher moral standards of the Gospel. The goal of public legislation is the protection of the common good, and one of the most important principles of the common good is freedom of conscience.

Freedom of conscience is one of the fundamental freedoms protected in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is one of the most personal, interior and precious freedoms, says MacGuigan, separate from freedom of religion or thought though linked to those freedoms. Even a person with no religious affiliation makes choices according to conscience. Touching the deepest guiding principles of our lives, freedom of conscience is at the heart of morality.

If we are to live in a democracy, MacGuigan says, Catholics must respect the freedom of a mother to choose, in conscience, to terminate a pregnancy. The law must respect all consciences and the absence of criminal legislation governing abortion allows Catholics to live by their beliefs and those who choose abortion to live by theirs. For Catholics to impose their morality by way of legislation for all is tyranny of conscience. Catholics can't have both a democracy and legislated Catholic morality.

What about the rights of the fetus? MacGuigan does not ignore this critical question in the abortion debate. He reviews medical evidence and Catholic teaching regarding abortion, concluding for himself that destruction of human life, even the "human-being-to-be," is morally wrong. However, says MacGuigan, as long as the majority in a democracy concludes that the fetus is not a human being with full civil rights, criminal prohibition of abortion is wrong.

In a clash between two groups, each of which believes its choice is morally right, the only accommodation that can be made is respect for individual conscience. Thus, in a democratic society, when a mother is pregnant and the fetus is not viable as a human being, the right of the mother to complete freedom of conscience must be respected. After viability, the life of another human being, which also possesses freedom of conscience, is concerned. MacGuigan suggests that only therapeutic abortions ought to be permitted by law after the fetus is viable.

It is clear that one can apply MacGuigan's principles more broadly than just to abortion. MacGuigan himself addresses implications for euthanasia. He concludes that the law should allow assisted suicide when it is the act of an adult exercising freedom of conscience. I wonder if Catholic opposition to Ontario legislation governing same-sex benefits might also be questionable.

The most positive aspects of MacGuigan's contribution are its implications for the focus of pro-life energy. MacGuigan suggests that the only role for Catholics in the case of abortion is to change not the law but rather the attitudes of the majority. MacGuigan hints at potential goals that might bring advocates for life together: to address social and economic conditions that promote family life. Since the number one reason given for an abortion is economics, goals to address this area make sense.[FN 1] Furthermore, in a welcome critique of Catholic teaching, MacGuigan suggests that effective contraception may well be the key to preventing abortion.

Nevertheless, there are a few areas I would have liked MacGuigan to explore further.

My reading of the provisions of the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding abortion suggest that the Catholic Church position is that the fetus has full human rights from the moment of conception: "Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception. From the first moment of existence, a human being must be recognized as having the rights of a person--among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life" (emphasis added). Does this change MacGuigan's perspective?

I am not convinced that the human rights of a fetus ought to be determined by viability. Does this mean that the ability of medical technology to keep a fetus alive earlier than at six months determines the rights of this fetus?

I would also have liked to see MacGuigan explore more fully how to resolve a conflict between the right to life and the right to freedom of conscience. I don't believe he has explained fully why freedom of conscience ought to be preeminent over other rights. For example, in determining that a therapeutic abortion should be allowed if the mother's life or health is at stake, how did MacGuigan decide between the rights of the mother and those of a viable fetus?

In spite of my lingering questions, I think MacGuigan serves the Catholic community well in this short but eclectic text by challenging us to consider the nature of democracy. And to his credit, MacGuigan concludes by inviting Christians to revolutionize society, calling it to higher values by being living examples of faith, hope and love.

[FN 1] "Abortions Climb to Record in 1993," Toronto Star, July 13, 1995.

Ann Keating is a nonpractising lawyer and practising Catholic in Toronto.