E. Gracheva: Vladyka, in the United States of America,
the state of Texas in the literal sense of the word is now fighting off an
appeal by the federal Department of Justice, which demands the repeal of the
so-called “heartbeat law” adopted in this state. It states that it is forbidden to have an
abortion from the time when the baby's heartbeat is heard. Why, in your opinion, is the administration
of the Catholic Biden so insistent on repealing this law, and in the state of
Texas?
Metropolitan Hilarion: When they talk about the Catholic
Biden, I always want to ask the question: what, in fact, is Biden's
Catholicism? The Catholic Church is
against abortion, and Mr. Biden is for it.
Does he do it as a Catholic or as the president of the United
States? Does he do this proceeding from
the dictates of his conscience or proceeding from the political situation? .. A
person cannot call himself a Catholic, and at the same time violate and call
for violation of the fundamental norms of Christian morality.
The Roman Catholic Church, like the Orthodox Church,
opposes abortion as such. If in one of
the American states there is still a law that somehow protects the rights of
unborn babies, then the Catholic Church, like the Orthodox Church, only
welcomes the preservation of this law.
But the American administration is now trying to fit all the states
under one standard, which is guided by liberal norms. According to liberal norms, the life of an
unborn baby is worthless and does not need protection, the most important thing
is to respect the rights of women. In
other words, it is said that a woman has the right to dispose of her body, she
has the right to decide on an abortion and no one should interfere with her in
this. All the legislation of Western
countries is moving in this direction.
The Catholic Church in the West, including the United
States, the Orthodox Church and many Protestants stand up to protect unborn
babies, saying that abortion is murder, and everyone, including those who have
not yet been born, has a fundamental right - the right to life. This, unfortunately, is often forgotten by
modern human rights activists. They defend all sorts of rights, for example,
the right of a homosexual couple to adopt a child, the right of parents to have
sex-reassignment surgery on their minor child - all these are considered human
rights, and the fundamental human right to birth and life is rejected.
